Hi everyone,
I’m doing user research for a bread baking app and would love feedback from experienced home bakers here.
I’m trying to avoid “nice-to-have” features and focus on what is truly useful in real baking workflows.
What would make you actually use an app like this weekly?
Features I’m considering:
- Dough calculator (hydration, baker’s %, scaling by loaf count/tin size)
- Fermentation timeline with reminders (autolyse, folds, bulk, proof, bake)
- Starter management (feeding schedule, maturity tracking, peak prediction)
- Formula journal (save changes, crumb photos, notes, bake ratings)
- Temperature-aware timing adjustments (room/proofing/fridge)
- Recipe import + clean, step-by-step bake mode
I’d especially value your input on:
- What frustrates you most in existing baking apps/tools?
- Which tasks are still better in spreadsheets/notebooks?
- What would be a “must-have” for sourdough bakers?
- Would you prefer one-time purchase or subscription (if any)?
Thanks a lot for any honest feedback. Concrete examples from your own process are super helpful.
Your suggested features are well-chosen, especially the baking log with photos.
Thank you very much I noted everything. I love the idea of using OCR for your existing recipes in a book or handwritten recipes.
A dough calculator would be one of the features I want the most, but if it's going by tin size, I'd either want the option to customize the dough weight per tin or have toggles for whole wheat, etc. My issue with calculators I've tried before are that they're for refined flour breads, which I rarely make.
Notes would be necessary. If there's an easy way to provide a field for "things to do differently next time" type notes (which should be optional, of course), I might value the app more than my existing pen and paper solution. To me that's the important info.
There is a 0% chance you'd get me to pay for a subscription. I'm not completely against subscriptions for services, but this app isn't something I think justifies that (in contrast to, say, platforms where I'm streaming content regularly; I understand that my use costs the host something recurrently.)
My process right now generally starts with an idea of what kind of dough I want to make (e.g. sweet potato bread), then I review recipes for guidance on formula. I write down the ingredients with weight I'll use on a sheet of printer paper sans instructions, stick that to the side of my fridge, and follow it as I measure. I note adjustments as I go and write down notes or thoughts for changes after tasting. After I'm done, I typically stuff these sheets in various places and once in a while I find them again when I want to
I tend to take quite a few photos of each bake, sometimes as early in the process as kneading and usually I'll try to document my shaping as I'm working on improving that and/or trying out new shaping techniques. Obviously loaf an crumb shots too.
So there's certainly some value for me in an app that consolidates my notes and photos.
Hope something in there helps!
Thank you very much. Very valueable feedback and very detailed. Also the point about the subscriptions helps a lot. I too think the app should be free for the most part, but for some very advanced stuff (for example if i integrate AI) should be gated behind a small sub or maybe a one time purchase.
I love the idea of baking a loaf and then at the end you get ask: things to do differently next time - you will enter it and the next time you bake it will highlight that before you start baking. Thx
AI integration is something I would understand being gated behind a subscription. I personally would not use it (but I don’t use generative AI in general).
Highlighting things to change when you start baking — I like the idea a lot but I’m not sure the timing is right. For times, shaping, temps, and that sort of thing it would be, but not if I wanted to tweak the formula.
This makes me realize that the ability to copy a previous recipe/formula so that I can tweak it would be an important feature for me. Or potentially one recipe could have multiple formulas (e.g. if I adjust the base formula, a version for additions, etc.)
If you weren’t wisely trying to limit feature creep at this point I’d be asking for a feature to iterate on a previous bake’s formula in a way that does the highlighting of intended changes you described; since you are, though, maybe that’s an item for the “maybe some day well after launch” list.
Hi. Thx again for reaching out. Nice idea. I already kinda have this in place. You select a recipe (either imported or created manually, or scaped via ocr) - you click start baking - then it will ask you when you want the bread to be done (including cooled off), and in this screen you can customize (optionally):
Then you start the bake you get a notification when you have to start and get a big detail screen with guidance and all kinds of customizable stuff, screen stays unlocked. After each step you can add comments to this step in this bake, and optionally images. This guides you to the end (including each step has a timer with push notifications), where you can leave an optional review and images etc.
