Bitcoin Forum

BlockZ - Bitcoin Block and Price Announcer

https://i.imgur.com/UEAha5g.png

What is the Bitcoin Block and Price Announcer?

• It's a lightweight java application, that runs in the background and notifies you if a new bitcoin block is found or the price dropped below a user specified limit.
• It features a tray icon in the windows tray that has popup notifications for the price and when a new block has been found.
  https://i.imgur.com/Nk1spxz.png
• It also  features an overlay display that is show if you klick on a little rectangle in the middle of your upper screen.
  Hovering the rectangle brings up a red identifier:
  https://i.imgur.com/BhtzIdm.png
  
  If you click and hold the rectangle, the overlay window appears:
  https://i.imgur.com/gVCCtUe.png

(The connection error is the fault of the outage of blockexplorer.com. I may implement a backup api soon.)

• It also features a transaction viewer:
  https://i.imgur.com/xFjjUCX.png
  https://i.imgur.com/c8Uymkq.png
• You are able to customize nearly everything
  https://i.imgur.com/sUz9PhU.png
  https://i.imgur.com/nQ7Y3Nw.png
  https://i.imgur.com/5G0hYLA.png

The application uses the blockexplorer.com API.
The block status is checked every minute by default, to not abuse the api from blockexplorer. You can customize this time to fit your needs.

Please note, that the application is still in development!

--Translation--
!If you want to help the project and translate it to your native language click this link: Crowdin Project Page (http://"https://crowdin.com/project/blockz/invite?d=m6k6460575f5v69383r4q4h353")!


Download

• Version Alpha V1.5.1
  Dropbox (https://goo.gl/Aybq23)
  Google Drive (https://goo.gl/WVUpMH)
• Version Beta V1.4.2
  Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/efatjae23dje6co/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.4.2.rar?dl=0)
  Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jIYzB1UHVvUkY2YXc/view?usp=sharing)
• Version Beta V1.4.1
  Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/h5ecw0webb74dd4/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.4.1.rar?dl=0)
  Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0B6PkWJd-jIR21zY3JSWjIzbk0)
• Version Beta V1.4
  Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjsd69eyzqbzd0m/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.4.rar?dl=0)
  Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0B6PkWJd-jISFdHRFQ0TS1XblU)
• Version Beta V1.3
  Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/jre09ape9scjfb1/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.3.rar?dl=0)
  Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0B6PkWJd-jIZ3lCb0t5Um5SQlk)
• Version Beta V1.2
  Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/9dk408j8xue2mcb/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.2.rar?dl=0)
  Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0B6PkWJd-jITmQzaEVtSnBDZWs)

Changelog

V1.5.1 Alpha

• Added the ability to save your settings.
• Improved some of the API code to improve speed
• Redone all windows/interfaces, but i'm not satisifed!

Nice project.
so, the application can notice bitcoin price too?

Where the link which can download this application?

I want to add the feature of displaying the bitcoin price. It's not added yet. The app is still in development. But if you want i can send you a pm with the download link and you say what you think about the application.

I made some progress today! I added a menu to select some features and added the bitcoin price to the overlay display.

https://i.imgur.com/6X4Dez8.png

https://i.imgur.com/Sz2Q4f4.png

Notice, that the Overlay is gone in the second image!

I also added a button to exit the program in an easy way.

Now i'm working on the alert, if the bitcoin price drops/rises x dollars in y minutes.
Looking forward to your feedback.

Interested, can you give me an application? or maybe share with us here.

For bitcoin price notification, from where you use a bitcoin price? bitstamp? or what?

I am using the Coindesk API, because it was the first i found, i could use in my program. At the moment i don't want to spread my program, because it's still in development. I'm giving it to some people for bug testing purposes. Also some variables are not relative so the tray icon image won't load at your computer.

I am do not know where from Google receives Bitcoin USD price but you can get this value there:

https://www.google.com/finance/converter?a=1&from=BTC&to=USD

Maybe this helps a bit.

