RollingUp: Filament Spool Manager - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I have had. I am a developer for 6 years now. I'm the developer of Printoid for OctoPrint, a smart interface for 3D printers on Android. I've also published a word game on Google Play, called "Discovery". Before that, I made watchfaces for Android Wear (WearOS).

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most challenging aspect was to follow the user's requirements. I've acquired a great experience during two years in the 3D printing world, and I know what are the needs of the makers. Since I already have a huge base of users with Printoid, I needed to make an app with the same quality. First for them, secondly for every other (new) maker.

_{Anthony Stéphan}

I’m Anthony, senior Android developer, from France. Developer of Printoid for OctoPrint, a smart interface for any 3D printer(s), since 2016. Developer of Filament Spool Manager since 2018. Engaged in the 3D printing community, I’m trying to produce useful applications to improve your experience with your 3D printer(s).

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

I especially like the apps made by independent developers, like myself. I know a huge work is needed to make a beautiful and reliable app, and a lot of time to be spent on the project. My favorites are from the productivity category: I've tried more than 100 great apps that tried to make the Android experience better!

How long have you been working on this app?

Four weeks, today. But the work is still in progress, a lot of features will come very soon :)

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

The app is easy to use, it's easy to read the data.

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.

In fact, there are no other applications that manage your stock of 3D printing filament spools on the market. But, regarding the other "stock management" apps on Google Play, my main goal is to avoid too much complexity while adding new data to the base. Adding a spool to your base should be easy and should take less than 20 seconds.

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

The next big feature to come is the spool base analysis, and the filament consumption analysis. I want to show to the users, on beautiful graphs, how they use their filaments, how much money did they spend each day/each week/each month on filaments.

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.)?

They can contact me via [email protected] about Filament Spool Manager. They can share the app if they want. This app is also bound with Printoid, and I publish the changelogs on my website.