disapointing mobile inspection app research

[Norm Zhang]

I have been looking for a mobile inspection app for probably a year. And tried most apps for android, they are all following the same train of thought - the more clicks, the better, pictures are just an after thought, identicle problems in different locations shall remain scattered.

I am just wondering if this is how others work, I prefer to take a picture with the phone, select location, system, item, comment, summary or not, have identicle problems or not, then back to the camera screen. And print out a PDF summary onsite. Just wondering if this is too hard to achieve.

[Scott Patterson]

I have been looking for a mobile inspection app for probably a year. And tried most apps for android, they are all following the same train of thought - the more clicks, the better, pictures are just an after thought, identicle problems in different locations shall remain scattered.

I am just wondering if this is how others work, I prefer to take a picture with the phone, select location, system, item, comment, summary or not, have identicle problems or not, then back to the camera screen. And print out a PDF summary onsite. Just wondering if this is too hard to achieve.

Go and look at Home Inspector Pro, you can make your own template to do what you want and look how you want it to look. I use an iPad in the field and then upload to my PC back at the office to polish, finish and upload for the client.

[Aaron Johnson]

I have been looking for a mobile inspection app for probably a year. And tried most apps for android, they are all following the same train of thought - the more clicks, the better, pictures are just an after thought, identicle problems in different locations shall remain scattered.

I am just wondering if this is how others work, I prefer to take a picture with the phone, select location, system, item, comment, summary or not, have identicle problems or not, then back to the camera screen. And print out a PDF summary onsite. Just wondering if this is too hard to achieve.

Hey Norm,

Have you tried any apps for other platforms? You might just need to expand your search a little.

Spectacular Home Inspection System | Home Inspection Software iPad app (http://www.ipadhomeinspection.com)

[Norm Zhang]

Go and look at Home Inspector Pro, you can make your own template to do what you want and look how you want it to look. I use an iPad in the field and then upload to my PC back at the office to polish, finish and upload for the client.

hip is the first batch I tried, too old school and not even standalone, unable to produce summary onsite, more of a data collection app, even that requires constant maintenance cost, not what I have in mind.

[Norm Zhang]

Hey Norm,

Have you tried any apps for other platforms? You might just need to expand your search a little.

Spectacular Home Inspection System | Home Inspection Software iPad app (http://www.ipadhomeinspection.com)

I am open for other platforms, because once I found the app, I'll go buy the equipment with the best built-in camera on the market just for inspection, for the moment, Nokia lumia 1020 with windows 8 is pretty outstanding.

[Aaron Johnson]

I am open for other platforms, because once I found the app, I'll go buy the equipment with the best built-in camera on the market just for inspection, for the moment, Nokia lumia 1020 with windows 8 is pretty outstanding.

Hey Norm,

Well, if you're not ready to buy an iPad quite yet, you can go to the Apple retail store and borrow one of their iPads, download Spectacular and try it right there in the store. Remember, it's not the device that's important, it's the program that's key... It's the right app that will save you time and allow you to inspect most gracefully, not the tablet... iPad, Galaxy, and Lumia all take great photos... Spectacular runs on iPad...

[Scott Patterson]

[QUOTE=Norm Zhang;245411]hip is the first batch I tried, too old school and not even standalone, unable to produce summary onsite, more of a data collection app, even that requires constant maintenance cost, not what I have in mind.

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Really? We must be talking about a different program. The HIP I use does not have maintenance cost and it is a standalone program. Basically all reporting programs are used for data collection..

[Jim Luttrall]

[QUOTE=Norm Zhang;245411]hip is the first batch I tried, too old school and not even standalone, unable to produce summary onsite, more of a data collection app, even that requires constant maintenance cost, not what I have in mind.

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Really? We must be talking about a different program. The HIP I use does not have maintenance cost and it is a standalone program. Basically all reporting programs are used for data collection..

Or you can go with the android / pc version rather than the ipad version and have the full blown program running on everything from a phone to a tablet and it automatically produces the pdf document. Talk to the folks at HIP directly to answer your questions. It may not suit everyone's tastes but so far it seems to do all you asked for if you know where to look.

