Hello there, fellow colony counters!
I’m excited to share some major updates to the Online Colony Counter that I’ve been working on. If you’ve been using the tool for your microbiology work, you’ll notice things just got a whole lot smoother.
Version 2.0 November Update of Online Colony Counter Application
What’s New?
🎨 Improved UI & UX
I’ve reorganized the interface to make it more intuitive. Everything you need is now where I hope you’d expect it to be – including a proper sidebar.
🔄 Reprocess Images
Found a better confidence threshold for your agar picture series? Want to adjust brightness or contrast? You can now reprocess images from your history without re-uploading them. All your previous settings are saved and you can overwrite them easily to get a better result.
📚 Image History Sidebar
Remember that plate you analyzed last week? Now you can actually find it again! The new image history feature stores all your uploaded images with timestamps.
📂 History Dropdown
Quick access to your recent images via a dropdown menu. See thumbnails, timestamps, and jump straight to any previous analysis. In future roll-out I will implement a folder structure as well and allow users to change titles.
🗑️ Delete Images
Uploaded the wrong plate or want to keep it clean? Now you can delete images directly from the interface. There’s even a confirmation step so you don’t accidentally delete your data.
📱 Mobile Upload Improvements
I know sometimes you just want to snap a quick photo with your phone and get counting. The mobile upload experience is now much smoother as I identified a uploading bug on specific formats.
Want accurate counts? Here’s what works best:
- Use high-resolution images – The more detail, the better the AI performs
- PNG, JPEG, JPG format is your friend
- Note: HEIC format (iPhone’s default) isn’t supported yet, but it’s on my roadmap for future updates
📊 Download Raw Detection Data (JSON)
For all you data nerds out there (I see you), you can now download the raw bounding box coordinates and detection data as JSON. It also includes the confidence score from the image procession. Perfect for further analysis, custom visualizations, or integration with your LIMS.
🚀 Counting Server Performance & Stability Improvements
I’ve optimized the backend to handle detections faster and more reliably. No more mysterious timeouts during busy lab hours.
Unlock your lab’s discount & go fully digital today!
What’s Next?
I’m always working on improvements. Got ideas?
Write me at Chris@online-colony-counter.com
Ongoing improvements on my list:
- Adding colonies manually (high prio)
- Removing colonies manually (high prio)
- QR-Code scan allows usage on phone faster
- Bulk image upload and processing
- Count history tracking and visualisation with go-back option
- Project folder structures
- Dropdown to choose between different ML models
- Add more image formats (HEIC, …)
- Your wish could be here on this list
P.S. – Found a bug or have feedback? Don’t be shy. I actually read my emails and your input directly shapes what features get built next.
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