We don’t just run a home inspection software company. We’re working home inspectors who use our app in the field every single day. From doing our own inspections and listening to you, we know that our current comment library isn’t perfect. That’s why we’re dramatically revamping it.

Tap Inspect already provides multiple customizable checklists. No matter what you are inspecting, these checklists rarely provide a complete picture of what you want to communicate. There are always things that need more clarification in a specific report. That’s where comments and photos come in.

This simple task of recording comments can get complicated because every person has their take on what needs to be commented on and what the comment should say. Despite the individuality that complicates the design and coding of Tap Inspect, we believe in a few fundamental truths:

We all report in our own language and that language can change over time

Your choice of words, the way you explain things, your level of detail—these are the reasons clients choose you to do their inspections. As home inspectors learn and do more inspections, word choice can and does change. As professionals we are constantly learning and our comments reflect that.

Canned, default comments frequently cannot provide the personal touch that’s needed. They can provide a starting point, but they must adapt and change as we do.

Our new library notices when you change a word or add an entirely new comment and asks if you want to save it. It grows and changes as you use it.

We tend to report the same things over and over in the same places

As a general rule, we home inspectors tend to make the same handful of comments on almost every report we do and put them in the same sections. It’s just the nature of inspecting similar things over and over. These frequently used comments should be only a tap away since they are used so often.

Our new library remembers what comments you use in which section. Your most frequently used comments will always be at the top of the list in the section you use it.

It’s a hassle to find that one comment you only use once a year

We all run into some issue that is very unusual, but we know we have commented on it before. Where is it?

Keywords, comment codes and drop down lists typically don’t help because you have to remember where in you library it is saved and then scroll through long lists to find it. This usually takes longer than it does to type it again.

Just like with Google, Yahoo or Bing, our new library allows you to type in a word or phrase and search the entire database of comments. Is the list too long? Type in more words and the list gets shorter and shorter with the best matches nearest the top.

Stay tuned because we think what is coming soon from Tap Inspect will change your expectation of how comment libraries should work. We can’t wait.