[Marc M]

I agree very old school for how long its been around. We are actually moving away form this program. We were going to try out swift but they wont be ready for a while it seems, so we stumble onto this software called spectacular. I have to say, this software is far more advanced in user options than hip with ZERO crashes. Its an amazing program and Aaron is working hard on it continually and updates are regular. Customer support is excellent.

[Scott Patterson]

I agree very old school for how long its been around. We are actually moving away form this program. We were going to try out swift but they wont be ready for a while it seems, so we stumble onto this software called spectacular. I have to say, this software is far more advanced in user options than hip with ZERO crashes. Its an amazing program and Aaron is working hard on it continually and updates are regular. Customer support is excellent.

What's the cost of "Spectacular"?

[Aaron Johnson]

What's the cost of "Spectacular"?


Affordable...

Scott, you know that price doesn't matter to inspectors when they love their program. Even if Spectacular were $1000 per year like Horizon or ReportHost, it doesn't really matter if the program works for you. Their customers love their product and will pay. We don't need that much money because we utilize free Dropbox services as our cloud service. Spectacular is not a greedy, high resource program. Spectacular is well priced...

[Norm Zhang]

What's the cost of "Spectacular"?

cost depends on how you calculate it, I consider a click cost me a nickel, and I buy the software with the least clicks to write the same report, that's how I picked my current desktop version anyway. For mobile app, I'd say probably a dime a click, consider the kind of environment you're clicking away.

[Marc M]

What's the cost of "Spectacular"?
Hey Scott, I'm telling you, if it was $1000 a year I'd pay that. It's that nice.

[Marc M]

cost depends on how you calculate it, I consider a click cost me a nickel, and I buy the software with the least clicks to write the same report, that's how I picked my current desktop version anyway. For mobile app, I'd say probably a dime a click, consider the kind of environment you're clicking away.
For me every click it more time spent at the property. If it takes 3 clicks and 10 seconds to take a picture and write a caption to me, taking 60 pics at a house is and additional hour spent, and if I'm $100 an hour lets say, that is money lost. Right now I'm seeing pictures taking upstairs a huge chunk of my time spent. And I don't take 60 pics. The average POS is over 100.
Ive gone through the "don't take so many pics" but it how we do it.

[Trent Tarter]

I've been inspecting homes 8 years now, have used two different programs so far. I have looked at about every software program out there and it's been very disappointing. In my opinion our industry desperately needs some better software programs and mobile app solutions. It seems to me that there is a huge disconnect between the software developers and the home inspectors that use the programs.

[Aaron Johnson]

I've been inspecting homes 8 years now, have used two different programs so far. I have looked at about every software program out there and it's been very disappointing. In my opinion our industry desperately needs some better software programs and mobile app solutions. It seems to me that there is a huge disconnect between the software developers and the home inspectors that use the programs.

Trent, you called into Spectacular a few weeks ago looking for new software and you didn't even own an iPad. You cannot say all mobile software is disappointing if you truly haven't tried them all. Yes, you've probably tried the most popular ones, but you cannot jump to conclusions when there are more programs available and especially apps that specialize in and are dedicated to mobile inspecting. If you're serious about taking your business mobile and ready to save time per inspection while keeping the same or better report quality, you should give Spectacular an honest try...

[Jerry Peck]

You cannot say all mobile software is disappointing if you truly haven't tried them all.


I have looked at about every software program out there and it's been very disappointing.

Aaron,

Trent did not say "all mobile software is disappointing", he sad he tried "about every" and "it's been very disappointing".

Before you rush to defend yourself you should address what is actually said ... otherwise it makes one suspicious of your motives for stating what you did, almost makes it sound defensive ...

Just sayin' ...

[Trent Tarter]

Trent, you called into Spectacular a few weeks ago looking for new software and you didn't even own an iPad. You cannot say all mobile software is disappointing if you truly haven't tried them all. Yes, you've probably tried the most popular ones, but you cannot jump to conclusions when there are more programs available and especially apps that specialize in and are dedicated to mobile inspecting. If you're serious about taking your business mobile and ready to save time per inspection while keeping the same or better report quality, you should give Spectacular an honest try...

