Re: iPhone app

[Yi Lin]

Hi Brad, will send you a personal response.

On Monday, October 3, 2011 at 4:29 AM, Brad wrote:

How is the iPhone app coming along?  It'd be great to read about it here or on the blog to the extent you can share where you are with it. 

[Brad]

Given how nice Savings is on the Mac, I have no doubt the iPhone counterpart will be really nice.  But it's so hard to keep waiting for it!

[Yi Lin]

Brad,

I understand. I thank you and many others for your patience. Here is an update. 

First, adding missing features for Savings on the Mac is still a primary focus of mine. A release for Savings for Mac is coming soon, which includes CSV import, a feature requested by many users. I believe Savings now has the best CSV import user interface out of all finance apps out there. The next major feature to be added will be printing, which is long overdue. 

On the iPhone, what really slowed down its progress is the lack of reliability in iCloud sync. Although iCloud has been out for a long time, its reliability for third-party, database-oriented apps like Savings has never been great. But in recent weeks, I have noticed iCloud sync reliability improve dramatically, so much so that I think a production-ready implementation is within sight. As a result, I have accelerated the iPhone and iCloud integration work, but in such a way that I can still make frequent updates on the Mac app. The last version of Savings for Mac (1.2) took way too long, and I don't want that to happen again.

Savings for iPhone is definitely coming together.

Yi

[ROBIN MOOS]

Thanks Yi.  Keep up the good work.  We really need a good app!

Robin

"No matter what the question is, Love is the answer." 

Mary Hulnick

[Brad]

Thanks for the update Yi.  Have you considered something like Uservoice so we could vote on various features?  For instance I'd rank Title/Category autocomplete, transaction duplication and an iPhone app above CSV import and printing.  I'd use the ones I listed daily.  

Brad

[Yi Lin]

Hi Brad,

I will look into User Voice in the future. One of the tricky thing about prioritization is there are some features that fewer people ask for, but is essential for the functionality of the app. For people whose bank support only CSV activity file, lack of such feature is a deal breaker for them. But the features you mention, I agree, are more useful on a daily basis. For the past few weeks I've been making good progress on the iPhone app. Some of the features missing on the desktop app, such as payee autocomplete, expect to see them show up on the iPhone app. The iPhone and desktop apps will complement each other in their features.

Yi

[Brad]

Thanks for the update Yi. 

[Daniel Scheikl]

Hello!

It's been a while since this threat has been updates. Will we ever get the iPhone app?
I don't want to be impatient, but a clear answer would be nice, so that I know if I can stay with Savings, or go for another peace of software.
The thing is: I've realized, that - since I have ma iPad/iPhone my MacBook stays at home - almost all the time. So I totally rely on mobile apps.

Greetings,
D

[Yi Lin]

My hope is to have the iPhone app done by the end of this year. iCloud on iOS 7 won't be released until this Fall, and it's the first version of iCloud that could be stable enough for production use. That said, it's still not 100% production ready, and developers like me are continuing to test it and submit bug reports to Apple. Without a proper sync solution, small developer like us don't have the resource to develop our own.

The app itself is coming along. I don't work on Savings full time, but even then it takes a tremendous amount of work to design and develop everything. I'm sorry I can't give you a more precise timeline than that.

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[Brad]

Thanks for the update Yi.  Is releasing the iPhone app with wifi or USB sync an option?  

[Yi Lin]

I'm afraid no, because even implementing wifi sync takes a significant amount of time, time I badly need to put into the UI of the app. Independent developer like us have a very limited amount of time with work with, so we have to depend on the platform, in this case Apple, to solve the big problems for us. 

[Brad]

Yi, congrats on the release of Savings for iPhone.  As you mention in your post it's basic and doesn't include sync, but it's progress. A little bummed the iPhone app has payee autocomplete and the Mac app still doesn't.  ;)

Do you have a timeline in mind for when sync will be available? 

Brad

[Yi Lin]

Hi Brad,

Yes, payee autocomplete will eventually make its way to the Mac, now that the code is there. I'm trying to get sync done by end of year, although it may come earlier or later depending on how much Apple improves iCloud between now and then. Waiting to see if iCloud will be drastically improved shortly after Mavericks come out. If not, I may have to implement a 50% iCloud-based solution like what Clear is doing. 

My main focus for the next Mac release is actually to migrate the entire app to the iCloud code base I've been working on for the past year. You won't see anything different (I hope!), but underneath lots will have changed, including a data model that is fully compatible with the iPhone app. I want to do that first to make sure there is no bug with the iCloud code, and then continue to test iCloud and work with Apple's developer support to resolve problems with sync. 

But like you said, glad to finally have an iPhone app to build upon for the sync stuff. 

Yi

[Brad]

Hi Yi.  How is sync coming along?  

Brad

[Yi Lin]

Hi Brad,

I’m closer than I’ve ever been, but not there yet unfortunately. 

But the good news is, unless I run into any show stopping issue with iCloud, I should have a release in a couple of weeks that you guys can start using to start syncing between the iPhone and Mac app. It’s not a perfect solution yet, but should be good enough for daily usage.

Will definitely make a post about that when it’s ready on the blog. 

Yi

[Yi Lin]

And by the way, thanks to all of you for sticking around despite not having sync/iPhone working for so long. Developing an iPhone app plus sync turned out to be a really hard problem for solo developer like myself, but I will keep working until we get there. 

On Feb 1, 2014, at 2:48 PM, Brad <bradbu...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Evangelo Zervoulias]

Hello Yi!

Many thanks for your app and efforts, I've been a loyal fan for 3 years now and the app helped me managed all my financials, exit debt and achieve a nice balance by now!! I'm an every-day power-user and I have really enjoyed it so far.

However, since it doesn't seem to be very much updated lately (i.e. the currencies I use -CHF and EUR- changed substantially and i don't have an accurate view of my financials now.. iPhone sync never came etc.), I was thinking to ask if there are any further steps on your project!! Also, is there an export option so I could possibly take it to a more elaborate application but without losing all of the history i have until now?

Huge thanks in advance,

Evangelo

[Yi Lin]

Hi Evangelo,

Glad to hear you used it to achieve balance in your finance! I would really love to keep you as a user. 

I am actually still working on the app, and I am getting closing to finishing off syncing for the iPhone app. I now have a day job, because the app itself doesn’t make enough money to support my living. This is why the app’s development is slow. However, if you can just wait a little bit longer, I promise to get the iPhone app as well as sync released. There are just a few more bugs left to fix, and I am working with Apple engineer to resolve those problems. 

The new version of Savings will also automatically update currency from the web. Previously, it was only updated when the app releases with new feature. 

Regards,

Yi

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[Evangelo Zervoulias]

Great!!!! That's great news, I would not be very amused to change, I only thought I had to! With currencies updating and iPhone app coming and syncing, I think I can give you a couple of months and wait for it.. honestly, I love your work but I have been patient for a long time before even thinking of leaving :) Great, I'll wait then!

One last question. I found in this group instructions on how to move from an old mac to a new one.. one thing I can't find! What about the license key? Of course I have bought it, but I can't seem to find anything and anywhere in my files, e-mails etc.. is there any way you can somehow trace it and resent it?

Best regards, really looking forward for the update!!

Evangelo

[Yi Lin]

Thanks, I will respond personally to you regarding license.