Tidal Pool Software

Comparison

The comparison view shows each item with their prices and quantities. The items are sorted by how much value they offer. The best deals are listed at the top while the worst are at the bottom. Items can be added, deleted and edited from the view.

Each item contains a name, price, quantity with units (and region, if applicable), price/units in imperial and metrics units, and quantity in imperial and metric units. Under the price and quantity are two price/units and two quantity fields. These allow you to compare the value of the product (e.g. price/lb and price/kg for weight) and the quantity (e.g. lb and kg for weight) in common units.

The item (or items) at the top offering the best value are highlighted in gold and display Best Value on the top right. All other items are highlighted in red and show how much more they cost in price/units (e.g. +32% cost).

Add Item

To add a new item, tap the Add Item button at the end of the list.

Edit Item

Tap an item's name, price, or quantity to modify that item's field.

Delete Item

To delete an item, tap the item's minus button on the left and then the Delete button to confirm.

Item

The item view is used to add or edit an item. To modify the price, quantity, or units, tap the field. The field background will turn blue when it is focused.

Name

When a new item is created, a default name will automatically be generated (e.g. Item #1, Item #2, etc.). A custom item name may also be entered, however, by tapping the name field.

Price

To reduce user input, the price is entered including its two decimal places (e.g. enter 459 for 4.59). The price does not include a currency symbol and values in any currency may be used.

Quantity

The quantity field may include decimal values although it does not by default.

Units

Selecting the units field will display a small tab bar and a picker view. The tab bar allows you to select the type of units to use (Items, Weight, Volume, Length, or Area) by tapping on them. After the first item is entered in a comparison, however, the tab bar view is disabled for subsequent items since only items of the same type may be compared. Frugal saves and defaults to the last units used for each type including between application launches.

History

The history view shows the last 50 price comparisons. Comparisons are added to the history when a new comparison is created or when Frugal quits. The comparisons are sorted by date/time with the most recent comparisons listed at the top. Tap a comparison to view or modify it. Any changes made to a comparison will move it to the top of the history list. To exit history, tap the Done button.

Delete Comparison

To delete a comparison, tap the comparison's minus button on the left and then the Delete button to confirm.

Clear

To delete the entire history, tap the Clear button on the top left.

Settings

The settings view allows you to manage Frugal application settings.

The Numeric Input Style setting sets the style of numeric keyboard to use. The Phone style lays the numeric keyboard out similar to a phone keypad with numbers incrementing from the top. The Calculator style is the opposite with numbers displayed similar to a calculator.