r/canadaguns • u/JimmyKillem sk • Jun 03 '26
Feets / Collection / My build Hey all! Does anyone want an offline local desktop/mobile app for tracking your collection and costs?
Software engineer here with ~15 years experience. I've always wanted an offline/local only version of an app to track my disgusting habit and decided to go ahead and work with AI to create something on the weekend.
Is this something people would use if I published it?
My whole shtick is free, so I'd never charge for something like this since it's running all on your own machine.
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u/Lumindan Jun 03 '26
In theory getting organized would be cool but I also don't want a centralized list of everything I own even if it's only offline.
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u/SpectreBallistics Spectre Ballistics International (Verified) Jun 03 '26
Best case the feds know what I got. Worst case, I know what I spent.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Maybe I'll make it have a big ole red button that can do an immediate data wipe, in case anyone wants that
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u/dannysmackdown Jun 03 '26
I don't think it makes a difference. Those that wouldn't trust a third party to retain records of their firearms wouldn't trust a feature like that either.
My collection is incredibly small but even if it weren't, I'd be more inclined to simply have a piece of paper that retains my information for myself.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
I totally get that! This is essentially like keeping it on a piece of paper on device/in a note in notepad BUT I get that those that are less comfortable with having a device online are more inclined to want to keep sensitive data off of their local machines
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u/IPSC_Canuck Jun 04 '26
This doesn’t really solve the problem if you don’t know someone is looking.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
It's not centralized. It's an offline app so all of your data is yours
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u/Lumindan Jun 03 '26
Being offline only means it isn't stored on your server. It doesn't change the fact that I'd be creating a detailed digital registry of my firearms in one place.
That's still a concentration of sensitive information that can be lost, stolen, copied etc.
Don't get me wrong, in concept it's cool but in the current year, with our government passing draconian spy laws?
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
I completely understand.
On the flip side for a slice of tinfoil hat, they already know what you have if they want to know it. Any good analyst can piece together a purchase at a gunshop via Visa/Mastercard/Banking records and immediately give you a pretty decent idea of what you own, already. Hell, we can use cheap marketing data to target specifically you when you enter a 1 metre by 1 metre square in a specific building just by having social media apps installed on your phone.
I could spend days talking about how "I don't want the government to know what I have" is something we tell ourselves to feel good, but they already know if they have good reason to look into you.
BUT removing local data from the equation is smart and safe. Pen, paper, and cash is the only true way do stay anonymous
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u/SolemnSpider Jun 05 '26
i'm fine with it being offline as it is, but for people who are concerned about privacy you could allow the actual data to be stored separately (e.g. on a usb drive that you can disconnect after you've checked how much money you've burned)
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 06 '26
I think the juice wouldn't even be worth the squeeze for that one
People that concerned should stick with pen and paper
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Pretty cool just don’t know if I’d want that info saved anywhere lol also a programmer so I respect your work, good job!
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
That is why I wanted to make it local only. I use a Google sheet right now and I just SUCK at it
The relationships of rig + accessories or firearm to gear is impossible to manage
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
I get that I used apple notes for while then thought wtf am I doing this for?? Lol even local I’m wary as the laws and changes in this country are getting ridiculous not that I have anything to hide it’s just none of their business when it’s legal
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Is there a way to lock down the data? I’d maybe consider local deployment as I run an epyc home server setup for all my dockers, VMs etc
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
I'm a lazy web dev, I just used IndexdDB so it's all just on device, even the images are just compressed into a data uri and read from there. Technically things are stored so that only the app's session can access that DB, but a person could take it further an potentially encrypt at rest (if anyone were to gain remote access to your machine, make it just a little bit harder to get to it
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Fair enough I’d be down to check out the code if you shared it
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Hell yeah, I was thinking of opening up the repo and having a link on the site/app for issues. Lemme figure out if I can do that under a separate github user and I'll go from there
Lord help me have the gumption
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Yeah maybe not under the user you use normally lol sounds good if you set it up I’ll clone the repo
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u/PrestigiousStatus711 Jun 03 '26
Offline and encrypted then maybe.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
It's 100% offline. I'll look and see what I can do for Encrypted at rest for IndexedDB
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u/Last_Temperature_599 Jun 03 '26
But what if my wife finds it 🤔 👀 😕
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Wife’s still finding out about purchases from years ago least she’s got her PAL/RPAL too lol
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Keep the app with just one old ugly gun it it. Then she'll see it and let you buy more!