I already implemented that feature. I prefer using an api to get the numbers. You found a website it's hard to extract the numbers from there. Amd i think coindesk is a reliabke place to get a proper bitcoin price.

Yes, you are right. You also can get prices from a different places. ;) Have a nice day!

Drop blockchain.info and get a more reliable service, as Blockchain.info quite goes offline/misses blocks/lags/etc. Also, if you want a good price API, use BitcoinAverage (https://api.bitcoinaverage.com/), instead of using the price of one exchange.

I'm not using blockchain.info at all. Yes i thought about BitcoinAverage aswell. But at first i wanted to have the program running and then edit some details to get the best out of it. Actually i'm working on a way to save the settings if you restart the program.

Oh whoops. I read blockexplorer.com as blockchain.info. No idea how that happened. Nevermind my comment about that then. And that sounds awesome. Good luck!

assuming source code will be provided.  correct?

Sure i don't want to spread viruses. Maybe i'll make it open Source.

Currently i'm working on a efficient way to save the settings... Or is that unnecessary for you?

If not, please answer this questions: Where should the settings be saved? (AppData, Folder of the jar?)

How should the alarm system for the bitcoin price work? Fully variable price or some radio buttons to choose?
Or maybe another way to set a specific price and get a notification if the price is below the certain price?

Could you tell me your expectations of the software? So  i can make it even better for you...

I'm not able to make any progress in the program for the next 2 weeks. But i want you to share all of your ideas so the program is going to be the one, that you want. The more ideas you provide, the better the program is going to fit your needs.

I'll upload the program with source code tomorrow. Do you can try it out amd get a better view of what is missing or if there are some bugs.

Wow amazing ideas. I defenately going to add them. Making money of a program where the source code is provided is difficult. I thought about a donation button and a maybe a way to download the program via satoshibox or another(better) way.

Op, this is the best idea and it must get implemented soon :)
BTW, in my opinion,  it would be best if you add the bitcoin price announcer alongwith the block announcer. This would help the active traders to become aware of the current bitcoin price, live on his dashboard so that no one will have to waste his time on exchange sites rather than missing his trade opportunities!

Also users will be able to set a sound notification which will alarm him as soon as the price increases or decreases accordingly.
BTW, all the best for your work :)

I started over again because the old code got too messy. I'm right now implementing the exchanges and i'm adding some more options to choose. A damn text field isn't going to work in any way... I have to figure out a solution in the next days.


Keep on the good ideas! I'm trying as much as possible to get it into the program.


Current status:
-2 Exchanges: BitcoinAverage(EUR,GBP,USD,CNY,AUD,...) and CoinDesk(EUR,GBP,USD)
(The huobi api is to hard for me to get it running. Sorry for that.)
-Onscreen display is total or patial disableable (Checkboxes)
-Price check every minute at selected exchange with chosen currency. (Price alert to be re-implemented; already working)
-Display the last block time (to clarify: the time used to mine the block; not when it was created)
-Display the current block's age in minutes

To be implemented:
-Price alert at certain price
-Save settings button
-Get last transactions of an address
-Get transaction status (confirmed/unconfirmed) of a txid
-Get the balance of an address

You decide about these:
-Get the number of currently unconfirmed transactions?
-Choose the overlays text color (maybe important for readability)
-Get the best possible fee(blockexplorer.com feature)? (http://blockexplorer.com/api/utils/estimatefee?nbBlocks=3 (http://blockexplorer.com/api/utils/estimatefee?nbBlocks=3))


This is one single program already. I never thougt about two different ones.

I already thougt about your sound idea. But it's not that easy to add a sound into java. To use an mp3 file you need some extra libraries. That's my last priority at the moment. Sorry for that too.

But sadly i have to say, that i have to pause developing the program for two weeks starting next monday. After i got back home i'm moving straight back into the development.