Sorry but I was not willing to try the Spectacular software since you have to finish the entire report on an iPad.

[Aaron Johnson]

Aaron,

Trent did not say "all mobile software is disappointing", he sad he tried "about every" and "it's been very disappointing".

Before you rush to defend yourself you should address what is actually said ... otherwise it makes one suspicious of your motives for stating what you did, almost makes it sound defensive ...

Just sayin' ...

Hey Jerry,

There are no motives, but to deliver great mobile inspection software. My point is basically to not give up the search until literally all programs have been tried. I'll admit Trents' comments were a little disturbing because us software developers put in so much time, effort and passion into giving you exactly what you need to do your job as gracefully as possible...

[Jerry Peck]

... because us software developers put in so much time, effort and passion into giving you exactly what you need to do your job as gracefully as possible...

Aaron,

I know how much time, effort and passion it takes to create the "ideal" software for the inspections as I wrote my own software back to around 1994-94 as was continually updating and improving it until I retired and no longer used it.

The software can be "perfect" ... then you think "It would be neat if it did this.", so you spend the time adding that - even though you may only do that one more - it's there if you ever need it again ... :)

[Norm Zhang]

Hey Norm,

Well, if you're not ready to buy an iPad quite yet, you can go to the Apple retail store and borrow one of their iPads, download Spectacular and try it right there in the store. Remember, it's not the device that's important, it's the program that's key... It's the right app that will save you time and allow you to inspect most gracefully, not the tablet... iPad, Galaxy, and Lumia all take great photos... Spectacular runs on iPad...

Aaron, do you have a video tutorial or demo on your website? It can be a useful tool to show others what your app can do. Not everyone will read through the manual to find out all the features you have. Better yet, have a video recording of an expert inspecting the plumbing system using your app. I know yoir app is new, but that could be a big plus.

I understand you have to pick your fight, you picked ipad for your reasons. If you do inspections, you know how demanding we have on our cameras, I mentioned Nokia because that specific model can take a picture of spinning globe without shutter delays, under normal indoor lighting, and the small print on the globe clearly readable, I have yet find another inspection camera can do this, sure a high end dsl can do just the same with proper glass, but that's not what I would bring to any inspection.

[Aaron Johnson]

Sorry but I was not willing to try the Spectacular software since you have to finish the entire report on an iPad.

Yes Trent,

That's the main point of going mobile. To finish the report 100% on the mobile device... Some inspector's style makes them go home, proofread, add more pics, and then send, but that is optional with Spectacular. Many inspectors are truly finishing, generating, printing and delivering the quality report 100% onsite (no cloud necessary)... Once you're ready to go mobile, please give Spectacular another look...

[Trent Tarter]

Yes Trent,

That's the main point of going mobile. To finish the report 100% on the mobile device... Some inspector's style makes them go home, proofread, add more pics, and then send, but that is optional with Spectacular. Many inspectors are truly finishing, generating, printing and delivering the quality report 100% onsite (no cloud necessary)... Once you're ready to go mobile, please give Spectacular another look...

Finishing the report onsite sounds great but for me is not practical in most cases. I like the idea of gathering data with a mobile devise but prefer to write the final report in my comfy office chair with nice sized 24 inch monitor. Some Realtors wait at the inspection, they do not want to wait for us to complete the final report onsite. In my experience it's not practical to complete the report onsite. The inspectors that do typically produce lower quality less informative reports.

Doing reports onsite works well with newer simple speck homes, but for me that's few and far between. I inspect allot of fixer uppers and historical homes that are over 100+ years old. Many problems I find are unique to the home, it's not like I can just select an auto comment for everything. Many times as inspectors we find things we have to do further research on.

[Raymond Wand]

I have been using Horizon and I like the layout and the fact it uses "Task", "Location", "Time". However any of the programs I have looked at don't allow you to either delete their built in findings such as
"Not Inspected", "Satisfactory", "Deficient", "Serviceable", which I find to restrictive and not changeable.

