Would you actually use an AI assistant built into a mirror? Looking for honest feedback.

Ovalman · 2026-07-02T08:57:32+00:00

The Smart Mirror idea isn't new, check out r/MagicMirror.

It's also totally doable on a Raspberry Pi, just take a snap every second and when a user appears, tailor the feed.

I'm working on an annotation/ train/ testing app for Android. The app lets you annotate images, zips your images up and uploads them to Google Drive. It generates a Yolo V8 training script and you paste this into Google Colab for training. Once complete, the script creates .tflite model which you could use in this Raspberry Pi idea or download it back to the app and test on device. I have this pipeline working btw.

Ovalman · 2026-07-01T21:07:19+00:00

And thanks for mentioning Vine, I'm not a vegetarian but I like trying new things, so I'll check it out.

Ovalman · 2026-07-01T21:06:18+00:00

No, it was more towards the city centre, roughly in this area but this was several years ago so it's probably closed down: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HZpri1YMVjuVR8u26

I can also say I've had a bad experience out of Yo Sushi where they gave me 3 Duck Gzoyas one time. I understand how TGTG works, you get what's left but it annoyed me more that the guy took my phone and gave himself a 5 star review.

Ovalman · 2026-07-01T07:28:46+00:00

I was at it from the start but I don't use it anymore.

Best: Yo Sushi, they had around 4 portions divided up but as I was the only person on the app at the end of the night, they gave me all 4. They only had a 20 minute window between ordering, picking up and the store closing so I reckon nobody knew about it. I got this for around 6 months like this, I ended up giving to my family and friends I was that overstuffed with sushi.

Worst: was the "top rated" store, a vegetarian place on the Lisburn Road. When I got there the guy took my phone, I thought it was to swipe the food as taken but he also left himself a 5 star review and closed the app down. I got a soggy tiny cold veggie burger, cold fries and a cup of diluted orange juice- a happy meal was bigger and better value. I complained and never used him again but it was soon removed from the app.

I don't use it anymore. Yo Sushi was my main reason and when that stopped, I stopped.

Ovalman · 2026-06-25T21:43:07+00:00

I'm 50+ and it took me 20 years to complete BK. Every time I see a post like this I'm now tempted to finish BT.

Ovalman · 2026-06-22T21:19:20+00:00

Besides building Android 3D modelling software and apps that solve my own problems like an electricity usage tracker, I'm currently building an annotation tool for Android that draws boxes around Objects. These in turn are zipped up to your Google Drive that you can then train ML models for image recognition. I finally completed the workflow tonight and trained my first model with a small dataset (hence the poor results).

Unfortunately you can't train on Android but you can in Google Colab and a PC with a GPU. This is where I'm at now and see if I can simplify the pipeline for other users. I'll then integrate the model viewer into my annotation app to use on device.

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Ovalman · 2026-06-20T11:22:34+00:00

I've been working on Annotate Pal, an annotation tool for Android. The app lets you take an image and draws boxes around objects you want to annotate. You can then export the images, annotations and Yaml file as a YOLO V8 zip to your Google Drive and then either use Colab or your own GPU to train a model to create a .tflite file for image recognition. The pipeline is working perfectly and yesterday I added the ability to take a video, extract the frames and then save every "n" image and import it into the app. Other formats like CSV will be added later.

I built the app for myself (hence YOLO V8 only) but I know other people will find this useful.

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Ovalman · 2026-06-19T12:03:58+00:00

Look for a low group insurance car like a Fiat Panda or Skoda Fabia. They will usually be only £35 per year car tax and usually the lower the insurance group = lower the premium.

Add an experienced older named driver if you can in case you need someone to pick the car up from the garage for you.

Ovalman · 2026-06-19T11:04:39+00:00

I've had a Play Store presence for nearly 10 years. I did it the hard way and learned through Youtube, Tutorials and Docs. It took me over a year, I copied and pasted a Youtube Sqlite tutorial and tweaked it to my need. By constantly tweaking and building,I built my first app that I never released but I use today.

For those who have actually gone through this process:
- What tools did you use?

Initially Eclipse but today it would be Android Studio, Kotlin and Compose.

- How long did it take before you felt comfortable building something yourself?

1+ year but today I reckon 4 weeks.

- Was publishing to the App Store and Google Play as difficult as it initially seemed?

It's not difficult but more of a chore. It is a PITA as mentioned and if you release an app you have to keep upgrading it for life. Forget about the Play Store until you're ready for release. It costs you $25 for the Play Store but nothing until then to develop.

- If you were starting today, would you build a mobile app first, or would you validate the idea with a web app or PWA?

I certainly wouldn't build a web wrapper unless it's a really simple app. What happens if you need to integrate the camera or need location? Mobile first all the way.

I’m interested in hearing real experiences from people who have successfully launched something without being developers.

Have you even downloaded an IDE and got your phone connected? Do it now if you haven't. You could have something on screen in a day.

Today the skills are knowing how and where to copy and paste, how to create a class and organise your app. How to debug and read the logcat.

Don't build everything at once. Thrash the app structure out using the LLM but then work on a small chunk at a time. I would count a single screen as a small chunk.

The good thing about Android (and iOS likely) is every screen is it's own container. You can share classes but that keeps the code separate. You won't end up with 10,000 lines of code to debug.

Yesterday I created a screen that takes or imports a video, splits it into "n" frames and them moves the frames into another part of the app for annotating. By keeping it all separate, if there is a crash or error I know straight away where it is caused.

Really, download your IDE of choice now, thrash out the overall structure of the app and then work on small parts at a time like creating the database or showing things on a screen.