To give you an overview about the new features. Here are some screenshots:
https://i.imgur.com/MIIunyx.png

https://i.imgur.com/wuiBxVU.png

https://i.imgur.com/TbzfoVZ.png

https://i.imgur.com/REJrPu2.png

At the moment its not possible to type something into the text fields... I have to find the mistake i've made. Now i'm working on a way to save the settings. I think i'm going to store them in a textfile in the programs folder.
Also i think there is the need to change the text color. Because black is hard to read in most cases. I think for the default color i'm using a color like Riva Tuner Statistics Server. That's readable in nearly every case.


There is a bug at the moment, and i don't know the reason of it. Sometimes the overlay window gets partially white like this:
https://i.imgur.com/wvOZyVN.png
After the content is updated its normal as before. Maybe i am amble to figure out what's going on.

To get more feedback from you i decided to upload a pre version of the final program for you to test it out.

Download V1.2:
Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/9dk408j8xue2mcb/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.2.rar?dl=0)
Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jITmQzaEVtSnBDZWs/view?usp=sharing)

Maybe you think this is a virus... I give you my word that it is not. I am going to publish the source code later. If you don't feal comfortable with it. Simply don't download and run it.

Here is a virus scan to calm you down a little bit:
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/96f4b61a2dc57c3553b7133b52fc9ec444be5c7d150a5c08e01e9b0c9b4a028e/analysis/1444425255/

So go and try the program out :) And don't forget to leave your feedback here.

Thank you for the link. Yes! It's definitely not a virus ;) Cheers mate :) BTW, may I know when will the final version be launching ?

Great! price alert is what i looking too. nice job mate! keep it work! :)

Watching on this for final version launching :D

But price alert is set to 200 and 270 at the moment and you don't have the ability to change it, because the textfield is locked due to strange reasons i couldn't figure out. I hope i'll get this to work.

I don't know when the final version is going to launch. Maybe in a few weeks. Defenetaly not in the next two weeks because i'm not at home in the meantime. Maybe in 3 to 4 weeks.

The tx window is finally there!
Here are first look screenshots:
https://i.imgur.com/c8Uymkq.png

https://i.imgur.com/xFjjUCX.png

I'm going to replace the arrows anyway. They are just placeholders for suitable icons. I improved the api of my program so only one access is needed to get the tx details. (Before two were needed and sometimes one got no connection so confirmations or value wasn't reported properly)

Is there an "official" bitcoin transaction logo that i can put in the upper left corner of the window as an icon?

Some last progress before i have to pause the development for the following 2 weeks:
https://i.imgur.com/0ThDg6D.png
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https://i.imgur.com/sUz9PhU.png
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https://i.imgur.com/5G0hYLA.png
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https://i.imgur.com/nQ7Y3Nw.png
--------------------------------------------------
https://i.imgur.com/mUdP2pe.png

I had to remove all the settings from the little popup menu into a new window in order to get the text fields working. I wanted to keep the program as tiny as possible and so minimalistic as possible but i had to make this step. If you now click on one option the window will open in the middle of your screen and you can select all options you want. Later there will be a save button included. If you click on tx details in the little popup menu the tx details tab is selected by default.

I may add a third exchange. You only have to say which one you want. I don't know popular exchanges :)

You can download the new version here:
Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/jre09ape9scjfb1/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.3.rar?dl=0)
Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jIZ3lCb0t5Um5SQlk/view?usp=sharing)

As always: Share your thougts about the program!

Nice work! I think miners will definetly prefer this, with the new blocks and the price indicator. Keep up the work!

OP, I have just now tested the V1.3 of your Bitcoin Block and Price Announcer module. My overall experience was great :D

But here are some suggestions to make this application super awesome:

1. The display positions of "Block Number", "Block Time", "Block Age" and "Price" on the upper left corner is somewhat cluttering that area of my desktop and also hiding the icons present there like these...



