Gas Cubby v3 Update

[andyrobo]

Just an FYI - We had our weekly meeting today. Here's a brief update.

Our plan has always been to use GasTracker+ as our test app. The one that's out in the wild right now (live in the App store) does not have feature parity with Gas Cubby. In order to map over all the features we had to build many of them into Fuelly. We are now at a point where we plan to launch a new GasTracker+ rather soon that will have feature parity minus some chart enhancements that need to be developed (ie. nicer version of the charts seen when you turn Gas Cubby sideways).

We'll Beta test the new GasTracker+ app with some Fuelly users to collect feedback, bugs, crash reports, etc. Once we know this new version is tight, we'll put it out on the App Store. At that point we will get feedback from nearly 15,000 users and we will itterate quickly to knock out the issues. Once that is done, we'll have our first stable build which will be used for GasCubby beta testing.

GasCubby Beta testing will primarily be focused on the data migration process from GasCubby to the new app's database model which is significant. Our system is developed to first save a copy of the sqllite file in the cloud, then migrate the data to a new sqllite file. From there the conversion from the old data schema to the new is done. After that a Gas Cubby user needs to either login and link their data with a Fuelly account or setup a new account. At this point we can sync the data from the iOS device to the Fuelly cloud. So the GC beta testing will be mostly focused on this data migration and syncing process since the app itself should be plenty stable.

Keep in mind this will be the first version on this new platform which is now written on nice modern code and much easier to iterate from here on out. Once we are settled on the new app, we plan to start to evolve the product so we have feature parity from iOS, Android and the Web. We also plan to start adding new features related to the total cost of ownership of your vehicle. I'm pretty excited about what we can do with Fuelly once we have these darn apps integrated (GasCubby and aCar for Android). It's been a long and frustrating process but it will be worth the wait.

[t0panka]

I own a little company where we make web sites, code, apps, etc. First of all i am still confused about your process and second looks like you overcomplicated your process or your iOS team is not so good. This update becomes everytime more and more complicated. Just my professional opinion

[andyrobo]

t0panka,

You have to keep in mind we are bringing together three different technologies all with their own features and written in different languages. Fuelly was originally built in Cold Fusion with Microsoft SQL, last June we switched to a new tech stack. GasCubby needed a total rewrite. We had to divert coding time when iOS 8 came out and crashed the old GasCubby. aCar is Java. The GasCubby sync system is yet another component we've made behind the scenes improvements so we could make sure and have the sqlite data available for processing should any issues arise.

We've been having to refine our API to handle tons of different scenarios and each week our systems get better and more mature. So from the outside, with limited visibility into each issue, it might seem over complicated but the reality is it's very complicated. For example, we have to take our various calculations and match them across all the sites. Previously Fuelly + GasTracker = Internet connection required. We've build GasCubby so it will work without a connection and sync up when a connection is present. Just the login in the syncing system is very complex.

I saw one of your previous posts about people waiting 5 minutes for the processing of data suggesting that was okay, people would wait. Well, after a LOT of testing, we found the issues and not only brought the processing time down but the apps not crashing on old iPhone 4. In the end I'd rather delay and deliver a better product than rush something and deliver something that does not work.

Given the opportunity I'd keep letting our team develop but we need to get something out sooner rather than later. So this next version will be significantly nicer but it's just a start to where we are going.

[t0panka]

ANDYROBO

Thanks for your answer. Well i moved on to Road trip and i am happy with well made working app. Anyway i am signed to your beta test so if you pick me i will test your app properly.

Have a nice day and good luck with your alpha

[foccacia]

Originally Posted by andyrobo

Just an FYI - We had our weekly meeting today. Here's a brief update.

Our plan has always been to use GasTracker+ as our test app. The one that's out in the wild right now (live in the App store) does not have feature parity with Gas Cubby. In order to map over all the features we had to build many of them into Fuelly. We are now at a point where we plan to launch a new GasTracker+ rather soon that will have feature parity minus some chart enhancements that need to be developed (ie. nicer version of the charts seen when you turn Gas Cubby sideways).

