JRWHO  Well, I've been using this for a while, and I'd definitely recommend it (as there's no other app like it). One problem though, is that it's lost it's snappy feeling. I don't know if this is because the more days and stuff you add the slower it'll go, but it is quite annoying.  
(Version 1.3)

DANHOLT4MAC  We from danholt4mac, Germany acquired Calories. We will investigate in improving and extending the application.

First on our road map is localization and enhancements of the user interface.

After this we will add new features like custom meals and weight tracking etc.

An iPhone client is sheduled for spring 2009!

So stay tuned!

Daniel Holtwiesche (CEO)  
(Version 1.2)

PSEUDO TASUKI  If the app crashes, is force-quit or the computer kernel panics any new data entered will be lost. It seems the app only saves when it quits. This is a serious issue since this is the type of app I'd leave open most of the time. I lost three days of dieting data because of this issue. The developer didn't respond to my email.

There aren't a lot of features, but it has a fairly adequate and seemingly accurate (though inconsistent) database of foods. There are likely better choices out there for this type of application.  
(Version 1.2)

KONSTANTIN BENDER  === International Versions

The problem with international versions is the food database. The US database is the only free one I found. A couple of days ago, a Canadian user pointed me to their database, which seems also to be free and has english and french food names. I'm currently in contact with Health Canada to incorporate their data.

Now to Germany: there is a German food database, but the license fees are very high and I am forced to buy a 'high volume pack' in advance. In addition, there are a lot of other 'inconvinient' liciense terms.

So, what is the solution?

My idea is to take the US or the Canadian database and - for now - do an automatic translation into all major european languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian). If it won't work out very well, I'll have to take a look at the national food databases.

I am currently working on an iPhone / iPod Touch version, which will be a complete redesign with lots of new features (tracking of body weight, fat, exercises, support for diabetics, etc.) and will make it very easy to replace and/or add other databases. I'll open up all this, so everyone can create a database and make it available for others to download. Of course, all this will go into the desktop version too.

=== Weight Watchers

Yes, it is simply a matter of one column, but again, the food database is the main problem. Where to get the data from? In additon, I don't want to bloat Calories with all the possible diets out there. Anyway, Weight Watchers is very popular - at least here in Germany - and I'll contact them as soon as I have something exciting to show and possibly make a deal with them to include thier food data. Again, this should be very easy to do with the new food database design.

=== Personal Note

When I started to develop Calories, the main idea for 1.0 was to just get a minimal version out. Because the US database was the only free one, I decided to concentrate on the US market. Calories is my first application at all and I am still a student. I don't have the time and the (financial) resources to develop a full fledged product with all the bells and whistles right from the start. Instead, I'm taking the 'agile' incremental way: Start with the minimal feature set and let it grow while listening to customer needs. Now here we are. I have set up a simple Google Group for this purpose and I'm going to further 'open' the development in the near future (with main ideas borrowed from the 'Scrum' methodology). The most important thing here is, there will be free beta versions right from the start. You'll be able to download it, try it out and give feedback. German and English are the development languages. Other languages will follow after the 1.0 release. So please, if you really like the product, participate and help me to get the product as *you* like it to be.

-- Konstantin  
(Version 1.1.2)

RY.MA  Yes, that is very unfortunate. Not to use for German speaking user. I would gladly have paid.  
(Version 1.1.2)

::MILE::  I was hoping this could be the app I was looking for and while it really looks nice and has great features it's still a total disappointment...! First of all it's more than sad to see that even a German developer doesn't bother including international (or at least German) localization...!?

This combined with the fact that it uses a US food database makes it almost useless for me here in Germany...! :(((

Actually I was also hoping this could be used as a diary for people who are taking part in the Weight Watchers program, since it would only need one tiny additional column (maybe as an option to display or not) for entering the points value of the food you have eaten -- but with the aforementioned flaws this doesn't really make sense anymore...

Too bad, I was ready to buy this in an instant, and I know many people who would as well -- if it were of any use to us over here...

Dann mal schöne Grüße nach Remchingen, Konstantin...aber knapp vorbei ist halt auch daneben...! :(((  
(Version 1.1.2)

KONSTANTIN BENDER  Clarification for Problem Below

Calories requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, this error happens if you have an earlier version Mac OS X.

-- Konstantin

http://www.nsobjects.com  
(Version 1.1)

GABRIELAGARRIDO6  The app won´t run. Console log reads:

Link (dyld) error:

Symbol not found: _NSDefaultRunLoopMode

Referenced from: /Applications/Calories.app/Contents/MacOS/Calories

Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation

Can someone help me out?

GG  
(Version 1.01)

KONSTANTIN BENDER  Hello PJOT,

thank you for your review.

Calories uses a US food database. Unfortunately, there is no international dabase I could incorporate. Therefore, I decided to go with the US first.

Metric system will be there soon, have a look at the road map:

http://groups.google.com/group/calories/web/calories-roadmap

I must admit, the search algorithm is not really suitable, this will be adressed in the near future. For now, try to type a little more about the food you are looking for, for example:

raw apple

You have to find it only once. Add this food and it will be listet at the very top with the next search. Try it out!

Best Regards,

Konstantin Bender

http://www.nsobjects.com  
(Version 1.0)

PJOT  Nice but basically useless for us, who use litres. The food list may be impressive but pretty useless for non-U.S. users.

I eat an apple and a big glass of yoghurt (0,3 litres) for breakfast. How to add that to my breakfast list in Calories?

Apple gives a long list of different meals. Being Dutch it was interesting to find a 'Dutch apple dessert for babies' in different varieties. But where is the simple 'natural' apple that I eat every morning?

I do wish you luck with Calories but I am afraid it works only for a very specific group of consumers.  
(Version 1.0)