iOS iKals App Update: Now with Extremely Powerful Search Facility

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iOS iKals App Update: Now with Extremely Powerful Search Facility - Published on 04/30/20

Independent iOS Developer, James Hollender has updated his iKals app, which helps determine calories in foods. This is just one of ten apps updated to version 7.0 in the suite of iNutrient apps: iCarbs, iCholesterol, iFiber, iKals, iPotassium, iProteins, iSatFat, iSodium, iSugars and Vitamin K. Version 6.0 made the app capable of using the entire screen even of newer iPhones with the notch. Now version 7.0 brings back the Search feature, but one that's much more powerful.

Revere, Massachusetts - Independent iOS Developer, James Hollender has updated his iKals app, which helps determine calories in foods. This is just one of ten apps updated to version 7.0 in the suite of iNutrient apps: iCarbs, iCholesterol, iFiber, iKals, iPotassium, iProteins, iSatFat, iSodium, iSugars and Vitamin K. Version 6.0 made the app capable of using the entire screen even of newer iPhones with the notch. Now version 7.0 brings back the Search feature, but one that's much more powerful.

Version 6.0 made the app capable of using the entire screen even of newer iPhones with the "notch". Now version 7.0 brings back the Search feature, but one that's much more powerful. These apps include data from the USDA National Nutrient Database covering the following nutrients: Calories, Carbohydrates, Cholesterol, Fiber, Potassium, Proteins, Saturated Fat, Sodium, Sugars and Vitamin K. All ten apps are universal apps that can be used on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch devices. The apps include information on how they can be upgraded to app bundles for additional significant savings, i.e., the cost of any apps previously purchased included in bundle is deducted from the cost of the app bundle.

The big new feature in version 7.0 of iKals is a search capability that allows for both simple and complex searches. There are two fields that can accommodate either words or phrases. Using only the first provides a simple search that looks for the supplied value in the title, description and USDA ID fields. If a second word or phrase is supplied, then the user has the choice of three operands for how the fields are evaluated: "AND", "OR" and "But Not". As the user enter or changes their values, an instantaneous display is given of how many records will be found. Pressing the "Results" button then displays the full list of matches found.

The iCals app provides information about foods and how they are rated for caloric content. The following colors help readily identify which is which:

* Black = Rated extremely high in Calories (500 - 1,181)
* Dark Red = Rated very high in Calories (400 - 499)
* Red = Rated high in Calories (300 - 399)
* Orange = Rated moderately high in Calories (250 - 299)
* Yellow = Rated moderate in Calories (200 - 249)
* Light Green = Rated moderately low in Calories (150 - 199)
* Green = Rated low in Calories (100 - 149)
* Cyan = Rated very low in Calories (50 - 99)
* White = Rated extremely low in Calories (less 50)

There are eight tables listing foods:

* All Foods (includes search capability)
* Fast Foods
* Fruits & Vegetables
* Meat, Fish & Shellfish
* Dairy & Egg
* Cereal Grains & Pasta
* Sweets
* Snacks

The app offers three different kinds of lookup: Search, Alphabetical, or Category. Users can enter any search term to query the database's 1,100 entries (some entries have multiple names). Alphabetical searches of the complete list is simplified through a thumb index, which opens any letter of the alphabet immediately. Finally, users can search alphabetically through any of seven category listings:

* Fast Foods
* Fruits & Vegetables
* Meat, Fish & Shellfish
* Dairy & Eggs
* Cereal Grains & Pasta
* Sweets
* Snacks

The database is truly encyclopedic. For example, looking up "Milk" brings up more than 35 different listings.

Feature Highlights:
* Lookup, customize, and record daily carbohydrate intake
* Comprehensive database of foods based on the USDA National Nutrient Database
* Lookup by Search, Category, or Alphabetical
* More than 1,100 foods listed from more than 2,500 searchable names
* Includes listings for Fast Foods

Selecting an item in any of the tables will display pertinent information about the selected food serving:

* Food Title
* Weight in grams
* Common Measure, e.g., 1/2 cup, etc.
* Calories
* Color coding for quick identification of caloric content range
* USDA Description
* USDA Food Group
* USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference ID

Touching the Record button on the top right to add an item to the user's daily food intake, the calorie watcher can specify a serving size between .1 and 9.9 times the standard serving. Users can easily dial in the exact serving size using a slider and buttons for extra fine control of their selection. With the serving size adjusted, users just touch the Record button in the top right to have the revised entry added to their daily intake.

