Count This・Counting Things App

Our take on Count This・Counting Things App from Appgk

If you have ever faced a pile of small objects and thought, “There has to be a quicker way to count these,” Count This is built around that exact moment. It is a business-focused counting app from AIBY Inc. that uses a photo as the starting point, rather than asking you to tap every item one by one. I found the idea immediately useful for quick estimates of objects such as coins, boxes, pipes, pills, rods, or pieces of lumber, especially when the items are spread across a surface and easy to see.

The app is free to install and suitable for Everyone, which makes it approachable for casual users as well as people testing a simple tool for work. Its average rating is 3.9 from around 13 thousand ratings, and it has passed 500 thousand installs. Those figures suggest that it has found a practical audience, although they also set the right expectation: this is a focused utility, not a complete inventory-management system.

What to expect before you start counting

The central workflow is simple: give the app a clear image, let it examine the visible objects, and use the result as a count. That sounds straightforward, but the quality of the result depends heavily on the image. Count This is most useful when the objects are visually distinct, separated enough to recognize, and shown from an angle that does not hide one item behind another.

I would think of it as a fast visual assistant rather than an infallible measuring instrument. If you need a quick answer while sorting supplies, checking a small batch, or estimating what is on a table, it can save time. If the result will affect a formal shipment, an invoice, medication handling, or an audit, I would still verify the total manually. A photo-based counter can reduce repetitive work, but it should not remove sensible human checking.

The app’s strength is its narrow purpose. Many business apps try to combine stock records, barcode scanning, notes, invoices, and team features. Count This does not need all that machinery to be helpful. It addresses the first step: finding out how many visible objects are in front of you. That makes it less suitable for maintaining a long-term catalog, but more convenient when you need an answer immediately.

There is also a useful distinction between counting a controlled group and counting a messy collection. A row of similar boxes on a floor is a natural fit. A crowded drawer containing partly covered items is much harder. Before opening the app, ask yourself whether a person looking at the image could confidently distinguish every object. If not, the result deserves extra caution.

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Who will get the most from it

I can see Count This helping small retailers, workshop owners, warehouse staff, builders, teachers, and anyone who repeatedly handles batches of similar objects. It may also suit a household task, such as checking a group of supplies before putting them away. The business category makes sense because counting is often the beginning of a stock check, even when the user does not need a full inventory platform.

It is less convincing for people who need traceability. If you must know which individual item was counted, when it entered stock, where it is stored, or who approved the number, a dedicated inventory solution is a better choice. Likewise, if your objects have labels or barcodes that matter more than their physical quantity, a barcode-based workflow may be more reliable than visual counting.

The practical trade-off is speed versus certainty: the app can make a rough or routine count much faster, while unusual layouts and overlapping objects increase the need for a second look.

Getting from installation to a useful first result

Count This runs on Android devices using version 8.0 or later. After installing it, I would begin with an easy test instead of immediately photographing the most difficult pile in the workplace. Choose a small group of similar objects and arrange them so that each one is visible. This gives you a clear first success and helps you understand how the app behaves with your particular camera and surroundings.

Screenshots

Good preparation matters more here than it does in an ordinary note-taking app. Put the objects on a contrasting surface when possible, avoid strong shadows across the group, and keep the camera steady. Try to include the whole collection in the frame without making the objects so small that their edges disappear. A little preparation is usually quicker than correcting a confusing image later.

For cylindrical items such as pipes or rods, spacing can be especially important. When several pieces touch end to end or overlap diagonally, their boundaries become harder to interpret. With boxes or coins, a top-down view may make the shapes easier to separate. With lumber, a straight arrangement can be more useful than a heap. These are not complicated tricks, but they turn the camera image into a much better counting surface.

Once the image is ready, follow the app’s counting flow and give it time to process the picture. The first meaningful success should be a deliberately simple group, not a challenging real-world inventory. If the displayed total matches your own quick count, try a second image with a slightly different arrangement. That small test tells you more than relying on one lucky result.

A realistic everyday workflow

Imagine receiving a delivery of identical boxes for a small shop. Instead of counting the stack while moving each box, you place the visible boxes in a clear arrangement, take a photo, and use Count This to produce an initial total. You then compare the result with the delivery note and inspect the stack for hidden or partially blocked boxes. The app has not replaced the receiving process, but it has made the first pass faster and highlighted where a manual check is needed.

For a workshop, the same approach could help with rods, pipes, or pieces of lumber laid out before a project. I would photograph one clearly separated batch at a time rather than trying to capture an entire cluttered work area. That creates smaller, easier-to-check results and reduces the chance that one object hides another. The extra discipline also makes it easier to repeat the count if the first image looks questionable.

With coins or small parts, I would avoid creating a dense mound. Spread them into a single layer, leave visible gaps, and keep the lighting even. This is one of the more important practical insights: the app is not merely counting “things in a photo”; it is interpreting visible shapes. Better separation gives it better evidence.

Where first-time users may get confused

The biggest possible misunderstanding is expecting the app to know about objects that the camera cannot clearly see. A photograph cannot reveal a coin underneath another coin or a box behind a taller box. If the result seems lower than your physical total, check the image before assuming the app has made a random mistake. Hidden objects, cropped edges, reflections, and similar-colored backgrounds are all natural sources of trouble.

Another point is object consistency. A group of identical items is easier to count than a mixed collection of different shapes and sizes. If you need to count pills, for example, keep different colors or forms separate rather than placing everything together. The same principle applies to hardware, packaging, or building materials. Separate batches produce more understandable results than one complicated photograph.