Thus, the better position would be to place them on the task-bar, beside the clock and recent notifications (Also white font would be nice for black task-bar)....



2. "The Price Increase/Decrease" notifier is popping up every now and then (after every 30-35 seconds), which is kinda annoying while thinking and writing something or surfing! It should notify at least after 15 minutes. (I guess within 15 minutes the price won't increase/decrease much)
Or it must only notify as soon as the price increases/decreases. (So for steady price it won't notify)

Since I liked your work, here's a small tip from my side => https://blockchain.info/tx/f0f759fb48c8b3b370f314c7e782b2f2c99d067bff4346e7340db46203f20854 :D

Hope to see those modifications in next update :)

First of all thank you for your tip!

I'm already working on a way to pick every text color you want.

The suggestion with the taskbar is nice, i'll take a look if it's possible with java. Sadly there are some native restrictions.

The price notification is made in the following way: You set a price maximum and minimum. If the price is above or below the certain amount you get notified every update of the price (every minute). If you don't want to have a notification every minute you may think about setting other limits than before. I want to keep the notifications as fast as possible. So a 15min cooldown is only an option and nothing to have always. But it's easy to do so i'm going to add this little checkbox and textfield(to set a specific interval not only 15 minutes). But should the notification only be diabled for the one that appeared? (E.g.: If the price rises the up notification is disabled for 15min, but if the price drops during this there is a notification or not?)

Thanks for your feedback!

I have to say, that there will be no progress in the next 2 weeks. After that i'll continue the development and add your ideas.

WOW! Nice concept! I should definitely try out this one :D

This is a great thing! Sometimes for price alerts I go to bitcoinwisdom and often i forget that I closed the tab for it; it is about damn time that there are price alerts that are desktop based, what exchanges are u planning to add? all of them? what about altcoins?

Can you make a slider like display for that ? So that, whenever I hover my mouse there it slides in and shows me the details? (Just like Windows 8's start function) If adding it to the taskbar is a problem, then you can probably try this one out. And this will have no clutter issues too ;) Moreover if you do this you need to add a background template or a "tile" like display so that the details are clearly seen.


Yes! You can set a checkbox regarding the 15 minutes interval. Moreover you can add another function where if the price goes down during that interval it'll notify me ASAP.

I hope to get your next version soon :)

You can make suggestions which exchange you want me to add.
Maybe some popular altcoins coming soon after i finished the bitcoin version. After that the source is published and you can add your own.

I don't get exactly what you mean with a slider? You mean if the cursor is in the corner the display fades in? I am not into Win 8 so i don't kno what you mean exactly.

Check how he's moving the cursor on upper right hand corner and how the start menu is hovering up on the screen after that => https://youtu.be/B4E0tC6Bj_M?t=39s  It would be great if you add this feature, like hovering upwards or leftwards (Remember to avoid doing it on upper left corner, lower left corner, obviously upper right corner and lower right corner because Windows 8 has certain functions on these positions! But you are free to add it anywhere in Windows 10 as there are no such features present and I have Windows 10 BTW ;D )

But where, when not the corners is the right spot to add it? Upper middle? Somewhere? Side seems a bad idea because of multiple monitor setups.

Any plans to release the source code and make it open source?

Yes but this may take some time. First i want to get the product to the final stage and make another version for litecoin. Then i'm going to make it open source.

Here's an idea:
Make it so if you hold your mouse in the top left of the screen it pops out, because having this black text might not always be applicable and might not be visible on all pages, but with this method you can put a little transparent background on it :)

The idea is already submitted and i'm going to add it as soon as i'm able to develop the program again. I expect the next monday to be that date. After that i'm going to develop as fast as i can to get the program running and add all of your ideas.

To your suggestion: Nice idea,  ut it will be in the middle top of the screen because of the windows 8 features in the corners. I already have an idea. I only have to add it to the code.

I still need a third exchange... Some suggestions? BTCe?

