Free Gumtree Notification App GT Watcher - Android Only

AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 15:07
Last edited 01/08/2017 - 17:08 by 1 other user

Hi OzBargainers,

I am a new developer learning the ropes and have created a free app with no ads that notifies you as soon as items you're interested in appear on Gumtree. The app will run in the background silently on your phone and will pop up with a notification and a picture of the item as per the gumtree listing and redirect you straight to the gumtree page listing. No more losing out on those free good quality desks or beds or fridges just because you were 10 minutes too late to respond. Although gumtree also has a notification system on their site/app, from previous experience it's just not fast enough, sometimes taking hours/days before you're notified and by then the free item is already gone.

The app is set and forget so just setup a list of the things you want, start the service and then you can close the app. The only way you could be more efficient is if you sat there refreshing gumtree yourself.

Unfortunately this is only available on Android at the moment however if there's enough interest then I will port this to iOS as well.

As a new developer, any and all feedback is welcome.

GT Watcher on Google Play Store

Cheers

Free Software/Websites Android App

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Comments

  • CyberMurning on 01/08/2017 - 15:15
    +2

    working on non rooted phones? have you test on huawei? i heard they are pretty strict. my llama sometimes got removed from notification bar.

    • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 15:19

      Yea works on non-rooted, haven't tested on a huawei yet though.

      • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 18:50

        I can test that for you on a Huawei Mediapad M3 (tablet device).
        Just installed.. nothing yet.

        Edit: working fine on a non rooted Huawei tablet.

  • psyren89 on 01/08/2017 - 15:15
    +1

    What made you go with the Holo interface? Why not Material Design?

    • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 15:20
      +1

      I liked the look of Holo and haven't worked with Material much yet, I will definitely look to update the interface at some point with that though.

  • shapers on 01/08/2017 - 15:29
    +3

    Awesome, been wanting something like this. Will give it a shot, cheers

  • MrHyde on 01/08/2017 - 16:02
    +1

    How much bandwidth does it use if it is constantly running on the background checking gumtree?

    • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 16:14
      +1

      Not much, essentially the same as someone manually refreshing the a gumtree page every ~minute or so from their phone. It's recommended to use it only on wifi(the default setting).

      • MrHyde on 01/08/2017 - 17:22
        +1

        I would think refreshing the page every minute or so would be a huge hit on the bandwidth. Just the home page without loading any images is 44KB in size. Loading that every minute will cause 2.6 MB an hour or 63 MB a day.

        Good thing you have a setting to restrict it to wifi only.

  • JimmyF on 01/08/2017 - 16:53
    +1

    Nice!!!

    So this runs on the phone? Whats the battery hit like?

    Also needs a better name. Just something to think about for the future.

    • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 17:06
      +1

      Well it depends on how much notifications you're getting and whether your phone has vibrate and/or sound turned on, but it would use about the same as any messaging app that gives you notifications, with the screen off the battery drain is quite minimal. I do agree on the change in name though, I didn't want to put gumtree in the title to avoid any infringement/association with their official apps. Thanks for the feedback.

      • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 19:24
        -1

        The name is fine. You don't need to change it. Functionality over aesthetics.

      • JimmyF on 01/08/2017 - 20:54

        Ahh sounds good re battery life. Might have to give it a try.

        Yeah I guess you might have been trying to avoid any infringement issues. The name is a longer term thing. See if it takes off first I guess!

        Best of luck!!

  • tomclancy on 01/08/2017 - 17:22
    +1

    Great idea/app. Thanks OP!

  • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 19:04
    +1

    How is it finding the listings is my device doing this or do you have like a server farm doing all this.

    • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 19:21
      +1

      Your device is checking gumtree itself, no server.

      • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 19:22
        +1

        This is good. How is it checKing the site in the background what's the overhead.

        • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 19:29

          It's essentially loading one page and checking for the items on your watchlist, as if you had gumtree open in the browser on your phone and were refreshing it every minute or so, but without the screen needing to be on.

        • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 19:31

          @Neogohan1: oh nice so there is an invisible browser running in the background for me at all times? Like does it have multiple pages open for each filter or is it going through each filter one by one at set intervals.. can I see your working out?

        • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 19:38

          Nah it's just webscraping 1 page, so basically every interval, it downloads a specific page on gumtree depending on your location and then checks the contents of the html, no invisible browser, then it does nothing until the next time it needs to run the check. Like the Alarm on your phone.

        • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 19:48

          @Neogohan1: how often is it checking?

        • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 01/08/2017 - 19:53

          About once a minute

        • AlienC on 01/08/2017 - 22:04

          @Neogohan1: can I see your working out code I am interested in doing a few side hobby development projects similar to this for some other websites.

  • hazzad on 02/08/2017 - 09:49

    Is there any way of getting it to only search for the specified search criteria? ive got a search for nas setup and it keep sending my ads for panasonic, as nas is part of panasonic.

    Thanks for the effort.

  • sk1ppy on 02/08/2017 - 11:20

    Not compatible with my Huawei Y6 Elite :(

  • SJDR on 05/09/2017 - 13:34

    Doesn't seem to work for me.

    I'm looking for several things so added a few different filters expecting to see results for anything in my list but got absolutely nothing.

    I manually checked my gumtree app for the few days I was testing it and there was several results each day but this watcher app showed nothing.
    I actually missed out on an item I've been looking for that had been up for 41 minutes before I noticed in on gumtree but it was too late - sold.

    I've dropped it down to one filter only now in the hope it will find something for me.
    I have it running and wifi only is unticked.

    I did test it initially using the keyword 'desk' and it found a few results.

    thanks for trying though - there is a definite need for it.

  • SJDR on 06/09/2017 - 11:42

    OK, it failed again.

    One filter - 'thicknesser' - and it failed to find a result when gumtree app did. Well within the search area etc. wifi unticked, all setup correctly

    If anyone knows of a similar app I'd be keen to hear about it.

  • fas15381 on 23/07/2021 - 23:04

    Hello

    I have googled this extensively, but i cannot locate the download link. Do you have still have this app working for Gumtree instant notifications?. I am based in UK London and would love to try your innovation. Please advise soonest

    Regards

  • fas15381 on 24/07/2021 - 02:01

    Can anyone help? I need a instant notification for Gumtree UK. Would this work? If so, is there a link for the app? Thank you in advance

  • AssociatedNeogohan1 @ Google Play on 16/06/2023 - 23:31

    If anyone ever comes back across this page and is wondering, I am making this available to more users, it is now going to be capable of running on iOS/Android/PC. I've been using this for years and had a lot of friends and family wanting to use it as well so I've improved on it. Message me if you want it.

    Also since that one guy wanted it, I will be looking at seeing if I can get it working for UK as well.

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