
Show HN: My first native iOS app – Cone, a real time color picker - _kush
https://coneapp.io
======
_kush
Hi, HN!

Really excited to share my little project here. Being a colorblind designer,
it was often hard for me to figure the color names and decide which colors to
use. Hence, I decided to make this app.

Cone lets you pick colors in real time using the phone's camera. It lets you
build color palettes while on the run, capturing and recording color for later
comment/discussion, sending the colors to someone else quickly and
efficiently, and of course translating a physical objects color to a usable
set of information without having to get expensive colorimetric equipment.

Really excited to hear feedback from you all :)

~~~
SparkyMcUnicorn
I like how you kept the site and dependencies simple. 34.7KB of js (~21 is
mostly color definitions), and 4.2KB of css.

Just FYI:

1\. You could save ~15.75kb by minifying your JS/CSS (a bit nit-picky since
your resources are a fraction of what most sites have)

2\. The 1MB background image comes out to 570.6 KB through tinypng.com (47%
off!). If lossless is more your thing, you could save about 5% by running it
through something like imageoptim.

~~~
coreymaass
If you're willing to go lossy, also look at PNGQuant -
[https://pngquant.org/](https://pngquant.org/) I've started using it on all of
my web images. I've yet to see the loss on a couple dozen images, but the size
drops by up to 66%, even after being run through imageoptim.

~~~
kookiekrak
tinypng is actually based on pngquant + more optimizations not in pngquant

------
taspeotis
I really liked the landing page, especially the outline of the iPhone with an
example of the app running inside of it.

~~~
oblio
The landing page was really cool. A minor suggestion I have: could the
animation be slowed down a bit? I was scanning the page and the cursor moving
around was a bit annoying.

I think that the way the application works will still be clear if the
animation plays at half of its current speed.

~~~
penpapersw
I thought it was just the right speed.

~~~
oblio
Another option: maybe stop the loop after 1 cycle? Or add a pause between
cycles? :)

~~~
Kiro
Definitely not stop it after 1 cycle. I watched it over and over many times.
Please no pause either. I really really like it the way it is now. One of the
best demos I've seen.

------
qaz_plm
Not sure how many people this affects but clicking on the download button from
the website on Chrome (iOS) takes you to an iTunes page that doesn't contain
the app. Clicking on it via Safari (iOS) sends you to the app store to the app
proper.

Video of the issue in Chrome (iOS) -
[http://imgur.com/ntTmynl](http://imgur.com/ntTmynl)

~~~
_kush
Thank you so much for reporting that. I just copied the link from my iTunes
connect account which only has one additional parameter "?ls=1" that seems to
work in Chrome.

Does anyone know what that parameter means?

~~~
qaz_plm
This article is a couple of years old but it appears LS is Load Store:
[http://blog.geni.us/2013/12/06/parameter-cheat-sheet-for-
itu...](http://blog.geni.us/2013/12/06/parameter-cheat-sheet-for-itunes-and-
app-store-links/)

~~~
_kush
Ah makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the link!

------
mattgecko
You're underselling this hugely! $0.99 is far too cheap

~~~
qaz_plm
It was this price point that got me to buy it to try it out. If it were $1.99+
I probably wouldn't have. Psychological stuff...

~~~
developer2
Yep. It's a sad state we're in. It's just too risky to pay more for an app
from a publisher who is not well-known. All too often, installing an app for
$3-5+ is disappointing when you discover the app is not what you were
expecting. I rarely pay for apps, simply because I'd have paid thousands of
dollars over the lifetime of a single phone, only to uninstall 95% of apps
after discovering it was not for me.

Is an in-app purchase _required_ to offer something tangible? Instead of using
ads and offering an in-app purchase to remove ads, I'd love to see cheap apps
(ie: free or $0.99, without ads) with options for in-app purchases - maybe $3,
$5, $10, $20 - that are nothing more than a voluntary donation to pay more for
an app I find worthwhile.

If I could volunteer to pay more for apps _after using them for an extended
period of time_ (fully unlocked, no trial gimmicks), I'd likely have spent a
lot more money than I have thus far. I won't pay thousands for a bunch of
crappy used-once apps, but I'd pay a few hundred for the bundle of apps I've
kept.

~~~
corobo
If I could get a refund if an app sucked I'd be infinitely more willing to try
out random paid apps.

Use the steam method if necessary, only auto-refund it if you've used it less
than x hours

------
Zalastax
Cool indeed! I had a similar need and created
[https://github.com/Zalastax/colornamer](https://github.com/Zalastax/colornamer).
Finding a good source of names was the hardest part so you might want to
complement your list of colors with those in my list.

