7 ms·

Show HN: SlothTracker – cross platform time tracking desktop app

45 points by RoyalSloth 7y ago

Brave-Steak 7y ago
This looks interesting. I see that the license is only valid for a certain version. How often are new versions released? I couldn't find any info on release dates of previous/current versions.
- RoyalSloth 7y ago
  They are not bound to specific dates, as shipping to hit an arbitrary date creates a buggy software. A version is released when a new feature/a set of features is ready. This is actually the first public release, that's why there are no release dates online.
  - jamespetercook 7y ago
    I think you should tie the licence to major versions, and give people confidence that they will still receive updates for bug fixes and patches. But they’ll have to purchase a licence to get new features.
  - Brave-Steak 7y ago
    I just feel it's hard to evaluate the price if I don't have a rough idea of how often there might be updates. Is it a monthly thing? Every 4 months? 8? Once a year? I don't know how much time passed between v1.0 and 1.1 and 1.2. I don't even need exact dates. A statement like "We expect to push out a new version every few weeks/months/once a year or so" makes it easier to reason about the cost.
    - RoyalSloth 7y ago
      You are right that was updated to free updates for one major version (e.g: license 1.2.0 is also valid for 1.3.0, 1.4.0 but not for 2.0.0). Thanks for suggestions
AgloeDreams 7y ago
So don't take this too harshly, this looks well featured and I appreciate an ad-free model that can be used anywhere.... However... It truly amazes me how bad design and UX on many cross-platform desktop apps are. They often are literally the 'Big Bang Theory' of showing that backend engineers are downright inept at design. This app uses basically zero affordances to help drive layout priority or association. Few Bold fonts, poor padding, time stamps are mashed together and VERY hard to read. The home-view table has an extra col, the time column is too wide and the title col is not wide enough to read whole task names. Your site literally illustrates a font-weight bug in the Mac version. I'm sure it has great features and works fine! But your competition makes incredibly good looking products that are incredibly glanceable. Notably, many of the platform specific companies make amazing looking products that are deeply integrated into their OS. (Notably placement in the task/menu bar) Look at how Clockify is doing almost everything you do...for free. Sure, you offer data privacy by being fully offline..but then again you don't sync anything and forget about phones, you aren't even there! I mean this looks like something you might find buried in an open source project from 2008...for $16USD.
- RoyalSloth 7y ago
  The only way to improve is to hear such opinions. So thanks, will see what I can do about the design. It's easy to get carried away with feature development.
  - fit2rule 7y ago
    Please make it usable from the keyboard. Nothing irks me more than to have to mouse-wrangle things around to track my time, which I do in 6 minute increments, so it can get frustrating. If I have a way to switch tasks by keyboard, I'm more likely to use the app. If I have to mouse-wrangle .. just, meh.
    - RoyalSloth 7y ago
      Better keyboard support comes in next version. Do you mind telling me why do you switch between tasks every 6 minutes?
thrownaway954 7y ago
Minimum 2GB or RAM!!! Seriously... WTF?
- imperialdrive 7y ago
  I think it's a joke.
  - thrownaway954 7y ago
    He's selling this thing so I would think you wouldn't want to joke about the requirements.
    - RoyalSloth 7y ago
      Whatever software you buy, there are usually some kind of minimum system requirements listed so people don't run it on some ancient potato and complain how it doesn't work. It uses ~220Mb of RAM in total.
      - imperialdrive 7y ago
        Roger that. btw, I really dig the execution - all platforms covered, simple/straightforward function. Nice work. My only comment (and perhaps I simply missed the info) is it would be great to have keyboard shortcuts available to tie into my keyboard program buttons or Elgato deck.
        RoyalSloth 7y ago
        Here is the list of current shortcuts (not much I know): https://docs.royalsloth.eu/slothtracker/documentation/#keyboard-shortcuts https://docs.royalsloth.eu/slothtracker/documentation/#keybo...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- BerislavLopac 7y ago
hello_moto 7y ago
Have you make any sales so far?
- RoyalSloth 7y ago
  Yes
  - hello_moto 7y ago
    Congrats. Out of curiosity, what is your market segment breakdown (EU vs US)? Seeing that this is a desktop app, I wonder if EU has a different sentiment than US market.
    - RoyalSloth 7y ago
      It didn't sell in such numbers that I could compare different markets and draw any conclusions. Maybe next time.
      - hello_moto 7y ago
        Do you mind if I PM you? I'd like to ask more questions regarding your thought process going into this route (Desktop app, JavaFX, marketing, etc) which I felt a bit unusual compare to the typical SaaS.
        RoyalSloth 7y ago
        Sure thing.
        hello_moto 7y ago
        Mind to drop me a line (please check my e-mail, I just update it) with your e-mail? Thank you very much!
        RoyalSloth 7y ago
suyash 7y ago
Nice to see JavaFX app - best cross platform technology out there that is not very popular.
ankit70 7y ago
Learned about JavaFX. Why not Electron or other alternatives? Sorry if it sounds too childish.
spenvo 7y ago
As someone who has built a stats app for macOS, I wish you the best! Cross platform is a big deal and something I never got around to. I had trouble finding a business model that worked - have my upvote!
- yitchelle 7y ago
  When I read "cross platform", it also implies that my data is available across these these platform. For example, I log my time when I am on my desktop writing, and I log my time on my phone when I am on the road visiting clients. Both set of data are collected into the one database. Does "cross platform" also carry this meaning for you?
  - RoyalSloth 7y ago
    No the word you are looking for is: synchronization. Cross platform means works on multiple platforms (in this case Windows, Mac, Linux).