Perspective can also mislead. Items near the camera may look larger than items farther away, while angled objects may overlap in ways that are obvious in person but ambiguous in a flat image. A more level camera position and a wider gap between objects can help. If a photo feels visually confusing to you, it is probably not the right image for a confident automated count.

I would also avoid treating every displayed number as final simply because it appears quickly. For low-stakes tasks, an approximate or first-pass result may be enough. For medication, valuable goods, safety-related materials, or a quantity that someone else will rely on financially, count the group again using a different arrangement or manual method. This is a sensible limitation of the entire photo-counting concept, not a reason to dismiss the app.

Using the result without creating extra work

A useful habit is to organize the physical objects before taking the picture, not afterward. If you are checking stock, group items by type and photograph each group separately. If you are preparing materials for a job, count the exact batch needed rather than the whole mixed pile. This makes the result easier to compare with a list and reduces the risk of confusing one category with another.

For repeated work, use a consistent routine: same type of surface, similar lighting, similar camera distance, and one batch per image. Consistency does not guarantee perfection, but it makes unexpected results easier to notice. It also helps you decide whether a count is plausible before recording it elsewhere.

One non-obvious benefit is that the app can serve as a checkpoint between physical handling and record keeping. You can first arrange and count a batch visually, then enter or communicate the number in whatever business process you already use. That is different from expecting Count This to become your entire stock system. Used as a focused step, it can complement spreadsheets, paper lists, or inventory software rather than compete with them.

There is a cost consideration as well. The app is free, but in-app purchases range from $3.99 to $19.99 per item. If you only need occasional counts, the free starting point may be enough to decide whether the workflow suits you. If you are considering it for regular business use, check the purchase prompts carefully and judge the value against how often it saves you manual counting time. I would not pay for a counting tool until I had tested it with the exact objects and lighting conditions I encounter every day.

How it compares with ordinary alternatives

The simplest alternative is manual counting. For a small, tidy group, manual counting may actually be faster and more dependable because there is no need to prepare a photo. Count This becomes more attractive as the number of similar objects grows or as repeated counting becomes tedious. Its advantage is not that it eliminates judgment; it reduces the repetitive part of looking across a visible group.

A spreadsheet is better for preserving totals, adding notes, tracking dates, and comparing stock over time. It does not, by itself, make a pile of objects easier to count. Using Count This for the visual count and a spreadsheet for the record can be a sensible combination, provided you verify important totals before entering them.

Barcode scanners are preferable when every item already has a readable barcode and you need product identity, not just quantity. They can distinguish products that look similar and connect the scan to an existing catalog. Count This is more flexible for unlabelled physical objects, but it cannot provide the same identity-based control from a simple image.

Dedicated inventory apps are the stronger choice for multi-location stock, purchase orders, staff permissions, audit trails, or detailed reporting. Count This is much lighter. That lightness is its appeal for a one-off or narrow counting task, but it is also the reason I would not present it as a replacement for a full business platform.

Important questions to settle before relying on it

Can it count every kind of object equally well? I would not assume that. The app is intended for visible objects such as pills, pipes, coins, boxes, rods, and lumber, but the practical result still depends on shape, spacing, contrast, and overlap. Start with uniform objects and test unusual materials before building a routine around them.

Does it work for a large pile? It may be worth trying, but I would divide a large or crowded collection into smaller sections. A series of clear images is easier to inspect than one photograph where objects overlap heavily. If you need a certified or financially critical total, use the app as an aid and confirm the final number another way.

Is it appropriate for medication counting? It can be useful for a visible, organized group as a preliminary check, but I would never treat a photo result as the only safeguard for dispensing or administering medication. Human verification and the normal professional procedure should remain in control.

Will it replace inventory software? No, and it does not need to. Its best role is a quick visual count before you update another record. If your main need is history, product identification, or team coordination, choose a tool designed around those tasks.

Is it worth trying if I only count things occasionally? Yes, especially if the objects are repetitive and a photo is easier than handling them individually. The low entry cost makes experimentation straightforward, while the purchase range means frequent users should evaluate the workflow before committing to additional spending.

My recommendation for a first attempt

For your first session, choose ten or so clearly separated objects, place them on a plain surface, and photograph the entire group without cropping the edges. Compare the returned count with your own count, then repeat with a different arrangement. If both attempts are sensible, move to a realistic batch from your work or home routine. If the result struggles with the simple test, changing the lighting and spacing is more useful than immediately trying a larger pile.

That progression is reassuring because it lets you learn the app without risking an important stock decision. It also reveals whether your usual objects are a good match. A person counting neat rows of boxes may quickly find value, while someone dealing mostly with tangled cables, overlapping parts, or mixed objects may spend more time preparing photos than counting manually.

Count This, developed by AIBY Inc., is currently on version 2.4.3 and has been available since July 1, 2022. Those details matter less than the actual workflow, but they place the app in the category of an established, focused utility rather than a brand-new experiment. I appreciate that its purpose is easy to understand from the first launch: it is there to turn a clear image into a useful object count.

My final view is positive, with sensible boundaries. Count This is a good first-pass counter for visible, similar objects, and it can be genuinely handy when manual counting is repetitive. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick count of organized items and is willing to verify results that matter. I would skip it as a primary solution for complex inventories, hidden objects, barcode-led stock control, or high-consequence decisions. Used for the narrow job it handles best, Count This can make an ordinary counting task noticeably less tedious without pretending to be a complete business system.

Count This・Counting Things App FAQ