IGG Developers' Blog

We’ve been getting lots of requests and comments about our forthcoming iBank for iPad app. I wish I were here to show screenshots and give a release date, but I’m not. However, I am here to talk about some features it will have, and what our guiding strategy has been during the development process.

First, I want to say we are not simply porting our iPhone app to the iPad. While that would have certainly been the easier route, we don’t think that is what our users want (and as one of those users, I certainly want something for more than quick entry and checking account balances). I should also say that we are not porting our Mac product to the iPad. The iPad is its own beast. It’s mobile, but not as mobile as the iPhone; its screen provides for a lot more data to be shown. And of course, it has the touch screen. Some of the best iPad apps are ones where the device becomes the app’s real-world metaphorical cousin, like Apple’s Calendar app — which feels like you are interacting with a desktop calendar. Similarly, using Contacts is like using an address book. Not all apps have such straightforward translations to what they might represent in “real life” (take the Settings app, App Store or FaceTime apps, for example).

So what will iBank for iPad be like? You can think of it as having your own personal financial report or portfolio on your iPad. If you sat down with a financial planner who asked a series of comprehensive questions to get a handle on your finances, what you would walk away with would be like our iPad app — your complete financial picture, always up-to-date.

In designing the app, there has consistently been one overriding theme: simplicity for the user. I want to make a distinction here when I say, “simplicity”. I don’t mean this is a simple app for tracking a cash account. The app is powerful, not only under the hood, but also from a practical standpoint; for example, you will be able to see and edit all investment transactions. By simplicity I mean ease of use. There is no “Download” button — you just launch the app and your accounts are updated. No import window will appear where you need to help decide which transactions to commit to the account. Instead, new unreconciled transactions just appear and they are conveniently marked “new.” The Get Quotes button is gone too; again, the market value of your investments just updates.

I think it’s also fair to talk about what the app won’t have. It won’t run on iOS 4 or earlier. There will not be bill pay. I know some of you will be upset about this… I’m sorry. At some point I would like to do another post about why we haven’t brought bill pay to our products. (Hint: it isn’t for technical reasons.)

I look forward to writing in more detail about iBank for the iPad.

-Ian

It’s official, iBank Investor is now in beta testing. Long past are the days of alphas and sneaky-previews; this app is getting ready for the big time.

In my last post about iBank Investor I talked about the general workflow for adding securities and syncing with iBank. In this post I would like to talk to you about some additional features and show some polished screenshots.

The most exciting unannounced feature is that iBank Investor is a universal app, with custom UIs specific for iPhone and iPad. This was a decision we made relatively late in the game. Since we are offering free, behind-the-scenes syncing from device to device, it makes sense to allow our users to see their data across multiple devices without having to re-enter it. For the iPad version, the entire app is navigated within one screen:

iBank Investor on iPad -- The entire app is navigated on one simple screen

One of the unique features about iBank Investor is its ability to show you exactly where you stand on your investments down to the individual lot level. For people managing their own investments this can help them make the best decisions for each of their holdings. Additionally, for summaries at the account, security and lot level, we show four useful calculations (this is a change from what was said in the earlier blog post): today’s gain, today’s percent gain, total gain and total percent gain. Instead of cluttering the screen showing all of these calculations at the same time, you toggle between them by pressing any of the red/green button. The header above the column indicates what you are viewing.

iBank Investor on iPhone -- Tapping the green/red button toggles what calculation is shown in that column

When you are looking at an individual security you’ll notice that there is a “page view” widget. There are three possible screens you can view. The first is the security detail view which shows the price of the security, change, your cost basis, etc. The second view shows stats about the current security, like 52-week high and lows, dividend yield and open/close prices. The third screen shows a list of news headlines for the security. Tapping any of the headlines will go to that respective article in Safari. This is a nice feature for those “OMG” moments when your security takes a big move — now you can quickly see what might be the news story behind it.

I’ve also mentioned that for those who track their investments in iBank for Mac, getting your info into iBank Investor is done by using our new cloud-based sync service. We’ve added a new source list item to iBank 4 that is “Sync Settings.” This is where you will manage how iBank syncs to iBank Mobile and iBank Investor. Here is how syncing to iBank Investor works.

In iBank for Mac

1) You’ll create a free IGG Customer Account.

2) Press the sync toolbar button (or have iBank 4 sync automatically on launch and quit).

In iBank Investor

1) Log in to your IGG Customer Account.

2) There is no two.

We had some trepidation about asking users to create another online account. Let’s face it, we have accounts for banks, social networking sites, email, you name it. However, in the end we decided this was the right way to provide the best customer experience. Once your IGG Customer Account is set up, you are done and you can forget that it is even there — but don’t forget your login and password . And because our software company is run by reasonable human beings like you, we do NOT sell or give away your information. Period.

Along those lines, we got some feedback about the free, ad-supported version of iBank Investor, and in response to that we are going to offer an in-app purchase that will remove the ads. This is the best of both worlds. For those that hate the ads they can get rid of them, but everyone can try the app and even use it indefinitely, for free.

One last thing you’ll notice about the screenshots I’ve shown you here: we’ve added a big arrow that indicates the big picture — big green arrow pointing up is a gain, a red arrow pointing down is a loss.

Once the beta testing period wraps up we’ll be submitting iBank Investor to the App Store. We’ll send out a tweet or news blip once we reach that milestone.

-Ian

@ianggillespie

A short note about iBank for the iPad

I know a lot of our customers are itching for us to release an iPad version of iBank. It is our highest priority and we are developing it as fast as we can. Lately the development has slowed down because of the changing requirements of iOS 5 and some additional challenges we’ve encountered on the back end. There aren’t any other details to announce yet, but when we do have more to say, it will be here on the blog.