New web app design and next steps

Happy New Year! I owe an update about the web app, so here it is.

Firstly, we have a Figma design for the web app. It is for desktop mode for now, but it's a good start.

It has already been partially implemented, and you can try it at https://mybar.app/app To get the full functionality, you need to sign in with your Google account.

The UI is optimized for "big screens", so if you open it on your phone, it will be different and half-baked. Some screens are straight from the previous "alpha" version. This is something that I'll work on this year. Editing cocktails/ingredients isn't supported yet because I wanted to migrate all existing functionalities to the new design first. But it is the top feature to support next in the web app. There is also no fancy filtering yet, and “Search” is not doing anything; this will be added later, too.

It took a while to get here. I tried to find someone to implement the web app at a reasonable price. I was ready to pay above average, hoping the project would attract top talent. I talked with more than 20 people, mainly from freelancer sites like Upwork and Fiverr, but honestly, I couldn't find a good fit. Some of the developers I spoke with implemented specific screens and small features to meet the design requirements, but the code quality wasn't high enough to ensure the entire project is maintainable and adaptable to future needs. I think I'll continue my search this year, but if you know a good Flutter developer, please contact me directly. I'll also continue working on the app myself (both the Web and Android versions), but I need help. I have a normal full-time job, and 2023 was a demanding year both at work and at home; unfortunately, I don't expect 2024 to be any easier.

Having said that, seeing positive reviews, email feedback, and Coffee donations do help with motivation, so thank you all for your support!

Besides basic things like cocktail creation, people are asking for richer sharing options. For example, the ability to send a single cocktail to a friend, or to create a party menu and either generate a PDF or send a link. This is very interesting, and I hope I'll have time to add this functionality to both Android and web apps.

also took some time to explore the OpenAI API. I wanted to add a simple integration to recommend cocktails to try next, taking into account what you marked as "favorite". I built a quick prototype, but I'm not sure it's good enough to release. I think I'll write a separate post about it, but here is a GIF showing how the basic version works in the Android app:

Lastly, the number of subscribers on this site has been slowly increasing (since I set up subscription settings correctly) and reached 230 by the end of 2023. Not a huge number, but it shows that there's some interest in the web app (or updates in general), and that's great! This is despite the site not being very discoverable and the last update being almost 2 years ago. I'll try to post updates at least every 3-4 months going forward.

Please let me know what you think in the comments or email contact@mybarapp.com. I don't respond to every email, but I read all emails.

Cheers!