When are you coming back after vacation?  Eagerly waiting for your new release :D

As per another exchange requirement you can use either "virtex" or "hitbtc".

As promised i'm back into development today. I already began to program the new window that shows up. Here is a first look for you:

https://i.imgur.com/iD4Hxr4.png

(The white is only for demonstrating purposes. It's invisible afterwards)

I thought of a trigger in the top middle of the screen. If you hover the trigger it get's visible. If you then klick it the window shows up and if you leave the window it get's invisible again.

Do you think the trigger area is big enough?
What's about the click idea so you can't accidentally open it by hovering over it?
Or maybe it's better to display the window as long as you press down the mouse button on the trigger window and after that it's insible again?

The trigger area is absolutely okay ! I think the idea of "click and hold" after hovering would be much better than only hovering as someone might accidentally open the tab only by hovering instead of doing something else. So yeah ! It would be really great to implement that :) Keep it up dude ! Like your work very much :D

Today or tomorrow i'm going to upload the new version for you to try it out. It has some small API improvements and should run more stable. Also the new display is added. And maybe there is a first version of a save options button. I'll have ro see how far i can get.

I found a bug, that if a block is found the age is not calculated right away. It may take some minutes. Can someone confirm that?

Thank you for your ideas.

Hope to see your updated version soon. :)

I'm sorry i missed the date i promised you... I'm busy at the moment. But today afternoon i'm doing the last changes and upload a new version. The V1.4 is finally going to get real :) I hope you like the new way of the display.

I'm sorry but as it looks right now the 15min delay in price notifications is not going to do it into the version from today. But the 1.5 is coming soon.

Version V1.4

After three weeks finally here is a new version for you to test it:
Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjsd69eyzqbzd0m/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.4.rar?dl=0)
Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jISFdHRFQ0TS1XblU/view?usp=sharing)

Some preview Screenshots:
https://i.imgur.com/M3szvIC.png
(Hovering the rectangle with my invisible cursor :D)

https://i.imgur.com/wcA6prV.png
(With the little rectangle klicked and mouse pressed)

What do you think about the black border around the window? Good idea?

thats a real and nice work. i usually had to open tab to open link of recent blocks mined . Is it available for download?

Above is a link to dropbox or google drive to download the latest beta version. The program isn't final yet. If it is final some day i'm going to upload it on a site for you to download it. Keep a look into this thread preiodically i'm going to upload new versions periodically.

Just came into my mind:
What do you guys think about the fact, that the announcement message is hidden with the new type of display too... What about putting this notification back into the upper left corner? Of course i'm going to add an option to disable this.

If you are testing my program right now, please note, that it is not working properly because the blockexplorer.com api is unavailable at the moment...

https://i.imgur.com/DCxzIbW.png

Version V1.4.1

Changes:
-No new notifications for 15min after one price notification to prevent from spamming.
-The images are included in the jar file so the img folder is gone.
-Added an error message if the connection to the api fails

Download:
Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jIR21zY3JSWjIzbk0/view?usp=sharing)
Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/h5ecw0webb74dd4/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.4.1.rar?dl=0)

Thats a nice work by Op . Thanks for the java app  :D

Nice to hear that! Any suggestions what is missing or should be changed?

Having problem usd price says below 200 but btc price is above $310.. Please fix it.. Otherwise its nice

Maybe it failed to get the price. I set the price variable by default to 123.45$. Maybe you check the price in the overlay window.

First of all, sorry for my late reply! Today I checked the new version. Everything was alright but there's some bug with block-syncing error like this one but it occurs sometimes (once in every 15 clicks).

http://i63.tinypic.com/2pzju5k.jpg


Overall this version is quite satisfying and few more things I would like to mention before calling it fully perfect :) are as follows:

1. Add a setting where one can set the price & block notifier interval.

2. Add a feature where one can drag the hovering rectangle anywhere on the upper screen because sometimes it is needed, specially when someone is using Photoshop ;)

Very good ideas! Going to implement them right away. The Connection error is related to the blockexplorer api and not the programs fault. I will add a second api soon. But not sure which.