Records of servings are kept for a full year before being automatically deleted from the database. Recorded servings can be edited to change the date or number of servings. They can also be deleted if necessary.

Information is derived from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Energy (kcal) Content of Selected Foods per Common Measure. There are currently over 1,100 different food servings included, searchable using approximately 2,500 names (some foods are known by different names or how they are prepared, e.g., "Egg, Scrambled" and "Scrambled Egg"). A few of these have as many as six searchable names. The Info page provides additional information about Saturated Fat:

* What are Calories? - Wikipedia(R) definition

* Calorie Recommendations - Provides information for different groups, e.g., Sedentary women, older adults, children, teenage girls, active men, etc.; plus the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans

* Highest Calorie Foods - Lists 28 different foods containing the highest amounts of Calories

* How to Use this App - Shows detailed information about how to record the user's personal nutrient intake of Calories, how to make changes to what the user has recorded, how to backup and restore the data

* Access My Records - Provides up to a full year of recorded entries, listed and grouped by date. Users may also view each individual entry in the database. Allowances are made for deleting records, changing the date, and also changing the number of servings

* Other Important Information - Provides access to a copy of the User Agreement, and links to communicate with the developer about bugs, suggestions or comments

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 12 or later

The iKals app is one of 10 apps in the iNutrients collection. Others include:
* iCarbs - Carbohydrates - great for bodybuilders or diabetics
* iCholesterol - Dietary Cholesterol - for those wanting to watch their cholesterol intake
* iFiber - Fiber - for those interested in getting enough fiber in their diet
* iPotassium - Potassium - helps with anxiety, stress, blood pressure, brain function, cramps and many other ailments
* iProteins - Proteins - great for bodybuilders, vegetarians or vegans needing to make sure they get enough protein in their diet
* iSatFat - Saturated Fats - for those who have been advised by their physician to limit their intake of saturated fat
* iSodium - Sodium - for those who want to cut down on their salt intake
* iSugars - Sugars - for those concerned with getting too much added sugar in their diet
* Vitamin K - Vitamins K1, K1D and K2 - For users of blood thinning medications like Coumadin or Warfarin

Users interested in multiple nutrients should be aware of the "iNutrients App", which includes all ten of the above listed nutrients. Instead of the USDA partial selection of foods used in the individual iNutrient apps, the iNutrients app includes all foods and food servings in the entire USDA National Nutrient Database for those nutrients. It also includes the capability for altering the color scale for each nutrient if desired. And Custom Foods can be created for those not included in the USDA database. Even an entire meal's nutrient information could be included in a single Custom Food definition to make entry even simpler. The iNutrients app is available for less than the cost of three individual iNutrient apps and is specially reduced during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Pricing and Availability:
The iKals app is available in the iTunes App Store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The current price is $2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and can be found in the Health & Fitness and Lifestyle categories. Promo codes are available for qualified reviewers. Please specify the website, blog or organization you represent when making your request.

iKals 7.0: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id407832060
All iNutrient Apps Bundle (10 apps): https://apps.apple.com/us/app-bundle/all-inutrient-apps/id917498465
Most Popular iNutrient Apps Bundle (5 apps): https://apps.apple.com/us/app-bundle/most-popular-inutrient-apps/id917503222
iNutrients App (Entire USDA National Nutrient Database for 10 nutrients): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/inutrients-10-nutrients-incl-carbs-vitamin-k/id580660547


Based in Revere, Massachusetts, Indie developer James Hollender is a well seasoned Information Technology professional who has been familiar with Apple products since the days of the first Macintosh computer and has been involved with object oriented programming since the introduction of Java, culminating most recently in writing apps in Objective C for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. His innovative ideas have resulted in numerous suggestion and other awards including a commendation from a former President of the United States. James Hollender has been involved writing iPhone and iPad apps with Foliage, Kronos, Olympus, Cross Country Automotive Services (now Agero), and Valmarc Corporation (now Vi3 Global). Copyright (C) 2010-2020 James Hollender. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.


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