~~~
floSchr
I've made almost the same thing :) [https://colorna.me/](https://colorna.me/)

~~~
Zalastax
Super nice! Had I just known about it earlier... We made some different
choices, but the end result is quite close. It's a shame that the native html
color picker is so bad, I wish I could have used it, but FlexiColorPicker is a
delight to work with.

------
RhodaLs
You made something very simple and beautiful. I bought it right away, and had
fun building a palette of the Kansas sunset while my dogs ran through the
woods. I know I could do the same thing just by taking a photo and extracting
a palette later, but I really liked the experience of doing it in the moment.

Just one request: I'd love a way to export a bunch of colors at once. Is there
a way in the current interface? If not, please consider it for a future
update.

~~~
_kush
I am really happy you liked using the app.

Exporting multiple colors at once is a great idea! I've added it to my roadmap
and will be implementing it very soon. Thank you!

------
lawrencegs
Question here, how do you put a name on the hex? Do you have a database that
map each hex code to "limelight", "grey asparagus", etc ?

~~~
_kush
I am using a database with Resene color names (and some names from the
Wikipedia colors list) mapped to specific hex codes. I find the closest hex
code from the database to the one in your camera and show the name associated
with it.

Hope that answers your question!

~~~
mkl
You could also use the layperson-supplied colour names from the XKCD survey:

[https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-
results/](https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/)

[http://xkcd.com/color/rgb/](http://xkcd.com/color/rgb/)

It took colourblindness into account.

------
baxuz
There's a PWA that does mostly the same, apart for the naming: [https://use-
the-platform.com/rainbow-explorer/](https://use-the-platform.com/rainbow-
explorer/)

------
speg
Is there anything to covert hex codes to paint colors? Live, real word paint
on the wall. That would be neat.

I haven't looked at a paint can in a while, maybe it's as simple as rgb?

~~~
helb
There are multiple standards for this.

\- RAL –
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAL_colour_standard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAL_colour_standard)

\- Pantone –
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantone)

\- some others, often with military roots (FS595, British Standard, …)

Pantone has different charts for paper/textile prints etc. RAL is mostly used
for paint. It's common to have RAL codes on spray cans or wall paint buckets
here in Europe.

There are tools to approximately convert RGB (and HSL and others) to these
colors, eg. [http://rgb.to/](http://rgb.to/). But since the color models and
intended use are different, there are some colors with no equivalent.

Pantone even provides RGB/CMYK mappings for applicable colors in their sample
books: [https://www.pantone.com/images/pages/19890/Pantone-
Extended-...](https://www.pantone.com/images/pages/19890/Pantone-Extended-
Gamut-Guide-Proces-Colors.jpg)

There are also palletes for graphics software like Adobe Illustrator. But some
colors look weird on the RGB display obviously.

(Source: i worked as a backpack designer for years, we did a lot of pantone
prints)

~~~
jheriko
iirc pantone charge you an arm and a leg to use their colours...

~~~
helb
Yeah, that's true. Even these cute color books are ridiculously overpriced.

------
huangc10
This is very well done and looks beautiful. What an iPhone app is made to look
like.

For everyone who is wondering how he got the hex, and names, etc. there are
links in the bottom of the coneapp.io page. Here are the links:

> The Resene RGB Values List is copyrighted to Resene Paints Ltd, 2001. Name
> That Color by Chirag Mehta

Resene RGB Values List:
[http://people.csail.mit.edu/jaffer/Color/resenecolours.txt](http://people.csail.mit.edu/jaffer/Color/resenecolours.txt)
Resene Paints Ltd: [http://www.resene.co.nz/](http://www.resene.co.nz/) Name
That Color: [http://chir.ag/projects/ntc/](http://chir.ag/projects/ntc/)

------
tudorconstantin
What a great idea. I am renovating my house right now and I have to buy some
paint for partially painting a facade. I could use such an app to be able to
choose the paint color, in the store, as close as possible to the original
one.

Do you know of any such app for Android?

~~~
fredley
Beware the effects of incident lighting on colour perception. As a human, you
do a lot of processing you're not even aware of to normalise the colours you
perceive. Cameras cannot do this (without calibration), so if the
incandescent/flourescent/daylight/sunlight mix and intensity is different in
the store to your house, you could end up with a very different shade.

~~~
cdubzzz
It's really interesting. My wife and I have done lots of painting at our house
over the past year and we never get exactly what we expected. Most recently,
we spent a long time selecting a light gray, which looked very much gray with
a group of other grays. Then we painted the first portion of wall, stepped
back and both said, "well, that is blue".