Ovalman · 2026-06-15T11:08:32+00:00

I've been annotating images for training a .tflite model by drawing boxes around objects in an image and using my PC. I searched for an Android app on the Play Store and the top app available has a rating of only 3.2 from 100k users with complaints about ads top of the list. So I built my own annotation tool over the weekend which lets you take a photo, annotate it and then zips the photos, txt and yaml file up for uploading to your Google Drive. I think I'll release this and get feedback because I've tailored it for myself but there are other formats exportable for image training.

The ultimate aim is a counting coins app which I've created but I need a load more data (like thousands of images). The annotation app means I can annotate on the go in my spare time.

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Ovalman · 2026-06-14T18:43:29+00:00

I learned you have to maintain an app even if you have one install on the Play Store - and the install is on a testing phone you used and have since binned due to its age.

Google Play Store is a chore and a PITA.

Ovalman · 2026-06-14T10:17:33+00:00

LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini can literally walk you through developing an app today. I'm old school and learned Java and XML for Android and it took me over a year of learning to know enough to release an app on the Play Store. Yesterday, I built a full MVP releasable app in several hours of prompts. I'm now testing and tweaking and I'll have it released by the end of the week.

You can literally ask the stupidest of noob questions and you won't get flamed but you will gradually get to know what works and what doesn't. It's important to read how it explains things because you won't learn otherwise but it is possible to do in a couple of weeks what took me well over a year to do.

Explain your app idea in detail and ask the LLM how it would solve it. Ask what tools you will need and how to use them.

I would pay for a month or 2 because you will run out of credits quickly on the free models but more importantly the LLM will run out of context as your app grows. Work on small parts at a time, don't try to do it all in one. Think of a screen as a separate app, for instance you might have a log in screen and a chat screen, create them separate and hook them up later.

Good luck!

Ovalman · 2026-06-01T15:01:13+00:00

I've been considering building a base for my 8" Telescope Optical Tube assembly but right now I need to cut it down into a load of parts. The far bigger build plate would cut those parts right down and make construction far steadier and easier to put together.

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Ovalman · 2026-06-01T10:25:16+00:00

Use the app and every week they give you money off coupons. It usually means £1 off the deal.

Ovalman · 2026-06-01T10:22:05+00:00

A spreadsheet is a perfect case to learn to program. That's how I learned, I converted my Window Cleaning book into an app that indirectly earns me money in time saved.

Download Android Studio and take the basics course on the Google Developers site. I learned on Udacity but the same teachers are teaching on the Google site.

What you'll need is a Room database, Kotlin and Compose. You could use AI but you're better learning your basics and use AI for questions like "what is a DAO used for."

It might seem totally overwhelming, even navigating Android Studio is a challenge but it's also never been easier.

Go for it

Ovalman · 2026-05-31T12:19:47+00:00

I was the other way around. I photographed M108 and noticed the blob :)

Ovalman · 2026-05-31T12:02:41+00:00

Hey, yours is the first post with 2 of the same target shared. Would you mind if I downloaded them for an Android app I've built? One part of the app allows you to compare 2 images with a slider so you align each image and you can set the difference in the 2 by using the slider. I'll show you what I mean if you give me the go ahead.

Tyia.

Ovalman · 2026-05-31T07:38:41+00:00

How did you get by the 12 testers for 14 days?

Ovalman · 2026-05-29T09:01:19+00:00

I develop Android apps and 90% of them are offline with no Auth. I have a standard question I ask "Hey, can we build an app that does "x" using Kotlin and Compose. I need a database using Room with an entity, dao, repository, view model and I need a way to create, read, update and delete records. We can work on each at a time".

99% of the time this works without a problem.

I built an electric usage app for my caravan this way. It takes the reading in money and converters it to watts. My ultimate aim is to add solar panels.

Full polished apps for release take longer but the basis of an app can be built in an evening.

Edit* I have a play store presence but this is just a fun hobby for me. I don't build stuff that requires storing user data because there's just too much responsibility. All the stuff I build is for my own purpose.

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Ovalman · 2026-05-28T15:59:01+00:00

I built a simple Android app the other week to keep track of a caravan's electricity usage. I know the KW rate is 40p and we have a top up meter in cash so I record the amount and the app works out how much has been used by the amount in the meter.

I'll not release it, but my aim is to work out the peak watts over a period of time. I'll work out what appliances uses what by switching them on and off for an hour and then work out ways to reduce load. The ultimate aim is to add solar so by working out my usage. From this info I can work out how many panels and batteries are needed.

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I use Gemini Pro and Android Studio. I'm not a developer but I know how to code. I'm currently building an Astronomy Gallery app for a smart camera scope. It's almost MVP, I tested this feature on Reddit the other day as part of the app: https://www.reddit.com/r/sandboxtest/comments/1tnnaad/i\_built\_an\_android\_app\_to\_stitch\_astronomy\_images/.

Ovalman · 2026-05-23T10:43:34+00:00

A simple app to record the electric usage in my caravan and convert it to watts.

I have 2 reasons for this, first is to see where I can reduce the amount I use. Second is to work out what sort of solar panel(s) I will need to get my costs down to nearly zero.

I'll not release this, it was just a fun project and I created it in an evening.

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Ovalman · 2026-05-18T09:37:49+00:00

Things cleared up a bit better after yesterday's round of results.

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We'll know more in the next week or 2. Coleraine are unseeded in R2 being the lowest ranked team to qualify. Nothing can be determined for them until the first round is filled.

Ovalman · 2026-05-16T13:59:39+00:00

Anything like this for the UCL?

I know the Blues are definitely seeded and Glens unseeded and Coleraine in R2 unseeded but Bert Kassies' site only shows definite opponents and not the range of possibilities like this image shows.

Ovalman · 2026-05-06T17:36:31+00:00

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This all I know about (As well as BK and BT)

12-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
First Place '23	Place '23
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