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u/Relevant_Diver_3228 Jun 03 '26
What if something you have gets banned will you be able to delete it without a record of it being on there or will it just stay there
Also idk the laws on this but would the government be able to request records of who has what and get them
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
This is just on an IndexDB in your app storage. If you delete it, its gone for good and purely local
In a nutshell, its just like text storage in a bucket that only the app has OS access to.
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u/Relevant_Diver_3228 Jun 03 '26
So if I had a gun on there the only record of it is on my phone and I could just delete the gun from the app and it is gone? its not on any other server so it can't get hacked right
Sorry about all the questions I'm not much of a tech guy Also I read it as online by mistake
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
No worries at all! I love to help newbies learn the lingo. You're correct, there is absolutely NOTHING online about this app. If you delete something, it's gone for good
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u/Relevant_Diver_3228 Jun 03 '26
Cool where can I find this app
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Working on that part next. I have a local version running on Chrome, but I want to make a windows/mac/and mobile versions before I give you the real goods
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u/AssignmentPutrid3197 Jun 03 '26
share it
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Okay, lemme figure out some stuff and I'll get something up and running. Might just make a vercel free site and host it for download there. I'll let the community know if I can get enough interest 😃
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
GitHub maybe? I guess that involves knowing how to use that tool to clone it tho lol
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u/_Armpit AlmostProhibited.ca Jun 03 '26
It's possible to setup a workflow to build and publish built apps using GitHub.
Some people may prefer that as well as they can validate the app against the source code.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
This is kind of what I was thinking. Just have a nightly GH Action that runs and produces all platform apps and publish them to a site/the github repo
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u/ctrlaltd1337 Jun 03 '26
If you make it available to deploy via docker compose, I would definitely give it a spin and let you know what I think. I'm currently using Homebox to track this and I will probably stick with it because I use it for my entire home, but doesn't hurt to give you some feedback.
GitHub to view the codebase is also a great plus, especially in the AI era where people are quick to judge.
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Docker or web app I can make into a docker would be my vote I don’t need mobile app versions
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u/A_a_ronA Jun 03 '26
I’d definitely find an app like this useful! Beyond just tracking the collection itself, I’d want to track the total cost of ownership for each of my firearms; purchase price, ammo, accessories, maintenance, range fees, and anything else associated with using it.
For example, it would be interesting to compare my 9mm rifle against my 10/22 over the course of a year and see what each one actually costs me to own and shoot. Maybe I take the 10/22 to the range 12 times for roughly the same I spend on a single outing with my 9mm or .223. Having that data would give a much clearer picture of which firearms I get the most value from.
I could also see it helping with purchasing and collection decisions. If my firearm rarely gets used, that might influence whether I keep it, sell it, or replace it with something I'd use more often. Usage statistics, round counts, maintenance history, and cost-per-range-trip metrics would all be super valuable to me. Good idea!
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
Yeah I used to track how many rounds each rifle has shot then got lazy lol it’s nice to know for sure, also never sell you never know if you can get it again lol
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u/Holiday-Archer-2119 Jun 03 '26
I like the idea but having a list like that i dont think is a good idea, could be bad if someone with ill intentions got their hands on it
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u/canshooter22 Jun 03 '26
I think this looks great, I use a simple spreadsheet to track the exact same info but this is far nicer, well done!
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u/PhonedZero CCFR Member Jun 03 '26
I made a spread sheet for my racing sim rig including costs, never again.
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u/Weak_Painter_5800 Jun 03 '26
Hey can you invite me to the repo lol. I can make some PRs so the underlying local DB , connection etc is encrypted. That would cover a lot of the concerns people face with security and feds looking at the data.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
All good, I'm going to open the Repo once I can find out how to anonymize it/toss it over to a different github user that I own. Until then I still have to do an audit run of the entire app, and all that fun stuff
Thinking of just going with Dexie, or hand rolling using the built in Web Encryption API
Worry not, it will be OSS eventually
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u/scottsuplol Jun 03 '26
I would be scared to see how much food costs for my sks every year. I prob put a couple thousand rounds through it every year
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u/IPSC_Canuck Jun 04 '26
Costs. No. I don’t want to know how much it really costs.
I don’t want to create a record of everything I have either. Especially with this bill C-22 crap going around.
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u/Specialist_Chard5231 Jun 03 '26
Consider adding shooting accessories and a shopping list.
Of i ever have a fire I really need a inventory of accessories/reloading parts.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Ohhhhh shooting accessories, doy, why not have that?