45 points by RoyalSloth 7y ago

This looks interesting. I see that the license is only valid for a certain version. How often are new versions released? I couldn't find any info on release dates of previous/current versions.

RoyalSloth 7y ago
They are not bound to specific dates, as shipping to hit an arbitrary date creates a buggy software. A version is released when a new feature/a set of features is ready. This is actually the first public release, that's why there are no release dates online.
- jamespetercook 7y ago
  I think you should tie the licence to major versions, and give people confidence that they will still receive updates for bug fixes and patches. But they’ll have to purchase a licence to get new features.
- Brave-Steak 7y ago
  I just feel it's hard to evaluate the price if I don't have a rough idea of how often there might be updates. Is it a monthly thing? Every 4 months? 8? Once a year? I don't know how much time passed between v1.0 and 1.1 and 1.2. I don't even need exact dates. A statement like "We expect to push out a new version every few weeks/months/once a year or so" makes it easier to reason about the cost.
  - RoyalSloth 7y ago
    You are right that was updated to free updates for one major version (e.g: license 1.2.0 is also valid for 1.3.0, 1.4.0 but not for 2.0.0). Thanks for suggestions

AgloeDreams 7y ago

So don't take this too harshly, this looks well featured and I appreciate an ad-free model that can be used anywhere.... However... It truly amazes me how bad design and UX on many cross-platform desktop apps are. They often are literally the 'Big Bang Theory' of showing that backend engineers are downright inept at design. This app uses basically zero affordances to help drive layout priority or association. Few Bold fonts, poor padding, time stamps are mashed together and VERY hard to read. The home-view table has an extra col, the time column is too wide and the title col is not wide enough to read whole task names. Your site literally illustrates a font-weight bug in the Mac version. I'm sure it has great features and works fine! But your competition makes incredibly good looking products that are incredibly glanceable. Notably, many of the platform specific companies make amazing looking products that are deeply integrated into their OS. (Notably placement in the task/menu bar) Look at how Clockify is doing almost everything you do...for free. Sure, you offer data privacy by being fully offline..but then again you don't sync anything and forget about phones, you aren't even there! I mean this looks like something you might find buried in an open source project from 2008...for $16USD.

RoyalSloth 7y ago
The only way to improve is to hear such opinions. So thanks, will see what I can do about the design. It's easy to get carried away with feature development.
- fit2rule 7y ago
  Please make it usable from the keyboard. Nothing irks me more than to have to mouse-wrangle things around to track my time, which I do in 6 minute increments, so it can get frustrating. If I have a way to switch tasks by keyboard, I'm more likely to use the app. If I have to mouse-wrangle .. just, meh.
  - RoyalSloth 7y ago
    Better keyboard support comes in next version. Do you mind telling me why do you switch between tasks every 6 minutes?

thrownaway954 7y ago

Minimum 2GB or RAM!!! Seriously... WTF?

imperialdrive 7y ago
I think it's a joke.
- thrownaway954 7y ago
  He's selling this thing so I would think you wouldn't want to joke about the requirements.
  - RoyalSloth 7y ago
    Whatever software you buy, there are usually some kind of minimum system requirements listed so people don't run it on some ancient potato and complain how it doesn't work. It uses ~220Mb of RAM in total.
    - imperialdrive 7y ago
      Roger that. btw, I really dig the execution - all platforms covered, simple/straightforward function. Nice work. My only comment (and perhaps I simply missed the info) is it would be great to have keyboard shortcuts available to tie into my keyboard program buttons or Elgato deck.
      - RoyalSloth 7y ago
        Here is the list of current shortcuts (not much I know): https://docs.royalsloth.eu/slothtracker/documentation/#keyboard-shortcuts https://docs.royalsloth.eu/slothtracker/documentation/#keybo...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
BerislavLopac 7y ago

hello_moto 7y ago

Have you make any sales so far?

RoyalSloth 7y ago
Yes
- hello_moto 7y ago
  Congrats. Out of curiosity, what is your market segment breakdown (EU vs US)? Seeing that this is a desktop app, I wonder if EU has a different sentiment than US market.
  - RoyalSloth 7y ago
    It didn't sell in such numbers that I could compare different markets and draw any conclusions. Maybe next time.
    - hello_moto 7y ago
      Do you mind if I PM you? I'd like to ask more questions regarding your thought process going into this route (Desktop app, JavaFX, marketing, etc) which I felt a bit unusual compare to the typical SaaS.
      - RoyalSloth 7y ago
        Sure thing.
        hello_moto 7y ago
        Mind to drop me a line (please check my e-mail, I just update it) with your e-mail? Thank you very much!
        RoyalSloth 7y ago

suyash 7y ago

Nice to see JavaFX app - best cross platform technology out there that is not very popular.

ankit70 7y ago

Learned about JavaFX. Why not Electron or other alternatives? Sorry if it sounds too childish.

spenvo 7y ago

As someone who has built a stats app for macOS, I wish you the best! Cross platform is a big deal and something I never got around to. I had trouble finding a business model that worked - have my upvote!

yitchelle 7y ago
When I read "cross platform", it also implies that my data is available across these these platform. For example, I log my time when I am on my desktop writing, and I log my time on my phone when I am on the road visiting clients. Both set of data are collected into the one database. Does "cross platform" also carry this meaning for you?
- RoyalSloth 7y ago
  No the word you are looking for is: synchronization. Cross platform means works on multiple platforms (in this case Windows, Mac, Linux).