I write code (and sometime blog posts). So as the rest of the company was getting ready for iBank 4, designing the new package, making web pages, shooting videos (which are really awesome BTW) and pressing CDs, I have had some down time. I have been taking long walks on the beach, smelling the flowers, sleeping in… NOT! I have been working on a big update to iBank Mobile.

The day I first saw the iPhone 4’s retina display reminded me of when I first met my wife. She was (and is) beautiful and all other women were shadowy comparisons. That was how this screen looked. It is just a beautiful device. So when I finally got my hands on one and launched iBank Mobile, I was… disappointed to say the least. The retina display made iBank look plain and ugly. It seemed to enhance every pixelated edge in terrible clarity. This simply would not do. But at that time I was working 110% on the iBank 4 beta so it had to take a back seat.

Meanwhile, we started to get all of the graphic assets for the app as iBank 4 was winding down. Now, all I had to do was put them in.

But wait, iOS 4 has this cool multi-tasking and iBank Mobile would be so much better if we added that, so you could switch apps in the middle of entering a transaction. Now I just needed to add the graphic assets and multi-tasking. I had better get another cup of coffee.

“What do you mean my Starbucks card is out or money? I just added to it on…”  Wow, I wish I could search for when I added money to my Starbucks card. Great, now I just needed to add the graphic assets, multi-tasking and transaction searching. “OK, here is more money for my card.”

Well, at least as my list got longer, I have been able to work on it more and more as iBank 4 got closer and closer to release. Now I am very pleased to say that we will have a major update to iBank Mobile submitted to the App Store in the next few weeks. For those of you who skipped the narrative (and so I can mention the other things that did not fit in it), it will include:

  • Retina Display support
  • Multi-tasking support
  • Transaction searching (across the current account or all accounts)
  • Exporting to QIF
  • Some speed improvements
  • Many, many bug fixes (this is the real reason for the release but it does not make for a good story).

Thanks,
James

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13 comments on “Where have you been?

  • Sounds promising, but I hope there’s been as much attention paid to usability improvements as to how pretty the screen looks. I’m finding iBank Mobile not very useful because 1) when I load it, it says “calculating” for a long, long time under all accounts and categories–it takes much too long to load info; and 2) it doesn’t tell me anything about investment balances, which is mainly what I wanted it for; all it offers on those accounts is cash balance, not investment value.

  • will there ever be the feature to download transactions from your bank from ibank mobile? I find myself more and more never using a pc and just using my iphone.

  • iBank Mobile is so simple and perfect!!! Who needs much more in a quick iPhone finance app? I input transactions as I get coffee, buy clothes or eat at a restaurant. What I would really love is to sync with my new envelope budget in iBank4 (desktop) to know if that coffee, pair of running shorts or date at the restaurant is getting me close to my budget limits (or god forbid over it).

    Also, I would love to see, via my iBank Mobile app, what transactions have cleared since the last time I downloaded from my banking institution to the iBank4 desktop app.

    Add these two things, and you will likely never see me post another want on the iBank Mobile blog. (However, I will still keep asking for the tried and true shortcuts from iBank3 to make it into iBank 4 update, like right clicking to change category or transaction type…but that’s another post).

  • Sorry, I lied. One last request… store receipt images on the mobile app that would sync with the desktop. Thank you for such great products that stole me away from Quicken!

  • Well i would like to see budget added in along with new reporting features similar to what Jumpsoft Money has on it’s iphone and ipad versions. This way, if i tick off on my iphone a scheduled transaction item, it reflects on the desktop as a scheduled item completed rather than duplicate my efforts

  • I’ve read through all the reviews and for some of the negative ones, I feel users are not understanding some of the features. Others issues ca be and will be addressed by asking for help.

    The number one feature I love about this program is the Support. The developer and I were in contact many times BEFORE I bought the program. They wanted to make sure I was satisfied and ok with everything Before I purchased the program; and I was.

    I’ve been using Quicken since it’s inception. As the years went by, Quicken proceeded down hill rapidly causing me to search for another finance program. Using many over the past couple of years, I’ve finally found iBank. It sync’s well with my iPhone and, after using it awhile, I had some suggestions which I sent to the developer.

    My final thought is that iBank, being a newbie yet, is terrific. As time goes on, it will be polished to the point of being perfect. For those of you who are skeptical, you can trey it out as a full blown program before you buy it. See for yourself and then make your decision. You DON’T have to buy it first to connect to your financial institutions as it is a FULL working program in the trial mode.

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