📢 VineChart Updates

Planned downtime
Hey everyone. There's gonna be about 1 to 2 hours of downtime this evening for some server upgrades. I'll get everything back up and running as quick as I can.

Backend and loading
A lot of VineChart's backend has changed. There isn't a whole lot different on the front end, but the biggest thing you'll probably notice is loading time. VineChart used to take several seconds to load. I made some database changes and optimizations, so when you first open the site or the Android app that "Checking status…" should be much quicker now.

Drop emails
I've also been dealing with the server giving up under load when it was sending out drop notification emails. I changed how those emails are sent so they go out way more reliably now.
And with how Vine has been dropping items in a small trickle lately, I adjusted the thresholds so a notification only goes out once the drop actually starts to pick up steam, instead of on 1 or 2 items that sometimes show up hours before the real drop.

Where things are at
VineChart is constantly being updated as things change and more people hop on board. We're still growing every day and that's super amazing to see.
Right now I'm actively working on splitting VineChart off of one server onto 3 total. That'll move all the critical stuff off a single server and spread it across multiple so the whole thing is more reliable. Two of those servers will both host VineChart and traffic will be load balanced between them, which should help with the big traffic spikes around drop times. The tricky part is integrating and cloning the current setup on the other two servers so the data matches across all 3.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's stuck with me through these changes and challenges. All the support is what keeps me motivated to deliver something solid and reliable for everyone. I've got more stuff in the pipeline once this upgrade is done and I'm excited to share it once everything is moved over and working well.

To everyone who has supported monetarily, thank you so much. These upgrades wouldn't have been possible without your help and I can't express enough how grateful I am. Thank you for being the backbone and the motivation behind these upgrades.

I appreciate each and every one of you.
Hope you're all having a great Wednesday.
Soren💚

A new update for the iOS version of VineChart (v1.0.9) is currently in review by Apple. Once it's approved, it will be released automatically. That can take several hours, so keep an eye out.

If you're still on the beta through TestFlight, I recommend uninstalling that version and then reinstalling VineChart from the App Store to get this latest update.

What's in 1.0.9
-Customizable Added/Requested stats — You can now choose which stats to show, just like on Android and desktop.
-Drop rate — You can see at a glance how quickly items are dropping. The drop rate appears under "Drop in progress" and is hidden when no drop is in progress.
-Time zone selector — In Settings you'll find a time zone option. By default it's set to Auto (your device's time zone). You can change it if you prefer.
-Bug fixes — Drop status now matches across all platforms, so you shouldn't see "in progress" when it's not. The app icon notification badge had some odd behavior; opening the app or interacting with the notification now correctly clears the badge. Custom sounds should stick more reliably. There's also a data notice under the main graph and clearer navigation on the historical graph screens. I'm making headway and things are behaving better. I'll be doing a server migration in the coming days and using it for load balancing. That should help with the traffic that's been bogging things down. We've outgrown a single server, so spreading the load should make things more effective and efficient.

Thank you to all who continue to send your best wishes, donations, and kind thoughts and suggestions. You guys are my motivation and I really appreciate all of you!

Off to grab another cup of coffee and chip away at this new Vine drop situation.
Soren💚

Hi everyone, I need to share an update on where things stand.

Amazon recently changed how Vine is dropping items. That change has completely flipped how VineChart was built to work. A lot of the core assumptions the site was built on no longer hold, so I'm having to rebuild the foundation of how VineChart works. I've been working on this nonstop for the last several days since the change happened.

I really appreciate your patience and understanding. I know this is frustrating. I'm asking for a bit more patience while I get this rebuilt and back in action so VineChart can be a reliable source for you again.

A lot of people may not know this, but VineChart isn't a team. It's just me, and I have a full-time job and a family. So please bear with me while I work through this.

Fingers crossed this new, odd drip of items is temporary and we can get back to regular drops again.

One known issue (aside from the weird drop times and notifications/emails): iOS can show "drop in progress" while the website does not. That will be fixed. The important part: actual notifications are not tied to what the iOS app shows. They go by the drop status on the website. I'm prioritizing getting the new thresholds right on the website first, since that's faster than making small changes in the iOS app and sending each one to Apple for approval. I hope to have that cleared up in the next couple of days.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out with kind words and to those who have continued to donate through all of this. Your support means more than you know.

I have a project I was getting close to revealing until all of this happened. Once things are squared away, I'm looking forward to sharing it with you.

Thank you all again for your support. I appreciate you.
Soren💚

VineChart will be going down for planned maintenance in the next hour or so. I expect the site to be unavailable for about 30 minutes to an hour while I apply updates and run checks.