However I seem to constantly run into unsolvable problems with Horizon such shown in the attachments. I am using Safari, Firefox, Chrome so its occurring across all three platforms. Repeated calls to resolve the issue have not borne fruit in resolve and I have been told its because I am on Satellite service, but recently I tried using Horizon on a Turbo stick and the same thing was happening. The problem also manifests itself on a PC using Chrome and Firefox.

[Trent Tarter]

I have been using Horizon and I like the layout and the fact it uses "Task", "Location", "Time". However any of the programs I have looked at don't allow you to either delete their built in findings such as
"Not Inspected", "Satisfactory", "Deficient", "Serviceable", which I find to restrictive and not changeable.

However I seem to constantly run into unsolvable problems with Horizon such shown in the attachments. I am using Safari, Firefox, Chrome so its occurring across all three platforms. Repeated calls to resolve the issue have not borne fruit in resolve and I have been told its because I am on Satellite service, but recently I tried using Horizon on a Turbo stick and the same thing was happening. The problem also manifests itself on a PC using Chrome and Firefox.

Hey Raymond I use HomeGauge. Just so you know you can change the stock report definitions such as "Inspected, Repair/Replace, etc. to what ever you want, you can also choose to use no definitions or ratings. However there are limitations that would not allow you to set it up like Horizon with "Task, Location, Time".

[Raymond Wand]

Thanks Trent, will check it out.

[Dominic Maricic]

Thanks Trent, will check it out.

Home Inspector Pro lets you change those. Actually, so does HomeGauge, 3D and PalmTech and I'm sure others. You might want to ask the developers Raymond as I haven't seen a program that doesn't let you change or completely remove ratings!

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Thanks Trent, will check it out.

Home Inspector Pro lets you change those. Actually, so does HomeGauge, 3D and PalmTech and I'm sure others. You might want to ask the developers Raymond as I haven't seen a program that doesn't let you change or completely remove ratings!

[Ken Amelin]

Yes Trent,

That's the main point of going mobile. To finish the report 100% on the mobile device... Some inspector's style makes them go home, proofread, add more pics, and then send, but that is optional with Spectacular. Many inspectors are truly finishing, generating, printing and delivering the quality report 100% onsite (no cloud necessary)... Once you're ready to go mobile, please give Spectacular another look...

Many inspectors believe that onsite reporting is a requirement. I find it a "negative" and think it is the wrong approach for a successful business model. I believe the time spent at the inspection site should be 100% with client and the time should be kept to a minimum. Time is valuable to everyone on site (especially our clients or anyone that may form an opinion about our company). I feel that I should not hold my client, a home owner, or their realtors "hostage" while we take everyone's precious time to prepare a written report or fiddle with technology.

Also, I believe my reports should provide information specific to my observations, not just a check mark stating "needs repair" or "further evaluation". That takes time (my time) which should be done in the background. Also, I would never take my ipad in a crawlspace or use it in the rain or below freezing. I need a "weatherproof" camera for that. I also don't like the lag time for photos with an ipad.

For those reasons and others, I choose to have a program that I can work with from a desktop or laptop computer in the comfort of my home, on my time.

[Marc M]

Many inspectors believe that onsite reporting is a requirement. I find it a "negative" and think it is the wrong approach for a successful business model. I believe the time spent at the inspection site should be 100% with client and the time should be kept to a minimum. Time is valuable to everyone on site (especially our clients or anyone that may form an opinion about our company). I feel that I should not hold my client, a home owner, or their realtors "hostage" while we take everyone's precious time to prepare a written report or fiddle with technology.

Also, I believe my reports should provide information specific to my observations, not just a check mark stating "needs repair" or "further evaluation". That takes time (my time) which should be done in the background. Also, I would never take my ipad in a crawlspace or use it in the rain or below freezing. I need a "weatherproof" camera for that. I also don't like the lag time for photos with an ipad.

For those reasons and others, I choose to have a program that I can work with from a desktop or laptop computer in the comfort of my home, on my time.

You do what.., one inspection a day?

[Ken Amelin]

You do what.., one inspection a day?

I do whatever, but I try to schedule 3 inspections over a two day period.

