this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2024
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Hey all, I'm trying to be a little more economical and reduce the amount of food I waste, and was wondering if there were any open-source apps that can track the best-before dates of the foods I buy so I can improve my meal-planning.

I saw that there's Best-Before on F-Droid, but the last release was in July 2022, and I was curious if there was something more actively maintained.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

-1

I have used this before, but I stopped using it. It's complicated while simultaneously also missing features.

[–] hoherd 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I feel like this could easily be solved with a spreadsheet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Not if you have ADHD, the barrier to success needs to be really low.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Which I will lose, alongside the notepad.

Hell, I lose my phone and find my laptop in the laundry bins sometimes. ADHD is making me demented.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Not sure why, but it's not appearing either in the app or on a desktop browser for me. The link you provided leads to a 404.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

On mine it's only available from the Izzy repo, not the main fdroid one.

Edit: Here's the source code. Try with either Izzy or Obtainium to install.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Oh thanks! First time adding a new repo to Fdroid. It works now, thanks a million!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Oppsie, F-Droid doesn't link properly to the IzzyOnDroid repo apps

Try this instead

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah link is dead, but you can find the app on f-droid

[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago

Not sure if these are reputable sources so make your own judgement on that but Google returns these two places when searching for the App identifier in the URL above

https://appteka.store/app/4e8r156105

https://www.openapk.net/food-expirations/com.lorenzovainigli.foodexpirationdates.foss/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You can still eat it after the 'best before' date. It might not be best, but it doesn't immediately turn into poison.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm aware, just figured it would be a good idea to prioritize those things first, and also use the information I gain to figure out how arbitrary the dates given are.

For example, while logging my spice cabinet just now with the Food Expirations app, I saw that there were a few that were past due that I'm going to look into with how much longer they'd be good for.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They're good for as long as they pass the sniff test

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think the opposite is true with spices. They're so dry it would be uncommon for them to ever spoil like fresh foods would, but over time their aroma and taste weaken to the point that there's really no point in using them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Right, so if you can't detect anything when you sniff them, throw them out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Make sure you take a big deep breath when testing the bag of ginger dust.

It's a unique experience.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Is there anything missing from Best-Before? It may just be finished. There is no mention of anything obvious (such as a dependency on an API) that would cause it to stop working.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

For me personally, I have a dry-erase board on my fridge and will note expiry/bb dates for items that are only fresh for a short time (i.e. the bread or almond milk I make). That way, everyone in my home can see it.

Pretty much all other food items like spices, flour, pantry ingredients, and frozen food are stocked in quantities that I would be able to use well before they "expire" (or diminish in quality). Some of these foods are fresh for years, so it doesn't really worry me that they'll go bad or anything.

Unless you've got a warehouse of food with moderate shelf life, I think there might be an easier way to do things without using an app, which I find just overcomplicates things. But even a simple spreadsheet, as already suggested, might be an easy option. Just my 2 cents.