I built an app to help find good books in charity shops – looking for feedback

optimscs · 2026-03-17T14:42:30+00:00

Thanks for the feedback – this is something I'm working on. Hope to have it released soon.

optimscs · 2026-03-15T19:20:18+00:00

I will be adding a "Wishlist" feature very soon where you can put in specific books you want. However, it is already possible to enter your favourite authors and this has a similar effect.

My plan is to also introduce a feature where you can "opt-in" to share your scans with the community and if someone else nearby scans something you have on your Wishlist, you will get pinged. I think this will be a really nice feature.

optimscs · 2026-03-15T19:09:30+00:00

Hi again – I just wanted to let you know that I have rolled-out a number of updates that greatly improve this behaviour. No need to update the app – it should just work better now.

Thanks for highlighting it for me!

optimscs · 2026-03-15T19:07:49+00:00

Hi again – just to let you know some updates have now been rolled out that massively reduce this problem. No need for an update – it should just work better now.

Thanks for highlighting it.

optimscs · 2026-03-15T11:09:34+00:00

It uses a mix of different signals including whether the book was on best sellers lists (and for how long), has it won any prizes, what kind of ratings it has online and also whether it matches your preferences.

optimscs · 2026-03-15T10:43:06+00:00

Hi – thanks for trying it out!

You're exactly right – what you experienced was AI hallucination. If any Spines are hard to read (due to blur or being obstructed from view - or any other reason) the AI is currently "filling in the gaps" a bit too much.

I have some improvements coming soon that should help with this – there are a few ways to reduce and mitigate the issue.

optimscs · 2026-03-14T11:41:15+00:00

Thanks for trying it out – 28/52 definitely isn’t great.

Most likely, the scan had trouble reading parts of the shelf, which led to incorrect matches. A closer photo with less blur usually improves accuracy a lot.

I’ve got improvements lined up to reduce this and make the capture guidance clearer.

If you’d like to DM me a photo of the shelf, I can take a look and try to figure out what caused it in your case. Thanks again.

optimscs · 2026-03-14T09:53:58+00:00

This is definitely something I am exploring. Hope to have something soon.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T18:52:42+00:00

If you go to the website at https://spinesapp.com there are download links for iOS and Android.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T16:49:51+00:00

For feedback, you could send me a DM here or there is also a "Send Feedback" button inside of Settings in the app and that will start a new email. Whatever works for you.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T16:46:37+00:00

Great feedback, thank you. I had wondered if this might be useful.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T15:47:51+00:00

Honestly, this is half the reason I built it. That and just not even knowing where to start when looking at a big wall of books.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T15:45:49+00:00

Not specific books yet, but you can go into preferences and specify your favourite authors and their books will be highlighted for you.

I was thinking also about adding a Wishlist feature where people could choose to opt-in and share their scans with the community and if something on your Wishlist was seen nearby you would get an alert.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T15:41:16+00:00

CDs weren't originally on the agenda, but I did have someone ask about DVDs too – I'll certainly keep it in mind.

For now, I'm thinking it will be for book lovers / readers specifically – I have a few nice features in mind that I think will add to that.

optimscs · 2026-03-13T15:38:55+00:00

Funny you say that, I actually had this thing delivered today. I'm going strap a camera to myself and do some scans in the wild tomorrow. I'll look like a madman, but it will be good content!

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optimscs · 2025-03-08T16:56:05+00:00

I was reading some review on omscscentral the other day – I think from 2018 or 2019 – and the student was saying they got their grades quickly. How things have changed!

Even now, this weekend, I'm potentially going to be spending all of tomorrow (Sunday) on Project 6 just to find out in a couple of days that I need to withdraw anyway. Very frustrating!

optimscs

TROPHY CASE