We'll Beta test the new GasTracker+ app with some Fuelly users to collect feedback, bugs, crash reports, etc. Once we know this new version is tight, we'll put it out on the App Store. At that point we will get feedback from nearly 15,000 users and we will itterate quickly to knock out the issues. Once that is done, we'll have our first stable build which will be used for GasCubby beta testing.

GasCubby Beta testing will primarily be focused on the data migration process from GasCubby to the new app's database model which is significant. Our system is developed to first save a copy of the sqllite file in the cloud, then migrate the data to a new sqllite file. From there the conversion from the old data schema to the new is done. After that a Gas Cubby user needs to either login and link their data with a Fuelly account or setup a new account. At this point we can sync the data from the iOS device to the Fuelly cloud. So the GC beta testing will be mostly focused on this data migration and syncing process since the app itself should be plenty stable.

Keep in mind this will be the first version on this new platform which is now written on nice modern code and much easier to iterate from here on out. Once we are settled on the new app, we plan to start to evolve the product so we have feature parity from iOS, Android and the Web. We also plan to start adding new features related to the total cost of ownership of your vehicle. I'm pretty excited about what we can do with Fuelly once we have these darn apps integrated (GasCubby and aCar for Android). It's been a long and frustrating process but it will be worth the wait.

I might not fully understand how tedious it is to develop an app but from dec 2014 till now, I believe any developer would have came out with first version of the app already n if u have a team to do it, I just feel is way too slow. moreover your team is not developing an app from nothing, u have the codes from old version of gascubby to improvise n not to mention other similar app acquired by Fuelly

N back in end march, robertv mentioned that final beta version is going to release soon for beta tester but in april, he mentioned that there was some problems migrating the data. given another 2 months, still cannot resolve the problem?

I roughly estimate it could take another 3 months to fully release to the market. i seldom buy any app but bought this as i wanted to give my support n knows that there will b an upgraded version

[denmermr]

I've been using Gas Cubby for about 4 years now, and just stumbled on Fuelly. I'm excited to see what you guys do with it.

Question: if I export my data from Gas Cubby, scrub the csv and import to Fuelly, will that mess up the sync that you guys have planned when version 3 finally lands?

[RobertV]

Originally Posted by denmermr

I've been using Gas Cubby for about 4 years now, and just stumbled on Fuelly. I'm excited to see what you guys do with it.

Question: if I export my data from Gas Cubby, scrub the csv and import to Fuelly, will that mess up the sync that you guys have planned when version 3 finally lands?

No it wont mess up anything.
When the time comes, you'll be given the option on which vehicle profile to keep or what you want to do with any duplicates.

Ex: You move data over to Fuelly, and continue tracking on Fuelly.com until v3 of Gas Cubby comes out. You can scrap the GC vehicle profile if you feel everyone on Fuelly is already up to date.

[andyrobo]

FYI - We sent out beta invitations to 100 people last week to test the new app that will become Gas Cubby. Basically it's the same app but uses Fuelly data only and does not port over the Gas Cubby data. Once this app is dialed in we already have the data migration stuff ironed out so we will tie them together.

The beta testers have provided some great feedback so far and we'll incorporate that feedback into a new release which will hopefully be out ASAP.

[MyFocusST]

Originally Posted by t0panka

ANDYROBO
Well i moved on to Road trip and i am happy with well made working App

I too have moved to Road Trip. I posted a more detailed summary of my experience, but that post seems to have been taken down. Suffice it to say that gc data imports, the program works really well, and I no longer ave missing cursors. Paying for a new app was money well spent.

[mbkerk]

Do you development guys have any idea when you are going to have something for us Gas Cubby users to see? Seems like you keep saying "Soon" but this has been going on for months and months now.

All I want is my cursor back! The rest of my current version works fine!

I don't want to move on to "Road Trip" as others have done, and am resisting the temptation to try it... but I need to see some progress soon!