If you experienced any odd behavior or slowness on the site this evening, I apologize for the frustration. I will be spending the rest of the night bonding with my server over several cups of coffee reviewing logs and working through what happened so I can prevent it from happening again.

Thank you all so very much for your patience and for sticking with me while I sort this out. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Soren💚

This update is mainly for the web but also applies to the Android app. Several people suggested removing the 1 minute product updates because they seemed unhelpful. I've had a lot of these emails and I really appreciate them. Suggestions are what keep VineChart headed in the right direction.

I removed the 1 minute update along with the highest drop stat, since that was also suggested for removal multiple times. Within 4 hours of removing them, I had over 6 emails from users explaining why those stats matter and how they use them, some every day. So I put everything back. That got me thinking: wouldn't it be nice if users could choose what they see? So that's what I did. You now have a Visible Stat Filter. If you like using the 1 minute Add/Requested stats, you can keep them; if you prefer not to see them, you can hide them. By selecting the Edit Visible Stats button you can choose to show 1 minute, 30 minute, 1 hour, 12 hour, and 24 hour add/requested stats. You have to have at least one selected, but you can show just one or all of them if you like.

I also kept the Record Drop date. You can find it by hovering, clicking, or tapping over the Vine Total product count.

I've added a 3 tier system to give a quick, easy, glanceable way to see where a drop is at any given time. There is a High, Medium, and Low drop rate. When things are dropping quickly you'll see a High drop rate badge; when things level out you'll see a Medium drop rate badge; and when things are slowly dripping you'll see a Low drop rate badge. I'm still tuning these (e.g. X items in Y amount of time), but it's getting there.

Lastly, you can now click on the Last Drop date and time to open a dropdown of past drop dates and their drop start times. At the launch of these updates the list will be empty, but it will grow over time into a historical list of past drop dates and times.

I hope these changes help you get to the data you care about quickly and efficiently.

Thank you again for all the support and suggestions, and thank you to everyone who had a hand in these changes. I appreciate your patience and the time you spent pointing these things out.

For those who have supported or are supporting VineChart monetarily, you're amazing and I can't thank you enough for your kindness, support, and trust in this project.

Love you all,
Soren 💚

VineChart v1.0.6 is now live on the Apple App Store. Here's what's new in this version:

v1.0.6

• Bug fix: Main graph now scrolls all the way to the right and updates in real time.
• Bug fix: Confetti animation has been corrected.
• Added Interactive Historical Maps.
• Added Contact Me form to the Settings screen.

Thank you to everyone who reported these bugs and sent in these suggestions. Your feedback is what makes these updates possible.

Thank you as well for your love and support. I'm currently working on the ticker, and you'll be seeing some updates there in the near future.

VineChart for iOS v1.0.5 is now live on the Apple App Store with a set of improvements suggested by you.

What’s new

• Open Vine button – You can now choose a default app when opening Vine (app selector).
• Coffee / support button – Multi-platform donation options in one place.
• Settings – Alert sounds – Pick custom alert sounds and preview them before saving.
• Settings – Open Vine default – Set your preferred app for “Open Vine” in Settings.
• Last drop – Last drop date and time are shown on the main screen.
• Categories – Category selector and per-category graphs are available.
• Updates view – Fixed text and images being cut off; updates now show in full with images.

Thank you for all the suggestions and support; this release is shaped by your feedback.

Soren💚

A patch update (v1.0.5) was just pushed to the Android app and is in review. It should be live shortly.

Someone brought to my attention an issue where the donation links were being pulled into the new "Open with app" option. That's now fixed.

The donation platform buttons (Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App) should open as they did before. Only the Open Vine button uses the new "Open link with [app]" behavior; donation links are no longer affected.

Temporary workaround:
If you have already chosen a default app for Open Vine, go into the Settings screen inside the VineChart app. Tap the "Choose or clear default app" button and remove your default app choice. The donation buttons should then ask which app to use. Select a browser and it should work again.
If you have not set a default app, just select a browser in the "Open with" menu when selecting the donation platform.

Thanks for reporting it. I appreciate you!!

Soren💚

Android app v1.0.4

• The Open Vine button now opens Vine in the Amazon app or in the browser of your choice.
• Set defaults for opening Vine links in Settings.
• Revamped settings menu theme.
• Pull from the top to refresh is now implemented.
• Added "reason" to the contact form.

Revamped Settings screen

Website

The donation button has been updated. When you tap or click it, you can choose from four options: Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App.

Thank you

About 90% of these changes came from your suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to share what you want; it really shapes VineChart.

