Calorie Calculator - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Yes I've had.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most challenging aspect of this particular app is making it genuinely usable. I want the user to be able to calculate the nutritional information of any meal. This is quite hard to achieve as there are so many different foods and ingredients. So I set an initial target of 200 foods, and I will try to keep building the list of foods.

_{Danie Bester}

I'm a qualified teacher, and worked in a primary school for several years. One and a half years ago I decided to pursue my true passion in life, which is computers. So I started a Bachelor of Computing Science. Over the years I have dabbled in programming, but only started devoting more time to it once I started my degree. In addition to my studies, I also use websites, YouTube videos and ebooks for learning. My main interest lies with Android and Universal Windows Platform. So far I am very happy with my career change.

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

Two apps that really impress me are Uber and Shazam. These apps are truly unique and innovative - something that hasn't been done before. It's really challenging to find a niche in such a big app market. Apps that I personally use the most is Whatsapp, Twitter and Twitch.

How long have you been working on this app?

I worked on this app for around two months, putting in 2 - 3 hours per day. The most time-consuming part was adding the data and quality checking.

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

This app is aimed at people who want to keep track of their daily calorie and macronutrient consumption, whether it be for weight loss, weight maintenance or even weight gain. Users can keep a record of their daily consumption, as well as record their weight, and see if they are meeting their goals and making progress. The app can also be used to educate oneself about food, as there is extra information available about each food.

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 think there are many people out there that could find something like this useful. People are always talking about how many calories there is in this food, and that food is high in calories, etc. So I thought it'd be useful to have an app that can help you record each meal's nutritional totals, not just display them.

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

I would like to add more foods. There are currently around 220 different foods. I also want to improve the visuals of the app (make it more attractive). And lastly I want to try and display the user's weight on a line graph.

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.)?

Sharing the app would be great.