Archive for July 2012

Pitch Gauge: A Great App With A Simple Concept

Technology is leaving a footprint in industries across the grid; everything from robots in surgery, to automobiles driving themselves; even construction is seeing some pretty cool innovation. There are those of us who are stubborn and refuse change; and then there are those who embrace it immediately. Regardless of which we choose, we are affected by technological advancement one way or another whether we like it or not.

There is an app out there for just about everything. You want a personalized work-out plan? Easy. Shopping assistant? No sweat. Often it is the simplest apps that prove to be the most popular ones.

“Pitch Gauge” is a great app that has proven to be quite useful in multiple industries. It’s simple. It doesn’t do anything that we weren’t able to do prior to its inception, but it makes life easier, and it makes the day-to-day activities safer for all of its users. Oh yeah, and it’s free!

What is Pitch Gauge? It is an app that enables its users to determine roof pitch (or slope) from the ground. That’s right, no need to grab that shaky old ladder from the garage. Not just yet, anyway. Pitch Gauge can also be used to determine the number of squares of a roof when doing an estimate.

Who is finding Pitch Gauge to be useful? Roofers, architects, engineers, construction workers, carpenters, insurance adjusters, firefighters, homeowners, and the list continues. Who would have thought that such a simple app could appeal to such a broad range of users?

Typically, when determining roof pitch, one must either a.) climb the roof and use a device called a pitch gauge (not to be confused with the app), and physically lay it on the roof to determine the roof pitch, or b.)There are various other methods involving plastic or cardboard cards.

Regardless, the Pitch Gauge app gives you an accurate reading from the ground. It uses the camera on your device to do so. You can even take a picture of this pitch (with the actual measurement stamped on it) using a feature called “Snap Pitch,” so that you can email it back to the office, or save it for your archives.

Pitch Gauge was developed by Prolific Methods, LLC, a tech start-up based out of Bethlehem, Georgia. They are promising further innovation for their next release (Pitch Gauge 3.0) which should hit app stores in the next couple of months.

Want to learn how to use “Pitch Gauge?” Check this out: https://speakerdeck.com/u/prolificmethods/p/how-to-estimate-roofs-using-pitch-gauge

Pitch Gauge Updates

Pitch Gauge Square Calculator

Use the Pitch Gauge Square Calculator to generate your roofing estimates!

Prolific Methods, LLC will be launching some minor updates to Pitch Gauge which will take effect on August 1, 2012.  What does this mean for our users? Well, here are some of the changes:

 

1. NO LOST DATA; when you exit out of Pitch Gauge, all values left in the squares calculator are saved for when you reopen the application.

Have you ever entered all of your data into the Pitch Gauge squares calculator, and then exited out; only to realize that the data is no longer there the next time you went to access it?  Maybe you just wanted to double check your numbers, or possibly forgot the number of squares, once you went to purchase the material..   The good news is, with this update this will no longer be an issue because your data is now saved in the calculator until you reset, or change it.

 

2. Easier to navigate Squares Calculator.

  • Refined “+” button: Allows users to add multiple slopes.
  • Refined “MR” button: Allows users to Recall info added to squares calculator.
  • Refined “MC” button: Allows users to Clear info added to squares calculator.

Functionality of these features is going to remain the same, but we have given them a more refined look, so that they are more easily found and utilized by our users!

 

3. Relevant Advertisements.

Advertisements are an annoyance- we know this, but it is a small price to pay for such a useful tool! We will be releasing a new advertising platform within Pitch Gauge so that a large percentage of the advertisements you see are relevant to the industry.  If they must be there, most of us would prefer to see ads that could be helpful to us.

As stated above, these updates are going to take effect on August 1, 2012.  We are planning another BIG release closer to the end of summer! Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns regarding the new releases, or anything else.

 

x

Let us keep you updated: