Show HN: Exist – understand your life through data | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Exist – understand your life through data

exist.io

12 pointsjoshsharp5 comments

Personally, before I decide to try something like this I would be interested to know how the app collects data from the user. I participated in https://www.trackyourhappiness.org/. If you aren't familiar, it surveys you multiple times per day (it was configurable I think). The survey's were short. At first I was happy to do it, but over time the surveys got more and more annoying to the point where I stopped doing them altogether. It got too annoying for me personally before I completed enough surveys for them to compile a full profile for me. Has this app improved upon the data collection process at all?

We're over manual tracking too, and trying to remove all that friction. Most of the data we collect is passive - you connect a service via OAuth and never have to think about it again. Just keep using your Fitbit, or last.fm, or making events in your calendar.

The one exception is mood tracking, where you reply to an email every night and manually rate your day.

The service looks interesting and I am always interested in data tracking but having to enter my credit card for the free trial was an instant red flag for me. Why not just make a Lite version with not as many features available to be tracked or make the free trial actually free?

Fair point! Because it's just the two of us and we want growth to equal income. We just don't have the resources to support a mountain of free users right now. A free tier will likely come down the track.

For what it's worth, we use Stripe so we don't actually have your credit card details (which is a relief to us too) and we give you ample notice before the trial is up so you can avoid a surprise charge.

We've been in public beta for a while but have only recently opened free trials. Feedback welcome!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com