Support & Frequently Asked Questions

How do I join the alpha test?

Click the "Join alpha" button in the top right of this page, enter your email adress, and you will be notified when the app is ready for download. You can also, if you prefer, join our discord server and keep an eye on the #releases channel. The Wagglescribe alpha will be distributed via a link to the Google Play Store.

Can I use the app without looking at or touching my phone?

Yes - After entering the hands-free mode you can lock the phone and put it in your pocket. You say a "control phrase" to begin recording, and hear an audio cue confirm that the app is recording your voice. Then you simply narrate which hive you are at, what you are doing, and save it by saying something like "End inspection" and you will hear another audio cue confirming that.

You walk between your hives, starting and ending recordings as many times as you need without touching your phone. The core idea of Wagglescribe is to free your hands up, let you keep your gloves on, and keep your phone screen free from propolis, wax and honey.

How does Wagglescribe know which hive I'm inspecting?

When you say a hive name, the app will later transcribe that to text and compare to your existing hives in the database. If a hive name exists, it will automatically recognize that this new inspection report belongs to it. Hive names are unique per apiary - you can have a "Yellow Hive" in several apiaries, but only one "Yellow Hive" in a specific apiary.

No QR codes or NFC tags. You just say "I'm working on Hive 7, in the Lake apiary" and Wagglescribe will transcribe that, recognize the hive name, and save it accordingly. If you forget the name, the app will prompt you later to enter one by hand. If you do not mention an apiary, the app will assume you are in the "default" apiary.

Can I manually enter inspections by hand?

You can manually create hives, apiaries, and reports! You can also edit any existing ones. Or mark a hive as dead (which frees up the hive name). There is technically nothing stopping you from using Wagglescribe entirely by manual input, if you want to do so.

Do I need to speak in a structured way?

Absolutely not, the complete opposite. Wagglescribe is designed to let you speak naturally, in any sequence, even to go back and correct yourself. Relax and just talk as if a friend is looking over your shoulder, taking notes.

How does Wagglescribe keep track of queen colors?

You need to set the queen color by editing a hive report. This is intentional, as it is both a rare event and unusually important to get right. But don't worry, after you have set the queen color it will automatically inherit to any future inspections of that hive! If you have a new queen, with a new color, simply edit the latest inspection report, set the new color, and the automatic inheritance will kick in for future inspections.

How do I export / backup my database (alpha version)?

In the settings screen you can select "Export Backup (ZIP)" and save it wherever you like. It will contain your full database and the settings you have made. When you import a database ZIP, it will also import the settings. I expect databases made during the alpha to work seamlessly with future releases.

I have feedback! How do I submit it?

Right now, the best way to do this is to join the discord. If you would rather send an email, you can do so by clicking this link. If it is a bug report, please include steps describing what you were doing when the problem occurred.

Does Wagglescribe work fully offline?

It does, and you can verify this by toggling air plane mode on your phone and then using the app. All features will continue to work! It runs the Wagglescribe AI model locally on your device, which is why you can run it as much as you like without paying for server time.

Does Wagglescribe respect my data privacy?

Yes, the app is made to minimize personally identifiable data. My philosophy is to treat it as a liability rather than an asset. I do not collect it in the first place because I do not want to deal with it. When you submit things like error logs or data to improve the app, it is anonymous - it only contains a random identifier (looks like this: b0b78081-28f8-407a-a9da-3d71b4a2bb68), how much RAM your device has, your language setting, app version, all of it is impossible to trace back to a person.

The app never transmits any logs or reports automatically. It only happens when you choose to do so yourself. The downside of this is that if you experience bugs you want fixed, you do have to submit a report!

How do I use my database in another application?

Your database export is a zip-file containing the database as three files: waggle_database, waggle_database-shm and waggle_database-wal. These three together make a SQLite database. In order to read them using an external program, you will need to give them file endings like this:
waggle_database ➔ waggle_database.sqlite
waggle_database-shm ➔ waggle_database-shm.sqlite
waggle_database-wal ➔ waggle_database-wal.sqlite