[Norm Zhang]

Aaron, is there any video demo / tutorial for spectacular?

[Aaron Johnson]

Aaron, is there any video demo / tutorial for spectacular?
Hey Norm,

There's no video, but we do have a tutorial. Check out the Help Manual we have online that outlines every screen within Spectacular. Also, we're always available by email or phone when you need assistance...

Spectacular for iPad Help Manual (http://www.spectacularhis.com/SpectacularForiPad.htm)

Hope this helps

[Marc M]

I do whatever, but I try to schedule 3 inspections over a two day period.

My friend does that same schedule. I'd do one a day if they'd pay...;)

[Lon Henderson]

Many inspectors believe that onsite reporting is a requirement. I find it a "negative" and think it is the wrong approach for a successful business model. I believe the time spent at the inspection site should be 100% with client and the time should be kept to a minimum. Time is valuable to everyone on site (especially our clients or anyone that may form an opinion about our company). I feel that I should not hold my client, a home owner, or their realtors "hostage" while we take everyone's precious time to prepare a written report or fiddle with technology.

For those reasons and others, I choose to have a program that I can work with from a desktop or laptop computer in the comfort of my home, on my time.

Agree.

I use EZ Home Inspection. It makes a nice report without a bunch of frivolous bells and whistles. I have had several agents tell me that it's the best looking report that they have seen. Customizing it took a crazy amount of hours, but now, I can complete a typical report at my office in about an hour.

I prefer to do one inspection a day, but I usually end up doing seven over a five day period. Except this time of year it's two a day.....two and a mini inspection yesterday. 125 miles and 13 hours later, I'm done. On one hand, I think I'm too old for this, but on the other hand, apparently I'm not, because I'm doing it.

The difference this year is that I'm refusing to work weekends (unless someone makes me an offer that I can't refuse.......and several have:D)

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Many inspectors believe that onsite reporting is a requirement. I find it a "negative" and think it is the wrong approach for a successful business model. I believe the time spent at the inspection site should be 100% with client and the time should be kept to a minimum. Time is valuable to everyone on site (especially our clients or anyone that may form an opinion about our company). I feel that I should not hold my client, a home owner, or their realtors "hostage" while we take everyone's precious time to prepare a written report or fiddle with technology.

For those reasons and others, I choose to have a program that I can work with from a desktop or laptop computer in the comfort of my home, on my time.

Agree.

I use EZ Home Inspection. It makes a nice report without a bunch of frivolous bells and whistles. I have had several agents tell me that it's the best looking report that they have seen. Customizing it took a crazy amount of hours, but now, I can complete a typical report at my office in about an hour.

I prefer to do one inspection a day, but I usually end up doing seven over a five day period. Except this time of year it's two a day.....two and a mini inspection yesterday. 125 miles and 13 hours later, I'm done. On one hand, I think I'm too old for this, but on the other hand, apparently I'm not, because I'm doing it.

The difference this year is that I'm refusing to work weekends (unless someone makes me an offer that I can't refuse.......and several have:D)

[Matt Fellman]

Ever since the beginning of time (or at least the beginning of home inspections) inspectors have been trying to find something to write their reports for them. There's just no way around the fact that you have to write a report. Sure, the new mobile world helps but even in a huge house how far of a walk is it to the laptop on the kitchen counter?

Everyone has their own method and it's great to try everything to see what's out there. Just be realistic in your expectations. fwiw, I generally churn out 2 reports on an MS Word based report template my partner wrote and am in my driveway done by 5. The laptop sits on the kitchen counter for on-site work and I work in the truck between jobs and before I get home for proofreading and finishing touches.

My 2 cents is to shop around but don't always think there is some software or system that is going to change your life.

[Trent Tarter]

The most significant time saver with any program is to simply have a well written extensive boiler plate of auto comments. I've been using a camera and laptop onsite for over 6 years now, and have come to the conclusion that there must be better and more efficient way to gather data.

I'm starting to test out HomeGauge Companion (Android mobile app). It will take some time getting use to, hoping by the end of August I will like it better than the old camera and laptop. HomeGauge is in process of updating and improving the app.