Colony Counter is now free on Google Play

After a closed test on Google Play that started at version 0.5, Colony Counter has passed testing and is now free for everyone to download.

I have to admit I was worried at the start. Google Play asks new personal developer accounts for at least 12 testers over 14 days in a row, and my friends added up to only 2-3. So I asked for help in Facebook groups, and in the end nearly a hundred people joined the test. Along the way the app went through many updates, from 0.5 to 0.9.6, and a lot of them came from testers’ suggestions.

Here is what it does now.

• Count from a photo: photograph a plate, and the app finds the dish, counts the colonies and splits touching ones. Check the count on the photo: tap to remove or add a colony, and undo any change.
• CFU/mL from a dilution series: choose the FDA BAM (25–250), ISO 7218 (10–300) or 30–300 rule. Replicates give mean ± SD and log₁₀ CFU/mL. CFU/g and membrane filters in CFU/100 mL too.
• Compare conditions: log reduction, % kill and time-kill curves.
• Several plates in one photo: one shot, and each plate is counted on its own.
• Drop plates (Miles–Misra): every drop on the plate is found, with a drop table and a 95 % interval.
• Petrifilm® dry films: AC, EC (E. coli and coliforms), CC, EB and YM, gas bubbles included.
• Inhibition zones (beta): zone diameters in mm, calibrated against your own calliper.
• Try it right away: built-in example data lets you try every feature without a real plate, and a step-by-step picture manual comes in Thai and English.
• Private and offline: counting runs on the device, with no account and no ads. Thai and English. Works on phones, tablets, iPhone and iPad.

The app is made for research and teaching, not as a medical or diagnostic device, so always check the automatic count. Zone measurement is still in beta and has not yet been checked against calliper readings on real plates. If you find a plate it gets wrong, send me the photo; it helps a lot.

• Web app: https://cc.amphur.in.th
• Picture manual: https://cc.amphur.in.th/manual/index.html
• Source code (GNU AGPL-3.0): https://github.com/smposara/Colony-counter
• Feedback: https://groups.google.com/g/colony-counter-tester

Thank you to everyone who helped test it. If you know a colleague or friend who works in a microbiology lab, please pass it on.

I was afraid I would not find 12 testers. In the end, the bug list grew longer than the tester list.

อ่านภาษาไทย

Petrifilm is a trademark of Neogen Corporation. This app is not made or endorsed by Neogen.