Wednesday, 15 September 2010

Why haven't we included the barcode scanner in Tesco Groceries?

Just about every external email I've received over the last two days seems to ask one question:

We have barcode scanning in Tesco Finder for iPhone, so why haven't we put the scanner into Tesco Groceries for iPhone?
The reason is technical and to do with the new barcode scanning code that needs to be compatible with Apple's new iPhone operating system, iOS4 in a way that is satisfactory to Apple who are quite strict about the way that this must be performed.

Indeed, until this is sorted we can't update Tesco Finder for iPhone as it would fail Apple's QA testing and get rejected (and we don't want that happening again).

We were just keen to get Tesco Groceries for iPhone into your hands but there will be an update soon that will bring barcode scanning to your copy of the app. Indeed my colleague Becky is saying how much she is enjoying using it right now on our test iPhones (which is a big tick-in-the-box, believe me!).
Posted by Nick Lansley at 17:49

2 comments:

  1. Kev15 September 2010 at 18:22

    Why haven't you included a barcode scanner? More like why haven't you included a Tesco Android app?

    I find it flabbergasting that so many leading UK businesses seem to ignore or lag behind in developing for the Android OS. It's like they're oblivious to Android. You'd be a very short-sighted company indeed to ignore the phenomenal growth in the Android userbase.

    It's well recognised that Android will eclipse iPhone next year for number of users. App usage will go through the roof as affordable smartphones hit the market. With Ocado sitting pretty with their app, Tesco really should be feeling a little nervous right now.

    Anyway, it's back to my Ocado app right now. Ta ta Tesco.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nick Lansley15 September 2010 at 18:40

    Must blog this - thanks B0lty

    ReplyDelete

As this blog grows in readership - and because it carries the Tesco brand - I have had to become more careful about the sort of comments that are acceptable. The good news is that I'm a champion of free speech so please be as praising or as critical as you wish! The only comments I DON'T allow through are:

1. Comments which criticise an individual other than myself, or are critical of an organisation other than Tesco. This is simply because they cannot defend themselves so is unfair and possibly libellous. Comments about some aspect of Tesco being better/worse than another equivalent organisation are allowed as long as you start by saying "in my personal opinion.." or "I think that...". ... followed by a "...because.." and some reasoned argument.

2. Comments which are totally unrelated to the context of the original article. If I have written about a mobile app and you start complaining about the price of potatoes then your comment isn't going stay for long!

3. Advertising / web links / spam.

4. Insulting / obscene messages.


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