Snowy: Weight control - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I started programming since 2001, professionally started doing this since 2010. I have a lot of commercial projects, besides there is a small set of my own apps and games that are published on Google Play.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

For me, the difficult moments in the development of mobile applications are: - Find an idea that would be of interest to the world. Every day thousands of applications appear in the market, and it's very difficult to stand out among all this diversity. And now you sort of came up with some kind of know-how, you start looking for similar ones, and you find it. - If suddenly the idea is unique, it is very difficult for an indie developer to bring his idea to the masses. All for the same reason - millions of applications in the market. You need a big budget for marketing, to somehow promote your application.

_{Artem Kirillov}

My name is Kirillov Artem, I'm an indie developer from the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod. I graduated from Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University with the specialty of software development, then worked in the company Antares, engaged in the development of mobile applications. There I became acquainted with Android. After that I began to build my career in this direction. Now I work in the company Applicatura, which also develops mobile applications. My hobby is the development of applications and games for Android, this is an enjoyable experience for me. Therefore, in my spare time I make my projects, which then appear in the market.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

I am very inspired by the development of Asus - ZenUI, these are everyday applications that many people use constantly - they make them modern, functional and convenient to use.

How long have you been working on this app?

I started developing the application in April 2017. At first it was a piece of paper with ideas sketches. Then everything turned into concrete demands and tasks. As a result, I drew a design and developed the final product.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Why Weight Control? Because I use it myself. At first I measured all the measurements in a spreadsheet, when it became not convenient to use, I thought about the application. So I downloaded some popular applications for weight control, but some of it seemed to me not very convenient to use. And to my chagrin, no application allowed me to write data from the analyzer scales (bone and muscle mass, percentage of fat and water) - only weight. Then I decided to make my application, which could record not only weight, but also other useful parameters. I tried to make it easy to use, with a minimum of actions, without the use of a keyboard.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

I do not argue that there are applications that are more functional than mine - but it's just a matter of time :) I'm constantly adding new features to my application, making it even more attractive and convenient. What are the differences from other applications? - In my application, you can add parameters that can be obtained through a scale with a weight analyzer - percentage of fat, water percentage, muscle and bone mass. I certainly did not see all the applications that are now on the market, but those that I learned - this is not allowed to do. - I tried to make the application convenient. In such applications, the frequent action is to enter your weight - in many applications this is very hard work, especially if you want to enter a weight on the keyboard.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

What about this application? I'm not going to stop there and I'm going to constantly improve the application. In the near future - these are notifications, synchronization between devices, the body's water balance and many other interesting and useful functions. If we consider the plans as a whole, then Snowy is not just one application, I want to create a line of useful, convenient and functional everyday applications under one common name.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

As for any developer - high rate and positive feedback are the best praise :) I am also open to any suggestions and wishes regarding the application. One of my goals in life is to make the world a better place, and of course it's not just about good applications, so I'm transferring part of the income from the application to a charity fund to help the children of cancer patients. Any application support is also a good thing.