But, I am here to say that I am working full time on an iPhone app to work with iBank. Now, I have been in the industry to long enough to remember that Windows 98 was originally Windows 97. I also remember Apple’s cool next generation OS, Copeland, which would ship in the 20th century. I think that promising something that you might not deliver sends the wrong message to loyal customers. That was the reason for the long silence on the iPhone. However, now that we have the resources in place to deliver something, it is time to break the silence.
We are working on a native iPhone app that will work with iBank. We are in late stages of deciding what the features are for the first version. I have written some of the the early foundational code that the iPhone app will use. Many people have asked for a time line. That is always a really hard thing to answer. I plan on updating the blog about once a week or so on the current state of the iPhone app. I am shooting to have something to show in January. Please take these as estimates, if I go 8 days without updating the blog please don’t hate me. If it slips until February please know that this is my top priority but sometime schedules slip. Now let me try to answer some questions before they are asked.
Q) Will it be a native iPhone application?
A) Yes!
Q) Will it connect with iBank and sync data?
A) Yes, but we are still working on the details. For example will you need some server account like MobileMe or does it sync directly from the phone to the computer.
Q) Will I be able to edit data on the iPhone?
A) Yes, but we are still working on exactly what that data is. Not all of the data in iBank will be able to be on the phone. Some people have 10 years or more of data so we will be working with a subset of data on the phone. How much and what types we are still working out.
Q) Will it support feature X like iBank?
A) iBank has a huge number of features and everyone has their favorite. Certainly, the iPhone app will not support all of them. We do not have a definitive list, but we are confident that v1.0 will satisfy the needs of most users wanting to track their finances on their phone. Even so, a feature on the phone will most likely work differently than a feature on the Mac. We want to make a great iPhone app, not port iBank to the phone.
Q) When will it ship?
A) My favorite game company, Blizzard, always gives the best answer to this question. “When it is ready.” That is about all I can say at this point. We do have a milestone in January to have a functional app to demo and get feed back on but beyond that it is too early to tell.
- Direct Access 2 and Open Banking Support in the UK and EU - February 17, 2021
- A chunk of sync update - June 27, 2014
- 2013 In Review - December 17, 2013
We need an interface for iBiz first….
I don’t think Windows 95 was ever called Windows 93, but it was called Chicago. Anyway, this is great news! I can’t wait to see the new iPhone app.
Oops, thanks for the catch Trevor I meant Windows 98 was called WIndows 97. I should work on my fact checking 🙂
Please let us be able to sync directly with our computers. I don’t keep my iBank data on a server today and I don’t want to have to start. See how 1Password does it for a good model.
Thanks
I do not have a MobileMe account (and many Mac users I know don’t either) so having to dish out another $100 in addition to the cost of the iBank and the iPhone app would be turn off. Just my two cents 😉
Any chance it will work with version 2.x of iBank (for those of us not yet running Leopard), or will you need the very latest version of iBank?
Unfortunately, it will not work with v2. You’ll need the latest and greatest iBank 🙂
I like the blog, good stuff. I’m a bit worried about the obsession with the iPhone… maybe get iBank up to scratch first?
GreaT news. I just have a couple of requests for this app:
1) Please make the sync direct from the iphone to the computer. I don’t want to have to pay an extra 100$ for a mobileme account. Or why not make both mobileme or/and by connecting the phone to the computer?
2) Please don’t make it a US release only. As an european customer, it would be very frustating.
thanks anyway for breaking the silence
Hi Mark,
We certainly love our iPhones here at IGG, but don’t worry, we haven’t committed every bit of development resource to making iPhone-everything, and we certainly don’t plan on neglecting iBank for Mac. A lot of users have requested a native iPhone app and we want to deliver one, but I’m not taking my eye off the ball for future iBank releases. In fact, iBank 3.3.1, although just a minor update, will be released soon and we have some ideas for how to really make iBank shine down the road.
As a small company don’t get sidetracked by this iPhone crap and starve your core products.
I am considering a purchase of iBank to track my home finances on my newly purchased Mac (I am abandoning Windows) but I have no plans to get an iPhone. The new Quicken for the Mac is in beta and it not only looks good but Quicken has been around for eons. No one really knows what will happen to the iBank data file after it gains 10 years of financial data (will it fail to open one day?). I can say I never had this problem with Quicken’s windows version after years of using it.
I would like to support companies that are committed to the Mac but I worry that their attention can be easily diverted to the new “cool” product.
Hi Roger,
We’ve been developing for the Mac since 2003 and it is the CORE of our business. We have no intention of misplacing our focus to develop only iPhone apps, but we do think we can enhance the user experience by creating an iPhone app that extends iBank’s capabilities.
As for file longevity, we hope to be hear for the long haul, however, should something terrible go wrong, you can export iBank data as a QIF file, which is human readable. I hope this helps.
Just thought I’d throw in my 2 cents. I like Mint.com and I like iBank. I’m not sure which I like better. I want both to have an iPhone app. I hear both Mint and you are working on a native iPhone app (smart move, despite what behind-the-times Roger says). Whichever company ends up with the better iPhone app is probably who I will go with.
People will love having their financial information at their fingertips. They’ll love being able to edit their data, clean it up a bit, while they’re out and about, and when they come home, they see the same data instantly. It’ll be a hit.
Even though I work for a particular company whose employees get a discount on iBank, I opted not to go with it. For now, I’m just using Mint.com in conjunction with the iPhone apps Spend (for budgeting) and Checkbook (for managing all transactions).
When iBank for iPhone comes out, I’ll check it out.
If you need any help to beta test this app, I can help!
You can contact me.