If you support VineChart with a donation, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You help keep everything up and running, and that means the world.

Android app v1.0.0 is on the way

The Android app v1.0.0 has been submitted to the Google Play Store. Keep an eye out for it. This release adds scrolling and pinch to zoom, email confirmation for drop notifications (Toast Message Correction), plus a bunch of bug fixes and optimizations. If you're on Android, grab the update when it shows up for you.

Website: Last drop & email signup

On the site you'll now see the Last drop date and time, and it follows your selected timezone. Thank you so much for that! Great suggestion!

I've also changed how email drop signups work. I was getting a lot of signups with invalid addresses: typos, non-existent domains, or "phone@carrier" style addresses from people hoping for SMS. My email provider has a limited monthly pool, and every invalid signup still counted against it. So now, when you sign up, we send a confirmation email you have to open and activate. That way you know right away if something's wrong (wrong address, typo, etc.), and it helps me keep that pool for valid email addresses. Apologies for the extra step, but it should make things better for everyone.

Thank you

To everyone who's sent suggestions, kindness, or just reached out to say they appreciate VineChart, it means the world. I'm seeing VineChart shared in more places, and people are even finding it through AI, which still blows my mind. Thank you for the shout-outs and the support.

To everyone who's donated: you're incredible, and it helps more than I can even begin to explain. With the weird drop times lately we've added well over two thousand new users across the site and apps, and growth is still going strong! More signups and more notifications mean higher costs, so your donations really do keep this sustainable. Thank you so, so much! I hope you've all had a great week! There's more coming soon!

SMS alerts

The most requested feature is still SMS text alerts. It's really expensive to run, but I do have something in the works for people who want it. I've been playing around with it on my staging site, and there will be more news on that in the future.

Thank you all for the love and support! This has been an incredible journey thanks to you!
Love you all!
Soren 💚

I want to welcome all the new VineChart users who have joined us recently! We've added over 300 new users in just the last 24 hours. Thank you for your support and for being part of the VineChart community!

I also need to address an important issue regarding Drop notifications. Due to the randomly timed drop yesterday, I discovered that a notification cooldown duration I had in place was incorrectly set. This cooldown was meant to prevent multiple notifications if a drop status flip-flopped between "ended" and "in progress," but it was set too high, which caused some users to miss notifications during this mornings drop. There isn't any issue with your notification settings in the app. This was purely a server-side issue.

This was 100% an oversight on my end, and I sincerely apologize for any missed notifications. The issue has been identified and fixed, and notifications will be back in action for the upcoming drop. If you didn't receive a notification yesterday, please know this was a temporary issue that has been resolved, and you will receive notifications for all future drops going forward.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm committed to making sure VineChart works reliably for everyone!

Soren💚

I'm excited to share that the VineChart iOS app has been approved by Apple and is now available for download!

After 4 rejections and several back and forths with Apple's developers and review team, the app has finally been approved for release. This was a long process, and I'm grateful for the team's patience and guidance throughout the review process.

The app can take up to 24 hours to appear in the App Store, but you should be able to search for it and download it like you would any other app once it's live.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and helped get VineChart to this point. It's a big day, and I'm so excited we have made it this far!

I'm excited to announce a new feature that I've been working on: you can now view graphs for individual product categories!

Each category now has its own graph that shows the ebbs and flows of that specific category over time. This means you can see which categories are seeing the most activity and how each one changes throughout the day.

The graphs will become more detailed and useful the longer they're up and pulling in data. To give you a good starting point, I gathered about 48 hours of historical data so the graphs have meaningful information from day one.

You can access this feature using the category dropdown at the top of the Live tab. Select any category to view its individual graph, or choose "All Products" to see the overall total.

I'll continue collecting data to make these graphs even more useful over time. Enjoy exploring the different categories!

I wanted to give everyone an update on the iOS app submission process.

Apple initially rejected the app because it looked too similar to the website. In response, I completely rebuilt it as a fully native iOS app that takes full advantage of iOS's native capabilities.

The new version includes:

• iOS v26 animations and theming (from the newest iOS v26 update)
• Home screen widgets
• Several other integrated native iOS features

The iOS crowd will end up getting quite the app by the time this is done and approved. The app is built at this point but not done, and I'm continuing to refine it as we go through the review process.

I have resubmitted the app back for review this morning and will give an update once I get word back from Apple.

Apple's review process is strict, and the first and second time approvals are uncommon. I'll keep iterating until VineChart is on the App Store.

Thank you for your patience. We're close, the app is built, and I'm working through the review process. I'll keep you posted.

I'm excited to share that the VineChart iOS app is now under review by Apple for beta testing!

