Recommendations for building a mobile application

To make your app quick and simple to use there should be as few screen taps as possible to perform a search. Ideally, the user would do the following:

1. Tap once to start a search. We recommend that this tap should launch camera mode, without first asking if the user wants to use an existing photo. If using an existing photo is possible, add an icon to do this that is visible from your camera-mode screen.
2. The first time a user opens your app, show them a simple one page guide on how to take a good photo with an example. Only show this page again if the user requests it.
3. Launch camera mode as soon as possible. If using an existing photo is possible, add an icon to do this that is visible from your camera-mode screen. If your app’s main focus is recognizing items using image recognition, then your app can launch directly into camera mode, skipping step 1.
4. Tap once to take the photo. If you have a “preview image” screen that allows the user to approve the photo they took, initiate the Search call in the background even before the user gives approval. This improves the app’s responsiveness for the vast majority of occasions when users do approve the preview.

We also recommend that you do not have the app user manually crop their photos as this complicates their experience and is rarely necessary.

1. Let the user know what’s happening while they wait. While your app is sending the photo, show the user the photo they took while updating them on the progress of the search. For example, “Sending photo”, “Recognizing image”
2. Display the best match identified by WineEngine, or another action if the object is not recognized.