Review of App - "MyCollections"

I've seen a couple of Crunchers mention how they use spreadsheets or apps to track what they have / want etc. I thought I'd review the one I use on Android, it is available on Apple.

"MyCollections" is by Altova GmbH. 100k+ downloads, avg rating 3.9/5 I've been using it since early 2000, and it was last updated Feb '23. It's free, no ads, and I haven't seen a limit to the number of records or photos you can save.

The original reason I used this was to have a schedule of our artwork. We had to move out for a few weeks while work was being done on the house, so we updated the insurance as the collection went into storage, and while doing that I took some pretty poor photos of every piece, and of the original receipts, and decided to catalogue it. I downloaded a few apps to try and this seemed easy and flexible to use, so I stuck with it.

What I like is the ability to have different collections in the same app, each with their own fields which you create and edit, mark as required or not, then you can add more later or delete as you feel. Fields can be hidden from view (eg Price if you're showing your collection to someone), and it's searchable, filters can be applied and it can be sorted. You can backup to cloud and keep it private (default) or make it public (not sure why you'd do that). The download of your data is basic though, simply a text list by item by field. (Though I've only tried it once, maybe there's something I'm missing).

Adding a photo field seems to allow as many photos as you like, so you can add receipts or favourite photos etc. You can add the full size or shrink it down - as they're copies of photos I already have, and I'm viewing it on my phone, I've saved them as smaller images.

I have half a dozen collections, including art (16 fields) watches (28 fields), and my wishlist (10 fields).

Here's part of the overview list for the art collection:

Opening up a record shows all possible fields, simply double tap to edit and then a save option appears. Further pictures appear underneath.

Here's where you manage the fields

For my watches, the list looks like this

Opening one up shows how nerdy I am, it took two screenshots to capture it all. (The first photo is always the same, in the box, as proof of ownership if you like for insurance).

Overall, I've found this to be a simple solution to my nerdy need to catalogue. Easy to update, add new photos or new items. Equally it's not demanding, because I've not set any fields as "required" it's up to me what I add and when. And it's free. And, somehow, there are no ads. I think I gave it a 4/5 rating originally and I stand by that. Only the download is poor, but that might be my lack of understanding.