Today we will see awesome new features added in version 1 of Medicines Catalogue app for Windows Phone. There were some major changes done from feedback given.
To know about the idea behind the app, go to its introduction and come back here. Its not necessary though, just read along…
I will share three important features – Alarms, Groups and Password Protection. After that I will discuss the features which will be released in future.
Feature 1: Adding Alarms
Adding alarms is extremely simple. Follow these simple steps
- Tap on a medicine on the home screen.
- Click the pencil icon to edit it. You will be taken to update page, see below
Click the “add alarm” link to add alarms
- Click the add alarm link. You will be taken to adding alarms page, see below
Set the date range, time and frequency of the alarm
- Set the date range, time and frequency when the alarm should sound
- Tap the “save” button to add the alarm to your medicine
The new alarm is added to the medicine. Tap the trash can to delete it.
- Once it is time to take a medicine, Medicines Catalogue will gladly remind you to take the medicine.
The alarm shows what medicine to take and in what quantity
- Alarm notification shows, what medicine to take and how much. Which is quite handy to have!
- On tapping the alarm, all details of medicine are shown
Feature 2: Categorize medicines into Groups
Medicines can now be categorized for better organization. Adding, modifying and deleting categories is even simpler. Below I have created groups for various purposes.
- Categories based on diseases: Fever, cold, body pains etc
- Categories based on people: Medicines used by father, mother, grand parents etc
- Medicines currently used / not used and more…
This feature’s use cases are limitless. You can use it for your own set of reasons.
Shows the available groups and medicines under each group
Navigating between the groups is also pretty simple. Tap on any group header, to see the list of all existing groups. Pick one and you are directly taken to that group. See below,
Tap any group header to see all the groups.
Feature 3: Password protection
Some things are to be kept private. There may be times when we don’t want others to see our medicines. Simply password protect your app. Whenever you leave the app and reopen again, it prompts for a password. Your medication is secure and private. To add a password:
- Go to settings
Toggle the “Password Protection” to enable password protection
- Toggle the “Password Protection” and set a simple password so that you don’t forget it. There is no way as of now to recover lost password.
- Tap the save button. That’s it!!!
Other small but significant changes
There are some minor changes which are considered from feedback given
Quantity of medicine left field
A new quantity field is added. Users can now pick the quantity type from pre defined list (ml, mg, pills, strips, bottles). This is done for a feature update in future. So users can now clearly indicate 5 strips for quantity indicating, 5 strips of a medicine are remaining.
Shows the new smart quantity field
Smarter Dosage field
In previous version, dosage field was a simple text block where users can enter anything. This version upgrades it with more controlled and systematic fields. This is also done for a feature upgrade in future. Now users can mention 2 pills for dosage, indicating every time 2 pills of that medicine has to be consumed
Shows a smart dosage field
Rate and review & Private feedback
User’s feedback is very important. It is this feedback from which the app can be made more useful. In the about page “Rate and Review” is added. This takes to the store where they can add a review visible to everyone.
If the user wants to share a private feedback, they can mail me as well. Tapping the ‘letter’ icon at the bottom opens a mail client. This is visible only to me. And they can write as much as they want.
Shows the rate and review option in the about page
Features in further releases
- Backup medicines on Skydrive: The medication information is very crucial at time. Backing up regularly is always a good option!
- Multiple images per medicine: Currently only one image is allowed per medicine. This will be changed by the feedback from users
- Camera enhancements: Features like crop, rotate and basic editing functionalities
- Live tiles: Alerting if medicine is getting over, next medicine to consume
- many more…
Let me know what you feel:
How are you using this app? Share it with me….
Look at this page fore more interesting use cases like this
Nitin's Blog 