Hey mate,

Did you try Blockchain's (https://blockchain.info/api) or Blocktrail's (https://www.blocktrail.com/api) api ? Maybe they are more stable ? :)

When is your next version launching? I hope you add a feature where I can change the color of texts and the white background according to my theme (which is also whitish) :)

I'm going to use Blocktrails api, but only as a backup api because every user needs a blocktrail account and an api key. I cannot set one key for all users because it's limited to 300 requests per minute and more than 300 users would cause more errors, than it would solve. Maybe i add blockchain aswell because of the easier use, but it's also not so reliable like the blockexplorer one.

This is a good idea. Maybe it's in the version after the next version. But the version might take some time... I have to rewrite the whole program in order to implement the feature, to save your settings. And i don't think you want to change the color on every program start... But now the program is not able to load the settings when it is starting, i have to change so many things, that it is easier to rewrite it completely... This may take some days.

I think i can launch the next version now :D I added the draggable window feature and the custom delay and update times.

Update V1.4.2
Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/efatjae23dje6co/Bitcoin%20Block%20and%20Price%20Announcer%20V1.4.2.rar?dl=0)
Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jIYzB1UHVvUkY2YXc/view?usp=sharing)

After a few days out i've taken i'm going to rewrite the program in the next days to finally add the save button. What do you think of adding a option to display the estimated next difficulty change? Beside that i'm going to add the color change option and the promised save button. And the optional backup api if the other one fails.

I have tested the latest version out and everything seems fine. :) Also, by making it draggable everywhere on desktop, it's advantageous to drag it down on the taskbar below. ;) Due to this context, can you make that clickable bar few pixels thicker?


Yes, it yould be great to add an option to display the estimated next difficulty change. BTW, what API did you use in V1.4.2? It seems it hasn't failed till now!

I'm using the same api as before, but the site is out of maintenance mode as it was some days that time... There it was unstable...

As i recode the whole thing i'm going to make the gui better and more user friendly. Custom text and window size. Nicer looking buttons. I found a nice tool for doing so. Because the native Java is hard to style without some kind of layout manager. But i have to see how this works out. I also will add way more options, and if the display of some options is disabled the api is disabled and not using your network if you don't need that option. The clickable bar is customizable in size and hovering color too, then.

Does anyone know where i can get the estimated next difficulty via an api? I was searching, but didn't find a suitable api.

You can use Blockexplorer's API to get the current status of Bitcoin Difficulty.


Where "xxx" can be: getDifficulty (https://blockexplorer.com/api/status?q=getDifficulty)

Moreover, you can replace "xxx" with the following on that same code to get these statuses:

• getInfo (https://blockexplorer.com/api/status?q=getInfo)
• getBlockCount (https://blockexplorer.com/api/status?q=getBlockCount)
• getBestBlockHash (https://blockexplorer.com/api/status?q=getBestBlockHash)
• getLastBlockHash (https://blockexplorer.com/api/status?q=getLastBlockHash)

Hope this helps. :)

Yes i know, but how do i get the estimated next difficulty out of this. I think no one is interested of a live difficulty window when it's changing only once every 14 days. I think i need the estimated next difficulty via an api.

Wow great work on this application, something I needed for the last few years!

If you would like some website hosting space to popup a website, I can sort you some out for free as I can see your project being very beneficial for the crypto community.

Thank you for your statement.

I think this program is too unprofessional to get it's own website and i don't know what to put on it... Maybe i'll need some later but now i'm satisfied with this forum as a platform to show my work to you.

😀

Just thinking your site where you can detail updates, host your own download links, get feedback and show screenshots etc.

Many applications start off with a little text on their website and over time grow and constantly update it with thier progress, a lot of people like this as they can see the history of the app and how it has grown.