Thats the recipe tab of the app. It has more features (manual creation of recipe, recipe from photo, recipe from link -> post a recipe from King arthur for example and all is filled out and can then be further customized - this needs AI btw) etc.
Is that roughly what you want, or could you provide more details. Every suggestion gets on my list, so thx again.
Would you be willing to beta test when it starts via a Apple Test Flight invitation (or android if you are on android)?
I think we're using the word "bake" differently. I've been meaning it as the step where you put the dough in the oven and wait; you seem to be meaning it as from the start of measuring ingredients. With the latter definition, the process you describe generally sounds reasonable to me.
However, personally, when I'm making bread the timing of the various steps has to adapt to my schedule (which has very little flexibility these days). So if the app needs me to tell it when I want the bread to be done and then calculates the timing of each step for me backward from that, that would at best not be useful to me and perhaps (depending on any other alterations to the recipe it makes) be quite frustrating. I may like the timer with push notifications if it otherwise worked with my process.
I replied to your other comment about that here. (Let me take this opportunity to put some metaphorical underlines beneath the "If I have the time" part, though!)
All the above, plus, a desired dough temperature calculator given the room temperature, flour temperature, levain temperature and mixer friction factor, to calculate the water temperature.
An option to try for free (time specified), or subscription (time specified) or a lifetime licence that includes updates.
Gavin
Yes desired dough temperatur is already implemented. Thanks for your feedback :)
Would some of you guys and gals be willing to test my app once its ready on apple testflight / google play console internal testing? With that you can help shape the app => all your feedback will flow back into the development of the app.
Bonus: Lifetime access for premium features and my eternal gratitude 🙏
When you reach that stage, I’d be happy to help out if I have the time. Note that at this point I’m only using IDY, not sourdough, and I regularly do usability testing (which may be a benefit or a drawback for you, I don’t know!) So I may or may not be a user whose feedback you want. But you’re welcome to reach out to me in the future.
Looking forward to seeing the app!
I was not able to post in the last 24 hours. Finally I'm able to again.
IDY is not a problem, i already have tools for IDY in it. For example there is a IDY to Sourdough convertor and vice versa. I'm glad for all kinds of feedback so yours will be very welcome too. If you have usability testing - that is even better. I want critic.
If I set up a discord server, would you join? On there I can give out the beta key for testflight and also post progress etc. If you prefer just giving me your email thats ok too. Just somewhere I can reach you when the app goes live in Testflight.
I do like the idea of tracking the outcomes, but I'll never fully give up my legal-size notepad - I don't believe anything will match its ability to handle and simultaneously present multiple recipe and schedule scenarios. Subscription is a non-starter for me.
Huge progress (edit god dang its hard to post images here that doesnt take the whole page):
Also there is now a discord, for updates, feedback or just talk about loafs: discord.gg/f2eJyRBpbw
Hi guys. I finally have a website where you can enter your email and then you are on the waitlist for the beta, that will start in a few days. I implemented many things since I last posted, including most of your suggestions. Here is the website: https://proofit-app.com
I would want it to calculate the overall hydration including add ins water %. So if you use eggs or mashed potatoes it would add the water content and provide an overall hydration of the dough. Also it would need to calculate the hydration including scalds, Tangzhongs, porridge additions etc. I used to use BreadStorm which was an excellent program but went out of business.
The main goal should be to make it intuitive to use but provide a realistic accounting of the formula. Also have a download to save the file to place in a posting.
Hiho,
that for the great suggestion. I have put it on my version 1.1 roadmap. The app already has a share button when your baking is finished, it will prepare a shareable card, with some text, rating and crumb + crust shot.
Is that what you mean by the download to place in a posting?