PlantsPack - a free, open-data vegan places app (iOS & Android)
from plantspack@lemmy.world to vegan@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 09:38
https://lemmy.world/post/48974018

I’ve been building a vegan places directory (shared in this post) and enough people asked for an app that it’s finally live on iOS and Android. It’s a small independent project run by 2 people. If you’ve used HappyCow it lives in that world, but the focus is a bit different:

Honest about the state: it’s still growing, some cities are thin, and since a lot of the data comes from OSM/open sources the quality isn’t perfect yet.

Looking forward to your feedback and criticism - be brutal.

Get the PlantsPack App (iOS & Android)

#vegan

threaded - newest

lookingforanALFpolycule@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 10:07 next collapse

Checked it and my city has way more vegan options than I was aware of, thanks!

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 10:10 collapse

wow, happy to hear that! I’d still recommend to check at least google maps to be sure it’s open and opening hours are correct. My data is OK, but I can’t guarantee yet, unless the verification badge clearly states that it’s verified (I’ve checked quite some places manualy).

I keep improving data every day. So thanks for an encouraging comment :)

siph@feddit.org on 03 Jul 10:23 next collapse

That’s great to see! HappyCow is already a decent option, but something vegan oriented is of course better. Do you plan to also release your app on F-Droid or similar open source stores?

Cheers for the work!

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 11:05 collapse

I have a plan for a dedicated F-Droid version of the app. And hope to launch it during the summer still (hope the new google approach to apps will fail as well). It’s a little more tricky for me personally as this is my first-ever production-grade mobile app, so it takes some time to figure out the details. For example, push notifications will not work, for better or worse and I’d like people to get notifications when there is a new vegan spot in their city + I use Expo (this felt like the best path initially) which will not work well for F-droid builds.

So it will take some time - but I will open source it and move to F-Droid and hopefully other catalogs as well.

trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 03 Jul 14:16 collapse

That’s great to hear that an f-droid version is coming! Would you be open to implementing UnifiedPush for those builds?

For an app like this, not having notifications wouldn’t be the end of the world for me, but the more apps that support alternatives to Google Firebase, the better.

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 16:26 collapse

I’ll definitely consider this. It gets harder to maintain, the more users are joining, so I need to reconsider some of the aprooval flows, review flows etc. to make sure data-quality is at least stable and hopefully improving first. But UnifiedPush will indeed land in the backlog right below the basic F-Droid version

TheCornCollector@piefed.zip on 03 Jul 10:29 next collapse

Looks good! I did see multiple places that were listed as 100% vegan even though they were tagged ‘diet:vegan=yes’ and not ‘diet:vegan=only’. I know for a fact these places aren’t vegan only, so is it possible to see how a listing was established?

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 10:46 collapse

There are more details on web version, probably still not enough. I did not want to make the place page to crowded with more “technical” data. But I will reconsider it moving on. You may also help me verify the places by markign them in app or on web or suggesting exact changes on web :) thanks

bacon_pdp@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 10:32 next collapse

Not an FSF complaint license and no Fdroid option.

Remember if you don’t get the source code and the app is “free as in beer” then you are paying them with your privacy.

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 11:08 collapse

Valid point, as I mentioned in one of previous replies - this is my first ever mobile app and I’ve used some things along the way that would not work with F-droid builds right away, but I’m working on it as we speak, to make an open source version and make it available for public.

Also inside the platform -> you may delete your account at any time and I commit to never use any customers data outside of the customers experience with a platform itself.

Baleine@jlai.lu on 03 Jul 17:47 collapse

I’d definitely download it once its open source :)

StrangeMed@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 12:29 next collapse

Already downloaded on iOS, looks really promising! I’m gonna add some places looking on what’s missing comparing to other apps. If I add a place to OSM would it be available on this app too?

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 13:26 collapse

thanks and great question! I run automated scripts every week now and it looks back ~9 days, not 7 - a deliberate overlap buffer so nothing that changed between runs slips through, but for now it’s not automatic - it produces the report for me to work on. I’m considering automating it at some point.

De_Narm@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 12:38 next collapse

At first glance I like the app! There are some nice to have things I haven’t seen before, like the explaination in different languages.

However, there are also quite a few UI bugs. Like the map settings having an animated backdrop, or the partially invisible pet friendly toggle. Do you accept these anywhere?

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 13:27 collapse

Thanks for flagging those! I will add a “leave feedback form” in app. But I surely accept all feedback/corrections/suggestions at hello@plantspak.com and there is a contact form on the web platform as well.

And i will fix those UI issues asap :)

De_Narm@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 13:45 collapse

Is there a reason for not accepting issues directly on whatever platform you host the git repository? It’s a lot more convienient and allows for a proper back and forth.

I get not allowing other contributors with the recent flood of AI crap, but issues should be fine.

plantspack@lemmy.world on 03 Jul 14:17 collapse

No valid reason tbh. I just forgot about it while building and now have tons of things to work on (also aside from the project). Will make sure to open the repo for contributions asap and notify everyone in the app that it’s possible now. Thanks for highlighting it :)

ExtraPartsLeft@piefed.zip on 03 Jul 17:11 collapse

Thanks for making this! It’ll be good to have an alternative to Happy Cow. I’ve recently broken free of Google play services and the map on the Happy Cow app no longer works for me.