I may take your offer. I got an idea: On the website there is a html preview of the application and under that you cam download it. And on another page there are scrrenshots and more detailed descriptions. Maybe that'll work. But for now i'm focusing on getting the things and features working and making the application even better. Do you have any suggestions?

Good idea! I'm not saying not to update this thread, just to have somewhere which is your own in case BCT goes down.

A HTML preview sounds good and screenshots always give people a good idea of what they are downloading.

As for the application do you have redundant setting to check another API should your main API be down? One of the projects I am currently working on is my own dedicated API hosted by myself to feed all my future apps (and my clients if they request) to give another option.

No i don't have an redundant API right now, but it's planned. I was going to use the blocktrail API because it's as simple as the blockexplorer one, but the only disadvantage is, that everyone, who is going to use it as a backup needs a seperate api key from blocktrail, so he needs to create a wallet there... Maybe that's a bad idea... Is there any way you know to have one central server, that is getting the information from blocktrail with my api key and then spreading the information to all program users? Maybe a free solution with a server and php requests? I don't know what's important and the best way...

So a server to pull all the API data from one source or several and then your program using that server for its data? Not seen anything like this but this is what I am building (I'm building a group of them to include redundancy)

I'm recoding the whole program right now.
Do you have any furhter suggestions and improvements except for:
-Color change
-Size change
-Backup API
-Other exchange
-Save settings

What do you think about a mobile app, maybe a widget?

Sorry for replying late! I think the whole project is nearly complete with everything a typical bitcoiner wants for! I have 2 further suggestions for you:

1. Try to integrate popular altcoins on the same program. Making different programs for them would be tedious to install every-time.

2. Yes! Making a mobile widget would be awesome and I will happily be it's beta tester. :)

This is very nice and fantistic topic. Thanks

A mobile app would be awesome !

I'm still working on it guys. Stay tuned. I'm taking more time this time because i want to inclued anything so i don't have to redo the code again. Current progress is about half the way done. I hope i can use the weekend to get some more progress.

Looking forward to it bud :)

Got about 2 hours today to continue the work. The rest of the weekend was really a busy one. I hope i can get the program running again until next friday. The gui is already there and i'm working on the save function atm. It's not looking goog right now but it's kind of an weird issue i cannot explain.

I got the damn save settings button to work. This is an alpha version of the program and it has no ability to get the price. It's only the settings window.

So please download the program, change the display settings(currency, price and general is not implemented yet), save them and report if it worked on your side.

In the folder of the jar should be a file called "settings.dat" otherwise it didn't work.

Download:
Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0B6PkWJd-jIcnJHYzhDRlZwaVk/view?usp=sharing)
Dropbox.com (http://Dropbox.com) (Offline atm)

Just want to know the current status of this project. I was also busy during the whole month of December and so I was unable to contact you regarding this.


Downloaded it. But the save button is only present in the "General" tab. Also the function doesn't save the intervals after closing & reopening the .jar file.

One more thing; after I close the dialog box, the announcer should remain open in the system tray but it doesn't in this version. It stops abruptly.

---

How is your progress on making an android app btw?

Yes this version is alpha no announcer function in it. It is only this window amd it ends if the window is closed. Update coming soon. I had a hard time the last few weeks but i'm making progress. The version where all settings are saveable may be released tomorrow. Looking forward for future feedback from you. Thanks.

The app is in pre-alpha. I'm struggeling installing the android sdk.

It is better for me if you calculate weighted average price of bitcoin over exchanges.

That will help for trading.

That would be a nice idea.

Also can you add a feature to check how much coin days have been destroyed for a particular transaction?

If you do not know what it is about then please check here --- http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/845/what-are-bitcoin-days-destroyed

Eagerly waiting for the new update ;)

But wich are the weights for it? I cannot weight it on my own. Easier would be an average of all exchanges. But first let me finish th current program.

What is the actual formula for calculation cdds? I'm a bit confused, but i think i can add it.