Same with a list. Thank you so much
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u/Specialist_Chard5231 Jun 03 '26
Maybe I am thinking a different angle but I don't really need to know if I have gun X. But part/accessory X and my ammo stock or do I still have those reloading dies. Who did I loan them too. Are real questions I have regularly.
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u/newtdiego Jun 03 '26
I think i'd have a couple retroactive heart attacks seeing how much i spent, even more so if ammo was included
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u/KalashnikovParty Jun 04 '26
Can you make one that tracks the current values of my guns? So i can hug them and convince myself it was a good deal and value purchase while i dip my ramen cup because it’s all i can afford this month after the purchase
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u/Jankins114 Jun 04 '26
I'd download it on an old phone and use it if it's got some way to delete in a hurry.
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u/Dill_Pickle_Tears Jun 04 '26
Yes and yes. PLEASE. I love apps that can automate and illustrate data for me.
I’ve really been hoping to keep an overall record of my firearm related expenses and - similar to manual budgeting - that shit is really annoying.
I remember someone on here with a sick Renegade drop the total price tag and I was audibly gasped. Would be good to know the world of hurt my wall it in for at least lol
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u/pooshlinger Jun 04 '26
Id love this app. The kid in me is saying it reminds me of loadout menus from videogames. Love it
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 04 '26
That was partially my inspiration!
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u/pooshlinger Jun 04 '26
Very cool, i particularly like the pointers on the photo naming the accessories. Hitting a button and all the info showing up would be so cool. Let us know when its ready for drop!
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u/Agonizing-Stroke1812 Jun 04 '26
There's no point in doing this, just adds more necessary work to my life cataloguing my hobby like it's a job
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u/throwie2k Jun 06 '26
Local is good. Definitely don't want such data online and linked to your account.
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u/parkix Jun 03 '26
I would love to have an app that tracks prices, deals and pricing history of firearms being sold from different retailers.
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u/TescoValueSoup Jun 03 '26
It would only make me sad.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
Hey now, it just shows you how much of a return you can get on your investment.
For example, invest in a Carmel and then watch as the Government bans it and you can get negative $2600 return!!
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u/dgod40 Jun 03 '26
I had chatgpt make one for me. It's the most unpolished, disorganized codebase but it works. I can only imagine how bad it'll be to make changes.
I also "made" a localhost price tracker. Stupid Tenda website is so hard to crawl.
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u/_Armpit AlmostProhibited.ca Jun 03 '26
Also one of the reasons things like these should take time to create, instead of completely relying on vibe coded outputs as the LLM will be the only one at that point that knows about the changes.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
I def vibe coded this with Claude Code and a couple hours in the morning. My goal is to give this a FULL audit before I publish it
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u/epnk420 Jun 03 '26
I’ve been using Claude models with kilo code but more so for fun and to see how ai works it’s definitely not on par with an actual software engineer
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u/DougMacRay617 Jun 03 '26
Grest idea, terrible application.
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 03 '26
I genuinely want feedback. Please drop it if you got it
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u/DougMacRay617 Jun 03 '26
Its pretty clear already, Most people aren't gonna want all this info saved into one place (local or not) .
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u/Zerfall2142 Jun 04 '26
Uhh.. Ok. I'm going to try to be nice here
As someone who clearly remembers the gun registry and how the media (ottawa citizen) Used the access to information act. Then published list of firearms with the first 3 digits of postal code. That built my lack of trust for the government being able to keep my personal info safe
The internet as a whole and especially reddit being mostly bots built my distrust of any account not being used by someone I personally know
Companies that sell your data, legally, using fine print. You see the continuing trust issues
And now for some random on reddit proposing to make a "totally offline, nobody but you will see it" gun collection app for "free" to track your own collection. (IMO if you can't keep track of your collection mentally, you might have a problem)
Yeah, no bud. That's a freaking hard pass. I'm sure you have good intentions. As the kids say "that's sus AF)
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u/JimmyKillem sk Jun 04 '26
No worries, makes sense
Just FYI, you can look at people's profiles on reddit if you are curious about them
This "random" has been active on this sub since 2017/2018
Sometimes people like to make nice things and share them with others
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u/Zerfall2142 Jun 04 '26
That's fair. I understand giving back to an online community. TBH it'd be neat to build a wishlist just to see what it'd cost but the only apps i put on my phone are ones that pass the app store checks. And even those are sometimes invasive.
Account age and activity don't mean much on reddit. There are plenty of 6+yr accounts that were probably real people at one time but are now bot accounts. I'm sure you're aware of this.
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u/Just-rz Jun 03 '26
Collection yes. Costs no fuck no. What if my wife finds this app on my phone