~~~
fredley
I'm guessing you looked at the paint in the shop under artificial lighting
(which is more orange - making blues look more grey), then painted it in your
house where there is more bluer daylight!

Always buy the extortionately priced test samples. It's worth it!

------
mrmondo
This is something I didn't know I needed for a long time, how has this not
existed until now? It's so simple and truly is a delight to use. Thank you
kind sir!

~~~
petethepig
Adobe Color CC (now Adobe Capture CC) was released 4 years ago, in May 2013
[https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id1040200189](https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id1040200189)

------
sAbakumoff
The landing page is awesome! I wish the app was available for Android so, you
know, 80% of smartphone owners could check it out.

~~~
programmarchy
You mean the 80% of smartphone users who are much less likely to purchase
apps? [1] Could be a chicken-and-egg problem, but still.

[1] [https://www.appannie.com/en/insights/app-annie-index-
market-...](https://www.appannie.com/en/insights/app-annie-index-
market-q1-2016/)

~~~
sAbakumoff
Oh, so Cone app is NOT free?

~~~
Kiro
Did anyone say it was free?

~~~
sAbakumoff
I thought that everything that is posted to Show HN should be available for
free so that everyone could play with it.

------
milansuk
Nice idea! I just can't figure out why is the size of app almost 30MB?

~~~
shepardrtc
It said 14MB or so for me.

------
skunkworks
Nice job! When I started iOS development, I made a similar app for my
portfolio. I still use it occasionally, since I'm also colorblind.

It's been a while since I updated it, but it still works aside from the
occasional Core Data crash because I didn't know any better back then:
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colormyworld-color-picker-
an...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colormyworld-color-picker-and-
eyedropper-for-your-camera/id692361549?mt=8)

------
zod50
i must say the name, the website, the app's UI all look pretty neat. you seem
more of a designer than a developer, may I ask you, what's your expertise?

~~~
_kush
Thank you! I am an interaction designer but I picked up development (frontend
on web) early on and have been doing both since.

~~~
statictype
I see that you're based out of Pune. Are you looking for a job? :)

------
lindskogen
[https://coneapp.io/?color=#156077](https://coneapp.io/?color=#156077) "Blue
Stone, aka Green"?

~~~
BatFastard
Do all 16 million color combinations have names? That would be crazy!

~~~
JasonSage
Looks like it chooses from one of 1383 names.

From [0] linked in the footer.

0:
[http://people.csail.mit.edu/jaffer/Color/resenecolours.txt](http://people.csail.mit.edu/jaffer/Color/resenecolours.txt)

------
jakemor
Great name. Cones are the color receptors in our eyes concentrated in the
fovea. Love it when names hve scientific meaning but remain simple ;)

------
camtarn
Is there a story behind the name? It's a cool name, but it doesn't seem
obvious at first glance.

(Edit: cone cells! of course! cheers :) )

~~~
_kush
There is actually a story behind the name. I am a colorblind designer and
colorblindness is caused when you're missing some cone cells in your eyes.

Since this app helps me see all the colors, I decided to name it Cone!

~~~
Jaruzel
Does the app say out loud the colour name? If not - it would be a good feature
for partially sighted users also.

------
archit3cture
Great idea ! I wish I had this idea after working on a website that tries to
map RGB colors to paint names. An example of result with the Limeade color -
[http://en.tacolor.com/hex/6fb400/](http://en.tacolor.com/hex/6fb400/)

This does the distance check in the CIELAB color space.

------
kartickv
Would you be interested in supporting color space conversions for Apple
developers? Like how does UIColor(displayP3Red:0.7 green:0.8 blue:0.4) map to
extended sRGB? Standard sRGB? If you give you an sRGB color, what's the
saturated version of that color in P3? What's the 50% desaturated version of a
given color? Etc.

------
chrisbrandow
Very nicely done. I would recommend either a simple tooltip popover for each
button on _first_ startup, or a simple help button somewhere. It took me a
while to realize/notice that the snowflake button was to freeze the frame.

I wouldn't want to clutter the elegant simplicity of this app, but it was
confusing to me initially.

------
welpwelp
It's certainly worth its price but I wonder how many people would pay for it.
Nice work! I like the design.

