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Checketry - tracker

Checketry - a download manager and tracker app where users can follow and manage their download progress from desktop to mobile - is soon launching its final beta before launching openly to the public. The beta will run for roughly a month to have users test the final iteration of the design and features of the download tracker.

“The final beta will allow us to gauge the service before we publicly launch.”, said the CEO and founder “We previously ran a small private beta in late 2017 but users weren’t satisfied with the design as they found it ugly and a bit confusing. We’ve since changed the user interface and also added new features that weren’t previously available”. Post-launch, Checketry will be a free app with a premium version available to unlock all features (and of course support the developers). Users can also earn premium subscription for free by inviting their friends to download the app. Rewards are currently on going and can be awarded by sharing the website with other users via www.checketry.com.

In terms of capabilities, Checketry works for Google Chrome (via extension), Mozilla Firefox, uTorrent, qBittorrent and Steam. Users can sign in easily using social media or they can make their own account. Downloads and information are secure as Checketry only caches download information and does not store anything permanently. The app is currently available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. In the app, in addition to being able to follow progress, users can pause and cancel downloads, set shut down timers for their computers and schedule downloads from the mobile app.

Other key features for Checketry tracker include:

Track download progress anywhere from your mobile device

Pause, resume and cancel downloads from anywhere

Set shut down timers so your computer isn’t running pointlessly after your download finishes.

Notification alerts so you don’t have to always keep checking

Schedule downloads from the app.

Currently works for Google Chrome, uTorrent, qBittorrent and Steam. Planned expansions for all major browsers, torrent clients and game clients.

Works for both main operating systems: Windows and Mac

Available on mobile for iOS and Android.

Checketry is a free app with a premium version available to unlock all features (and of course support the developers). “The premium pricing will be revealed closer to launch, the Kickstarter campaign will provide us with valuable information that will allow us to better figure out a competitive price for our users”, said CEO and founder. . Users can also earn premium subscription for free by inviting their friends to download the app.

Checketry is primarily targeted to gamers as they do the biggest downloads. “As gamers ourselves, we’ve found that downloading modern games can take forever on slower internet speeds”, said the CEO. “We also found early on with the gaming communty on reddit that a lot of people wanted to know how their downloads were doing while they were away from their devices.” Gamers with slower internet speeds who spend lots of time waiting for downloads are the people who would benefit the most from using the app.

The concept of Checketry originated towards the end of 2016 when I was downloading FIFA 17 on PC which on my average Australian internet needed roughly 20 hours to download. Like most people, I didn’t have time to sit around and wait I had to go to university where I was finishing my master’s degree. While waiting for class to start I was wondering if there was a tracker for my download progress was doing and out of curiosity started looking for solutions. Surprisingly, I found no convenient solution to being able to follow the download progress of my game and due to a passion in entrepreneurship I began the research and development of Checketry.

Checketry is primarily targeted to gamers as they do the biggest downloads. “As gamers ourselves, we’ve found that downloading modern games can take forever on slower internet speeds”. “We also found early on with the gaming communty on reddit that a lot of people wanted to know how their downloads were doing while they were away from their devices.” Gamers with slower internet speeds who spend lots of time waiting for downloads are the people who would benefit the most from using the app.

Initially I designed the UI myself and obviously my lack of any design experience showed. I didn’t really follow any design principles so there were a lot of things wrong that users didn’t really like. I didn’t have tooltips for one, the Steam downloads appearing in one place as also kind of confusing and clogged up both the desktop and mobile UI’s. Also, the colours. I mean look at them!

I did try to fix up the app myself, this time basing it off common UI from iOS apps and also other apps like Google Drive. There was still something missing, it was too boxy and still not quite good looking enough. I eventually went onto sites like Behance and Dribbble and looked around at the top designers. I messaged a few of them to ask for opinions on the UI and people were either dismissive or didn’t reply to our tracker. Initial suggestions for the desktop app included navigation of the icons having different style and looking too bold, the green colours should be changed to more suitable ones and some issues with buttons having different corner roundness. Mobile app had the same issues but it also needed to be brought into a more standard form as outlined by Apple and Google.

Next steps basically involved creating mood boards and also user personas to understand who the product was actually being designed for. In our case we wanted the app to look good but we also wanted it to be useable for a wide range of people which included novice users who wanted a simple way to access features. This is clear from the fact that our features are all behind icons in plain site and we want to keep it this way as we continue to add new features.

These are just a few of the things we’ve found to be frustrating about downloading, and a lot of if, we’ve tried to improve with Checketry. Even though we tried to make this a fun blog, we do believe that the perfect download manager and tracker would consider these issues. What else do you love or hate about downloading? We would love to hear your opinions. Who knows — maybe we can add it to the app!