The review process can take several days, and Apple may request code revisions before approval. Once approved, the beta will be available through TestFlight, Apple's official beta testing platform.

About TestFlight:

• TestFlight is Apple's beta testing platform
• You'll need the TestFlight app installed on your iPhone/iPad
• The invite link will include all the information you need

I'll keep you updated on the review status and will post the TestFlight invite link here in the Updates tab once it's ready, so make sure to check back!

Important Note: This is a beta version, so the app is still in development. It may take several updates and revisions before the final version is ready for the App Store.

I'll share updates as they come in. 💚

I've made a major improvement to how drop alert emails are sent out, and I'm excited to share it with you!

With the recent growth in VineChart users, I noticed that email alerts were taking a very long time to reach everyone. Sometimes up to 45 minutes for all emails to be delivered. This meant that some users were getting their drop alerts much later than others, which wasn't fair and could cause you to miss out on drops.

I've just implemented a significant update that allows many more emails to be sent simultaneously. This has dramatically reduced the delivery time from nearly 45 minutes down to just 4 minutes! Now everyone should receive their drop alerts much faster and more consistently.

I'm continuing to work on further improvements to get that delivery time down even more, so you can expect even faster alerts in the future.

Important Note About iCloud/Apple Email Accounts:

I'm also aware that some users with iCloud, Mac, or other Apple email accounts may not be receiving alerts at all. This is due to Apple's strict email security policies that are blocking the alerts. I'm actively investigating this issue to see if there's anything that can be done to improve delivery to Apple email addresses. If you're using an Apple email account and not receiving alerts, please know that this is a known issue and I'm working on finding a solution.

For now, if you're having trouble receiving alerts with an Apple email address, you might want to consider using a different email provider for your VineChart notifications to ensure you don't miss any drops.

Thank you for your patience as I continue to improve VineChart's email delivery system!

Happy New Year! 🎉 I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I'm wishing you all a fantastic 2026 filled with amazing Vine finds and great discoveries!

To ring in the new year, VineChart is getting a festive makeover! You'll notice some celebratory touches around the site, including a special New Year's-themed logo behind the charts and a vibrant fireworks animation that lights up the page. It's a fun way to celebrate the start of 2026 while you keep an eye on those Vine drops!

The New Year's theme will be active from December 31st through January 2nd (CST), so enjoy the festive vibes while it lasts. After that, we'll be back to the regular theme as we dive into the new year.

Thank you so much for being part of the VineChart community in 2025. It's been incredible seeing how many people are using VineChart to track drops and stay informed. Your support and feedback have been invaluable as I continue to build and improve VineChart.

I'm really excited for what 2026 has in store for VineChart. There are some great features and improvements in the works, and I can't wait to share them with you. Here's to another year of amazing Vine finds and keeping everyone in the loop!

Happy New Year, and here's to a fantastic 2026! 🎆✨

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! 🎅🎁

To celebrate the holiday season, VineChart is getting into the Christmas spirit! You'll notice some festive touches around the site, including a special Christmas-themed logo behind the charts and a gentle snow animation falling across the page.

The Christmas theme will be active until December 26th, so enjoy the holiday vibes while you track those Vine drops! After that, we'll be back to the regular theme.

Thank you for being part of the VineChart community this year. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy, great finds, and maybe even some amazing Vine products! 🎉

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🎄✨

I've just released VineChart Android version 0.1.20-beta, and it comes with a brand-new in-app Updates experience.

You'll now see an Updates button next to the Live and History tabs that opens a dedicated screen for news, feature launches, and behind-the-scenes changes all without leaving the app.

The in-app Updates screen is powered by the same content you see on the website, but presented in a fast, native-friendly layout so you can keep an eye on what's new while you track drops.

This feature is available starting with version 0.1.20-beta and newer. If you don't see the new Updates button yet, make sure you're on the latest version of the app in the Google Play Store.

Welcome to VineChart's new Updates section! 🎉

I'm excited to introduce this new way to keep everyone informed about what's happening with VineChart. It's been challenging trying to update everyone without sending out mass emails or having to post across multiple social media platforms, update posts, or DM users individually.

That's why I've created this dedicated space where everyone can easily see the latest news, features, and progress updates regarding VineChart and its development. Whether it's new features, bug fixes, app updates, or behind-the-scenes progress, you'll find it all here.

I'll be posting regular updates here, so check back often to stay in the loop! You can expect to see everything from major feature announcements to small improvements, development progress, and even some sneak peeks at what's coming next.