------
rglover
Thanks, now I'm that guy in public holding up my phone to stuff. Kidding, this
is really great :)

------
jordache
So this app is using the device's camera? How does it account for the fact
that camera's perception of color is often no where as similar as our eye?

Or is the intent for the user to see the world through the app and find colors
that look appealing on the screen?

------
jrlocke
Great looking app. I'm an iOS dev, and I need to implement a similar color
picker for picking a color within an image in my app. Any tips or example code
you can point me to for how to performantly target a screen pixel and get the
hex?.

------
rrm1977
Congratulation for your new app. Adobe has a similar free app called Adobe
Color. However, your app is better as it clearly define the color name and
code. You may like to check their app and add a color scheme feature. Very
good work!

------
yoleg
Looks great! Really love the landing page! How long did the app take you to
build?

~~~
_kush
Thank you! It took me about a month to build this from scratch. I am familiar
with JavaScript so that helped me in picking up Swift quickly.

~~~
yoleg
Being familiar with JavaScript did you consider something like React Native
over Swift?

~~~
_kush
I actually started with React Native but soon realized the limitations and
switched to Swift. Learning Swift and shipping the app was definitely faster
than trying to figure out how to do X in react native and make it work
properly.

I think React Native is good if you're building database apps but when you
want to leverage the device capabilities like camera, Bluetooth etc, going
native is the best option.

------
LeoNatan25
Very cool! A feature suggestion for the future: add a Watch app! That
shouldn't be hard to implement at all, and would be a killer feature, I
believe. A quick color browse from a pic in the gallery.

------
Uffizi
This is wonderful, thank you! I appreciate that there is a subgrouping color
such as "blue" under the hex codes, it really helps for colors with names that
are not related to the base color.

------
shepardrtc
I've actually been looking for something like this. I only rarely ever need to
figure out what a color is, but its always been difficult. This app makes it
much easier. Thank you!

------
timdafweak
Bravo, a wonderful app indeed. I just see so many uses for it. And it is
priced just right for it to pick up quickly.

The app design is just wonderful - minimal and quite intuitive. Good luck!

------
bobbles
I have zero reason to use this but i love it - thanks!

------
gohome190
Great app! Very small critique: at a quick glance to my home screen, the icon
looks like an app in the download/install process.

------
hilti
Great work and good luck with sales! Did you write it in Swift or Objective-C?
BTW: just bought it! :-)

~~~
_kush
Thank you for the purchase, I hope you have fun with it! I made it in Swift 3.

------
johnwheeler
This is one of those apps you look at and think, "Oh yeah, this should exist"

Seems obvious in hindsight.

------
specializeded
It's so simple and pretty that it makes me sort of angry.

Thanks for the inspiration (and app) Kushagra!

------
programmarchy
This is nicely designed. Love the simplicity and the navigation is a neat
twist.

------
kirualex
Shameless plug of my app which is very similar:
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qolor-fast-color-
grabber/id9...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qolor-fast-color-
grabber/id973492333?mt=8)

~~~
corobo
Ouch that review

~~~
kirualex
yeah I guess some people are pretty stupid ^^

------
protectedvoid
Am I just too stupid to see the grander idea of this app or why does it get so
much attention and top position on HN? It's just a color picker on camera
images or what did I miss? It's very well done I agree but still seems
remarkably trivial. Why all the fuzz?

~~~
bartonm
Compared online equivalents 'Snap It' that help color identification which
require taking a picture and uploading to their site. This is really helpful
in identifying colors on the go. The simplicity of this app is where it sings.

It's easily monetized by connecting app to paint suppliers like Sherwin
Williams, Home Depot, or Lowes.

------
jheriko
well done. this is a cool app.

good luck charging for it though... if there is not a free one, some free-app
loving developer might waste a couple of hours of his afternoon doing the same
and shipping it for free.

------
calsy
Love it fantastic app. +1 purchase from down under.

------
xutopia
I can't find it in the Canadian App Store.

~~~
_kush
That's strange! Here's a direct link: [https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/cone-
live-color-picker/id122...](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/cone-live-color-
picker/id1221305627?mt=8)

I'll look into the issue.

------
woodylondon
This is so cool - just bought! Great work.

------
p0nce
Congratulations, looks very useful.

------
tompazourek
Looks cool. I wanted to build something similar some time ago, but never got
to it. My idea was that it would serve colorblind people so that they can
check what color some things are.

Interesting color names data can be downloaded here:
[https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-
results/](https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/)

------
giann
Great work !

------
tn135
Loved the same.

