Is there an app for this?
December 26, 2010 8:31 AM Subscribe
I would like some iPhone app that will inventory all my media, CDs, DVDs, Games, etc. using barcode scanning technology straight on the iPhone, and ideally would have a way to export my lists. Does such a product exist?
Oops, looks like Delicious Library has export to iPhone, but I'm not sure if it has scanning from the iPhone. I don't own it so I can't say for sure.
posted by sharkfu at 9:13 AM on December 26, 2010
posted by sharkfu at 9:13 AM on December 26, 2010
Two Nov 8, 2010 blog posts claim they're looking into adding iPhone scanning through an app called Noggle Noggles (which can ID media from the cover, not just the barcode) but it's not integrated with Delicious yet.
posted by sharkfu at 9:18 AM on December 26, 2010
posted by sharkfu at 9:18 AM on December 26, 2010
Delicious is awesome, but I don't believe it can scan on the iPhone. One that I know supports it is iCollect Media. They have seperate apps for DVD, Music, Wine, etc. I don't use it, but I know people who do.
posted by Lame_username at 9:26 AM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Lame_username at 9:26 AM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
RedLaser can do this in a sort of primitive way - you can scan a bunch of barcodes and then email a poorly formatted tab-delimited list of items to yourself.
posted by moonmilk at 10:54 AM on December 26, 2010
posted by moonmilk at 10:54 AM on December 26, 2010
You mean something like booxter? http://www.deepprose.com
posted by filmgeek at 4:26 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by filmgeek at 4:26 PM on December 26, 2010
It doesn't help arniec, but for any Android users that might come along looking for the same thing, Shelves does this. It's basically an open source clone of the iPhone Delicious Library app with barcode scanning.
It also allows exporting to Delicious Library.
posted by coolguymichael at 9:50 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
It also allows exporting to Delicious Library.
posted by coolguymichael at 9:50 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sorry, I mis-spoke. It's not open source.
posted by coolguymichael at 9:53 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by coolguymichael at 9:53 PM on December 26, 2010
This is a little late and a bit long, but I've been looking for a few days myself for a book collection app, and came across a couple of apps that arniec might be interested in.
First, for Delicious Library, there is an app that turns the iPhone into a barcode scanner that can transmit back to a Mac. It's called iCody. However, it requires a secondary Mac app to receive the codes and put them into DL.
(It's worth noting that a few years ago there were incidents where Delicious Monster, makers of DL, and another company came out with inventory apps that referenced Amazon and used pictures from their website. Amazon sent out cease and desist orders, and Delicious Monster and the other company chose to remove their iPhone apps. Delicious Monster has since conspicuously avoided putting a mobile app back out there under any circumstances.)
Second, there are a few apps that do book collections, and barely any that do multimedia collections. Most of them require a secondary barcode reading app be installed. Usually, the app used is Pic2Shop, though a couple use RedLaser. Some others use public domain barcode code, which is built in.
The iPhone apps I know of currently that build by scanning and curate multimedia collections include Home Library and My Library, both of which have Lite versions that are free to try.
Home Library has a good basic UI is decent at the basics of scanning and entering in data, and the basic library function of tracking loaned items. It's unique in that it looks up and fills in retail prices, though it turns out the app defaults to an Australian database (there is a US setting). The reason seems to be to facilitate use with a trading site for used media, a site that doesn't seem to be up at all. The lone backup option is offsite to some web server, but there are no visible controls for this. Many such programs can import from some kind of text, CSV, or XML file; this does none. The parent app is cheap at $.99, but I cannot recommend it because the feature set is incomplete, and it doesn't seem focused on maintaining a collection. It is relatively new though.
My Library is a bit better, and a bit worse. It uses RedLaser or Pic2Scan, and seamlessly goes to it and back. It can handle the basics of scanning and recognizing diverse media, and downloading the information from various catalogs and sources. There are a number of bulk import/export options, including Dropbox, email, a separate desktop client (for Windows or Mac), and running an app-based web server on the iPhone. That said, the UI is fairly rough, and is awkward to to use jumping between different kinds of media. This might be because the app is a portmanteau of different apps by the same author focusing on specific media types. These include iBookshelf, MyBoxOffice, and Disc Tracker. They work the same, but are melded together in an awkward mix. Workable, but not smooth. My Library is $3.99.
For book only collections, I can say that usable apps that can both export and import include MyBookLibrary (good), Book Crawler (good features, cluttered UI), and iBookshelf (good features, cluttered UI). Also worth noting is BooksApp, which exports to Google Docs, and heavily leans on Google Books. Most others use Amazon or OCLC Worldcat for book data. So far, I know of no iPhone apps that both scan and seamlessly work with a desktop client, either for full multimedia collections or book collections. There are many that exist as data only clients.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:29 AM on January 7, 2011
First, for Delicious Library, there is an app that turns the iPhone into a barcode scanner that can transmit back to a Mac. It's called iCody. However, it requires a secondary Mac app to receive the codes and put them into DL.
(It's worth noting that a few years ago there were incidents where Delicious Monster, makers of DL, and another company came out with inventory apps that referenced Amazon and used pictures from their website. Amazon sent out cease and desist orders, and Delicious Monster and the other company chose to remove their iPhone apps. Delicious Monster has since conspicuously avoided putting a mobile app back out there under any circumstances.)
Second, there are a few apps that do book collections, and barely any that do multimedia collections. Most of them require a secondary barcode reading app be installed. Usually, the app used is Pic2Shop, though a couple use RedLaser. Some others use public domain barcode code, which is built in.
The iPhone apps I know of currently that build by scanning and curate multimedia collections include Home Library and My Library, both of which have Lite versions that are free to try.
Home Library has a good basic UI is decent at the basics of scanning and entering in data, and the basic library function of tracking loaned items. It's unique in that it looks up and fills in retail prices, though it turns out the app defaults to an Australian database (there is a US setting). The reason seems to be to facilitate use with a trading site for used media, a site that doesn't seem to be up at all. The lone backup option is offsite to some web server, but there are no visible controls for this. Many such programs can import from some kind of text, CSV, or XML file; this does none. The parent app is cheap at $.99, but I cannot recommend it because the feature set is incomplete, and it doesn't seem focused on maintaining a collection. It is relatively new though.
My Library is a bit better, and a bit worse. It uses RedLaser or Pic2Scan, and seamlessly goes to it and back. It can handle the basics of scanning and recognizing diverse media, and downloading the information from various catalogs and sources. There are a number of bulk import/export options, including Dropbox, email, a separate desktop client (for Windows or Mac), and running an app-based web server on the iPhone. That said, the UI is fairly rough, and is awkward to to use jumping between different kinds of media. This might be because the app is a portmanteau of different apps by the same author focusing on specific media types. These include iBookshelf, MyBoxOffice, and Disc Tracker. They work the same, but are melded together in an awkward mix. Workable, but not smooth. My Library is $3.99.
For book only collections, I can say that usable apps that can both export and import include MyBookLibrary (good), Book Crawler (good features, cluttered UI), and iBookshelf (good features, cluttered UI). Also worth noting is BooksApp, which exports to Google Docs, and heavily leans on Google Books. Most others use Amazon or OCLC Worldcat for book data. So far, I know of no iPhone apps that both scan and seamlessly work with a desktop client, either for full multimedia collections or book collections. There are many that exist as data only clients.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:29 AM on January 7, 2011
Also, I have the Delicious Library iPhone app. It wasn't out very long, and it doesn't scan. It also has no way to enter items manually.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:32 AM on January 7, 2011
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:32 AM on January 7, 2011
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posted by sharkfu at 9:10 AM on December 26, 2010