You'll also notice a small NEW badge on the Updates button whenever there's an update you haven't seen yet. Once you open the Updates screen and view the latest post, the badge disappears until a new update is published, so it's easy to tell at a glance when there's something new to read.

Thanks for being part of the VineChart community! 🙏

I've added a new feature to help me understand how users discover VineChart! When subscribing for drop alerts, you'll now see a "How'd you hear about VineChart?" field.

This helps me better understand the community and focus my efforts on the platforms where you're most active. Options include Reddit, Facebook, Discord, Google Search, Word of Mouth, and Other. Thanks to everyone who's already filled this out!

This feature is now available on both the web version and the Android app.

Fixed several issues with the ticker (scrolling information bar) on the Android app and mobile browsers:

• Restored tap-to-pause functionality on Android devices
• Fixed disappearing sections on iOS devices
• Improved animation performance and reliability
• Added auto-resume after 3 seconds when paused
• Enhanced touch controls for better mobile experience

The ticker now works smoothly across all platforms - desktop, Android app, iOS app, and mobile browsers. You can tap it to pause and read, and it will automatically resume scrolling after 3 seconds.

Great progress on the iOS app! I've been working hard to bring VineChart to iPhone users, and I'm getting close to a public release.

The app will include all the features you love from the web version, plus native push notifications for instant drop alerts. Stay tuned for more updates!

Great progress update! I've successfully implemented iOS push notifications on the server side. This was a major hurdle on the iOS app development checklist, and I'm happy to report it's working as expected.

Important note: The iOS app is still currently in development and not yet available to the public. However, once it's released, the push notification system will be ready to go. The iOS app will automatically register for push notifications when you first open it, and you'll receive notifications whenever a drop is detected, keeping you informed in real-time.

Once the iOS app launches, both Android and iOS apps will have feature parity when it comes to push notifications. No more missing out on drops!

I've fixed an issue that was affecting everyone - the full-page Cloudflare Turnstile verification that would appear when loading the website. This was happening on all platforms: mobile browsers, desktop browsers, and even within the Android app.

The initial Cloudflare Turnstile page has been removed, which means faster and smoother access to VineChart for everyone, regardless of how you're accessing the site. Form submissions (like subscribing for alerts or using the contact form) still use their standard captcha verification for security, but you no longer have to deal with that initial verification page when first visiting the site.

This improvement benefits all users - whether you're on mobile, desktop, or using the Android app, you'll get faster response times and a better experience.

I've added Android app promotion sections to the website to help users discover the mobile app. You'll now see:

• App promotion in the welcome modal (hidden for app users)
• App promotion in the "Get drop alerts" subscription pop-up (hidden for app users)
• "Get it on Google Play" button in the footer (hidden for app users)

The Android app offers faster and more reliable drop alerts through native push notifications, so I wanted to make sure web users know about it! These promotions are automatically hidden when viewing the site from within the app, since you obviously don't need to download the app if you're already using it.

I've implemented comprehensive server-side rate limiting to ensure VineChart stays fast and reliable for all users, even during high-traffic periods.

What this means for you:

• Faster page loads and smoother experience
• Better protection against abuse and bots
• More reliable real-time updates via Server-Sent Events (SSE)
• Improved database connection management
• Enhanced monitoring and error handling

The rate limits are generous enough that normal users won't notice them, but they help prevent the site from being overwhelmed. I've also optimized connection pooling and SSE management to handle more concurrent users efficiently.

These improvements allow me to run VineChart without needing to use the initial Cloudflare Turnstile page, which means faster response times for everyone!

🎉 I'm thrilled to announce that the VineChart Android app is now live on the Google Play Store!

The Android app brings all the features you love from the web version, plus some mobile-exclusive benefits:

• Native Push Notifications: Get instant drop alerts even when the app is closed
• Faster Performance: Optimized for mobile with native Android components
• Offline Support: View cached data even without internet connection
• Dark Theme: Beautiful dark interface that matches the website
• Easy Navigation: Dedicated screens for notifications, contact, privacy, and status

The app is free to download and use. Search for "VineChart" on the Google Play Store or use the link in the welcome modal on the website.

I'm working hard on the iOS version too - stay tuned for updates!

I've made significant improvements to how VineChart detects and notifies users about drops:

• Extended notification cooldown to prevent duplicate alerts
• Improved "ended" status detection with better thresholds
• Added grace period to prevent false "drop ended" notifications
• Enhanced drop status calculation accuracy

These changes mean you'll get more accurate notifications - you'll be alerted when drops actually start, and won't get false alarms when they haven't really ended. The system is now smarter about distinguishing between temporary fluctuations and actual drops.