The new overlay window is a bit bigger now because of a layout i tried. Is it better or worse than before?
https://i.imgur.com/s2uNKsj.png

I figured out that my program is not resource friendly to your pc. This simple overlay program is using a 100MB of ram if it runs. I hope that is not an issue for you.

To give a quick update:
I lately had some time to make some progress to the program. It is now displaying currency data and the block number in the overlay window again. I have to work und the update method and on the notifications and maybe a sound.

As i mentioned before i'm not satisfied with the actual overlay window. It's so big and helds not enough information nor is it neat to look at. I might improve the overall visual appearance. Maybe i need some help from you doing so.

Maybe someone is able to create images, that fit the buttons so they look a lot nicer. And maybe a background for the settings window.
This would be very great and you are definitely going to be in the credits.

Can you optimize it in such a way that it will enter in "sleep mode" in between that 15 minutes interval of notification?
It might help in reducing the RAM usage drastically.


Although I already like and prefer a simple layout you represented earlier but it would be way more cooler if you customize it as you said. :)
For this you might link this thread and create a request in service section asking out creative members to fulfill your wish.

Btw can you add a transparent layout too for visualizing the background apps, in case I am watching a movie and I want to check the price at a glance and does not want to miss out a scene too?

So you want the overlay window to be transparent if i'm getting you right? That is possible and i already have plans to realize that, but that's for a later point. Now i need to get it running at it was before without creating a mess again. That's the biggest problem i have right now. :D I could have already finished the new version, but then it would be as messy as it was before. So it's very hard to add certain features as the save button.

No problem mate. You should go by this methodology "First things first" in order to prevent a mess and overburden with backlogs.
Well I appreciate your work and I want more people to get involved in it and testing it out. You are really working hard buddy :D

Also did you find any members who are somewhat creative and helpful to fulfill your goals?

Thanks for your understanding. No i didn't find any member yet. I'm going to create a thread when i got the new version running. They should be motivated with a nice running program.

I'm finally back with some new features!
The save button is working now, and the application is showing the price and the block number once again properly.

However this still isn't a final state and i need to get some work done. I'm on the way to a custom website that fetches the data beforehand so the data consumtion is reduced. This might not be major on PCs but with the upcoming app it's going to be relevant for some people.

I'm having a hard time getting to code further right now, but i hope i will make more progress in the next weeks. Some motivation from you would be great!

I also managed to find a name for it: Blockz

It's Block for the blocks obiously and the z is for the price more accurate for prize :D
If you have some other suggestions just write them in this thread or via pm.

Download

• Version Alpha V1.5.1
  Dropbox (https://goo.gl/Aybq23)
  Google Drive (https://goo.gl/WVUpMH)

I also did some investigation and the massive ram consumption of this program is the fault of java and not mine. The program itself is using only 8MB of ram referring to the java memory monitor, but the java vm and all that kind of stuff that's needed to run the program is consuming the other 100MB of the ram. I'm sorry if have to say that, but less ram consumption is nearly impossible.

Thanks for releasing the update. Will report back if I find any flaws.

Till then lets enjoy the new Blockz. 😀

Just a quick update on the project status:
I didn't fell asleep. The project is still going.

BUT:
Due to a major data loss i'm back to the version from february 2016 which really sucks!
People always backup your stuff daily or weekly and not biannual. ;)

I'm still going and i created a little sweet logo for the program. Maybe you've better suggestions for it. Just leave them below.
https://i.imgur.com/UEAha5g.png

I'm also now offering a translation service for your native language. For that i'm using crowdin.com
Click here if you want to be an active translator: https://crowdin.com/project/blockz/invite?d=m6k6460575f5v69383r4q4h353
Click here if you only want to approve translations for your language: https://crowdin.com/project/blockz/invite?d=i6k6i615q4f5v69383r4q4h353

I'll keep you updated more frequently now.