GoodGuide, the startup that rates consumer products by factors including the toxicity of their ingredients and environmental impact, has released its native iPhone application on Apple’s App Store. The free application allows users to browse and search through the site’s rapidly growing database (now with around 60,000 products) using either a product’s name or UPC code, and can be found here.
GoodGuide was a favorite at this year’s TechCrunch50 conference, generally regarded as a great idea and eventually finishing as a runner up for the event’s top prize. The site’s database rates each consumer product based on its health, environmental, and social performance, pointing out things like carcinogenic ingredients and the manufacturer’s treatment of employees and the environment.
Because shoppers don’t generally plan exactly which items they’re going to buy until they’re in the store, GoodGuide’s mobile functionality will play an important role in the startup’s success. Before now users could access a mobile version of the site through a web browser, but the iPhone’s native app is much speedier and more intuitive - I could see this becoming a favorite for the “soccer mom” demographic and the environmentally and health conscious. GoodGuide also plans to have an Android version available within the next few months.
My one major gripe with the app is that it always opens to a “featured products” page, forcing you to hit a few menu items before reaching the search box. I’d also like a way to photograph the barcode of a product and automatically look it up in the database, though I’m not sure the iPhone is even capable of this (there are only a few barcode apps on the iPhone, and it seems that most of them only support QR Codes. On Android, they rank among the most popular apps).
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too much information. how many people have you ever seen at a store with a handi pocket version of consumer reports? people that go to stores already know what they want and dont need research.
GoodLocator.com
” how many people have you ever seen at a store with a handi pocket version of consumer reports?” . I guess thats the exact reason for this product to go mobile !..
free app i cant complain. keep up the good work guys and keep on releasing those free apps .
good application:- I don’t know if product they are listing will try to influence their result or report.
useless outside the valley; the sooner they realize the better
Jason, regarding the iphone barcode scanning capabilities: Without a lense like the clarifi from Griffin, it is not possible. But if you use it, the folks at snappr.net use it, also with their iphone app. But there are still disadvantages on the iphone in comparison to symbian or the G1, where the SDK gives you access to the video stream and therefore do a 200% faster scanning.
As far as it is free…good job
http://vidsonly.blogspot.com
Wow, this is really cool! It’d be great if there was a shaking feature that would randomly give you a product. Other than that - great job GoodGuide!!
There is a learning circle in Canada linking CSR database, application developers, barcode graphics, sustainability NFPs, and other stakeholders/ Web 2.0 developers