IGG Developers’ Blog

Here’s a quick update: iBank Mobile is still “in review” at the App Store.

iBank Mobile Status

In preparation for the iPhone OS 3.0 launch, we have had to update some things outside of the mobile app: iBank needed an age rating, we needed to accept a new App Store Licensing Agreement, etc. So far, we have had no requests to change the application itself.

When we submitted the application, Apple warned us that it might take longer than usual for approval. They didn’t say it was because of the iPhone OS 3.0 launch, but that’s what we guessed. Meanwhile, we are working with people inside Apple to help us better understand the application status. Please do not send hate mail to Apple. Please don’t hate on us either, even though our timing could have been better.

One final note: we have had people asking if iBank Mobile is U.S. only. We worked hard to make sure that iBank Mobile would be available internationally. This required us to be very careful about how and where we use encryption. So yes, it will be available worldwide at launch, although the only localization is English. We do have plans to add other localizations in the future, but the priority was to make it work, get it out, and get your feedback.

Hang in there – it’s coming.

I am very happy to announce that this morning we submitted iBank Mobile to the App Store. I want to thank all of the people that helped make this possible, and especially to everyone who volunteered to be a beta tester. Your input made this a solid product.

We have also been testing iBank 3.5 in the private beta and today we are making it a public beta.  You can check it out from the iBank website http://www.iggsoftware.com/ibank.  Remeber this is a beta version and it is not backward compatible with iBank 3.4.2 so please BACKUP your data file BEFORE checking it out.

There have been some questions that have come up since the last post that I will try to answer.

What will it cost?
We have set the price at $4.99. We think this is a good price for a high quality productivity app.

What iPhone/iPod Touch OS version do I need?
iBank Mobile should run on any iPhone or iPod Touch running OS 2.2.1. iBank Mobile will run on the upcoming iPhone 3.0 OS but is not required.

Will iBank Mobile use any iPhone OS 3.0 features?
iBank Mobile will not take advantage of any iPhone OS 3.0 features for this release. iPhone OS 3.0 was announced by Apple well into the development of iBank Mobile. We did want to make sure that we were compatible with it, but we did not want to adjust our schedule to add more features. We wanted to get it in your hands so that you can tell us what you want next.

How long will it take to get approved by the App Store?
We don’t know. But we hope to have iBank Mobile available to everyone before the end of the month, and we’ll be sure to have iBank 3.5 readied for release by the time iBank Mobile is out.

Again I want to say thank you to everyone who asked questions, gave comments, and helped in the beta. It has been a longer journey then I would have liked but I am really happy with the results.

Thanks,
James