The Skull Cinema

Now we have validated that Grocy meets the requirements set out in the first post  this a good point to review the progress made so far. Starting with a quick reminder of the criteria that the system had to meet in order to be useful. These were pretty light. Firstly, the system had to be barcode-based and usable from a mobile device ( ie phone) and, secondly, it had to be able to track stock levels and, using re-order limits, automatically generate shopping lists. The availability of both of these features were confirmed by the test installation. However, Grocy is quite a bit more powerful than that; it is able to work forward from a menu plan and, given the associated recipes, examine available stocks to generate a shopping list; it can be used to track prices and nutritional information for individual items or meals; and monitor the expiry dates of the food stocks dependent on how they are stored or consumed. As the required functionality of Grocy has been confirmed. The nex...

After only a few hiccoughs along the way we are entering the final stage of the Grocy set-up procedure. Getting barcode scanning working should markedly streamline the process of dealing with products. As this was a test of the Grocy system it was definite that I was going to use the camera on my phone as a barcode scanner. But there are options around this choice if everything works as required and the system progresses into an installation phase. Although use of a phone camera is by far the simplest method of capturing barcodes, it is not the one suggested by Grocy's creator, Bernd Bestel . He recommends the use of a dedicated barcode scanner. These days they are not that expensive and a basic wired model can be found for as low as £12. Not that I think that this is a good idea unless you want to lose the mobility that we have just set up . For twice the price (still not that much if you are using Grocy routinely) you can get a wireless version, which should retain your freedo...

Now we have Grocy working , even if in skeletal form, the next hurdle is to cut the tie to the PC and go mobile. The advantages of being able to update stock levels on the hoof are obvious. All consume and purchase operations can be done at the point of use without the need to make notes and mark these up later. Inventorying can be performed at the storage location rather than dragging everything to the computer or more note making. What is needed, therefore, is mobile access to Grocy via a smartphone or tablet. There are multiple ways to achieve this. Web Browser The first and simplest method is to use the web browser on your device. Although, at least with Android devices, the browser is slightly finnicky about which address it will accept for the Home Assistant (HA) server. Using the standard homeassistant.local:8123 address results in an error message ' This site can't be reached DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. ' There appear to be known problems with Android phones ...