Is it possible to make an application for use in supermarkets, with which we will scan the codes of the products, take out their prices, collect them and add them to produce a sum of expenses, for a good control of what we will pay at the checkout , about whether our money is enough to pay for all the products we have chosen?
Also would it be good with this application to save these prices so we can check how much they have gone up or down for a later time.
You would need an api which could give the prices from the code
Not that I know the rest, but is there a tutorial on how and where to find an API and how to use it?
Ask the supermarket/s...
To ask the supermarkets about the API or if I am allowed to do it. If it's for the API, I'll have to ask all the supermarkets and why should they answer me if as their customer I want to feel confident?
I don't understand what is the problem with the confident...if a supermarket has a public API, it is available for anyone...no critical information relative to the customers is given by these APIs....and yes, it is very probable that each supermarket has a different API.
Another option is to do web scraping.
Except I didn't know if supermarket APIs are public and how one has access to APIs
Thanks for the replies, I have now learned that the APIs must be requested from the supermarkets
I asked on Gemini in Greek and got this answer that I put in google's auto translate
Yes, it is possible to create an app for supermarket use with the features you describe using MIT App Inventor.
Here are the steps:
- Design:
Create a new project in MIT App Inventor.
Design your app screen. You will need:
A button to scan a barcode.
A text area to display the product list.
A text area to display the total amount.
2. Functionality:
Barcode scanning:
Use the "Barcode Scanner" component to scan the product's barcode.
Store the barcode in a variable.
Get price:
Use an API (eg OpenFoodFacts) to get the price of the product based on the barcode.
Store the value in a variable.
List update:
Add the product name and price to the list text area.
Calculation of total amount:
Add the price of the product to the total amount.
Display the total amount in the text area.
Save History:
Store product names, prices and purchase dates in a database.
View your purchase history on a separate screen.
3. Sources:
MIT App Inventor: https://appinventor.mit.edu/
Barcode Scanner component: [[invalid URL removed]]([invalid URL removed])
OpenFoodFacts API: [[invalid URL removed]]([invalid URL removed])
Tips:
Use the "Listview" component to display the product list in a more user-friendly way.
Use the "Date Picker" component to allow users to filter their purchase history by date.
Create a Google Cloud Platform account to store your database.
Examples:
[[invalid URL removed]]([invalid URL removed])
[[invalid URL removed]]([invalid URL removed])
Caution:
My supermarket has a sign at the door forbidding photography
A screenshot on my mobile from a neighborhood supermarket app.
It says: Welcome!
Start by scanning the QR at the self-shopping kiosk
See here the stores where they are
I've never used it and don't know what it is, which made me think of this app I described at the beginning.
But it's probably extremely difficult...
My supermarket already provides for most of this. You can sign up for the use of provided hand held scanners that you use to scan each item into your basket. Once finished shopping you go to the checkout hand over the scanner and pay.
If you have a loyalty card, you can check your shopping list on the supermarket's website.
Sometimes the staff will do a spot check on what you have in your basket....
Even better (if you like it), order online and have your shopping delivered to your door.
I googled 'Kroger price api' and found their supermarket api for developers:
https://developer.kroger.com/reference
Other supermarkets may have something similar.
I thought about it to have better financial control of it, better control of my budget
But I will look into what you write to see how it works
I'll probably have to contact my neighborhood supermarket chain