A phone app that reads the numbers off a basic bathroom scale and saves them for you
Asked for by a poster on Software Recommendations Stack Exchange · original source · more from Software Recommendations
Some bathroom scales flash weight, BMI and body-fat readings on a small screen one at a time, so copying them into a spreadsheet by hand is slow and easy to get wrong. A simple phone app could watch the scale's screen through the camera for one full round, read each number, and save them in the same order every time. It could then copy them straight into a spreadsheet, and get better at reading different scale models over time. It would only copy the readings down, without interpreting them or giving medical advice.
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The weekend plan
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- Done for one weekend
- You point the phone at the scale, capture each reading as it flashes up, fix any misread number, and save the set as one dated row you can copy into a spreadsheet.
- Suggested shape
- Phone-first web app
- In scope
- Use the phone camera in the browser, with a capture button for each reading. Reading the live video through a full round can come once this works.
- Read the digits with an on-device text reader. Scale screens use segment-style digits that general text readers often get wrong, so test with a real scale and expect corrections.
- Set up your scale's order of readings once (weight, BMI, body fat…), and let the user fix any number before saving.
- Save each set as a dated row and copy rows in a form that pastes into a spreadsheet, or export a CSV file. Readings and camera images stay on the phone.
- Only record the numbers: no interpretation, targets or health advice.
- Optional, if there's time
- Read the live video automatically through one full round of readings.
- Saved setups for different scale models.
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