The first product to be released with an “i” name was the iMac, 18 years ago. For many it marks a turning point for Apple. While it didn’t happen overnight, it marked the beginning of a long run of “i” names in Apple’s product line. Remember iDVD and iPhoto? And of course the iPod, iBooks and iWork? While there are a few Apple products still embracing the iNames (iPhone and iPad come to mind), the nomenclature had its run and, quite frankly, is feeling old.
iBank was first released 13 years ago and, at the time, the name “iBank” was perfect. But over the last few years a couple things have nagged at us. First, iApp names have felt dated and too tied to Apple. Second, we were never able to secure the iBank dot com domain. Third, the word “iBank” is used internationally to describe a type of money transfer, e.g. “you can just iBank me that payment”. And fourth, “iBank” is sometimes used as an abbreviation for investment bank. This all builds up to a steep hill to climb to truly own the name of our products.
So today we are announcing the end of the iBank name and the beginning of our new name for our apps: Banktivity. If you are scratching your head wondering how this name came about, it’s rather simple. It has the same core, “bank”, which we love and then it comes from joining “bank” and “activity” — Banktivity. Yeah, say it out loud, it’s OK. It’s hard to get used to a new name, it might feel foreign, that is all very normal. But say it a few more times and let it sink in, and before you know it, it will become second nature.
Banktivity
(You can say it again out loud.)
From this point going forward, new releases of our apps will use the name Banktivity. We are keeping the version numbers the same to help with any potential confusion. Specifically, our apps will be renamed the following:
iBank 5 for Mac -> Banktivity 5 for Mac
iBank for iPhone -> Banktivity for iPhone
iBank for iPad -> Banktivity for iPad
iBank Investor -> Banktivity Investor
This is a big change: we expect these names to carry us far into the future and hopefully we won’t ever feel the need to change them again. You will begin seeing these new names roll out in our products over the next two days.
Before I go, I want to be clear about something. This name change in no way signals some other cultural shift at IGG. We are still producing the same great apps, with the same dedicated team working hard to bring you the best personal finance software for Mac and iOS.
Here’s to 12 great years served by iBank and to an even brighter future for Banktivity!
-Ian
- Banktivity 9.5 and Monthly Subscriptions - October 18, 2024
- Coming soon: Banktivity 9.5 - July 19, 2024
- Continuing Investments in Direct Access - February 26, 2024
please note that, in my previous comment, you got a wrong email from me as a result of a typo
[posting this again because I think my previous post got deleted – I accidentally mistyped my email address[
I am mostly satisfied with the switch from Quicken (I migrated from a PC to a Mac) but, like others, would strongly prefer the option of talking with a support person. This is compounded by (1) sometimes-long waits for support and (2) even more importantly, support hours that track only to a short form of East Coast business hours (we have a few people in California too). The limited, East Coast-centric hours are surprising for a major (or aspiring-to-be-major) business. As to the name, whatever…
Laura has it exactly right. Nothing proclaims a company’s concern for their customers than having a very well trained customer service staff available during the CUSTOMER’S business hours . . . not hours that are convenient to the service provider.
Agree with Laura, try living in Australia. a 24h international contact would be great. Maybe you’re not big enough for that yet.
Guess we’ll get used to Banktivity, MyBank or a derivative MyBanker would have been better smoother.
Agree with MyBank. Hate the new name. Too many syllables. Almost all software (and hardware) is one or two syllables: Quicken, iPhone, iMac, Google, Yahoo, MacBook, iPad. Banktivity sounds like a disease. Since it is only for Apple software, how about MacBank? Or BankMac?
Agree 100%, but it’s too late now………..this proves programers are poor marketers…..
MiBank….that what I named my data file for your app. I so do not miss Quicken. My biggest gripe with them was there “sundown” policy….After 3 years, the program would break, forcing users to fork out the cash for the current one. Then when I migrated to Mac a couple years ago, I was appalled that Intuit had seriously hobbled the Mac version, rendering it useless for online syncing of accounts.
I agree..MacBank would be great
Dear Ian,
I am sure that you are spending some money on this change, which unfortunately is not going got be invested in the products but a external “advisor”, company’s logo, and other stuff.
To be honest, I don’t think people care much about your name (company or product). We buy your products and recommend them because they are better than the others. Like your Apple’s example, I am sure that If Apple would have come up with any “stupid” name, people would have still bought the products. The fact that your name is outdated is a good thing in this world of ever vanishing companies and products.
I am sure that the real reason is that sales have slowed down. It is normal! You have been ride the Apple wave. The solution is not to change the name, it is to continue the search for better products and solutions that will benefit your customers. Be patient and nimble!
IBank still sounds better than Banktivity even after all the reasons above but don’t worry, I won’t switch or stop recommending your product because of this.
I wish you would have spent time updating the iPhone and iPad apps to sync over wifi again (instead of the cloud) rather than consternating over a name change.
Fine, just give me back wi-fi syncing
To all those who say “Names don’t matter”, please reply after taking a basic marketing class.
Best wishes for a long run under the new name.
I started a software company in 1982 in Rochester NY, home of KODAK and XEROX, both names mean nothing but have in common 5 letters, alternating vowel/consonant/vowel. We called our company LOGIX, same format and it relates. Too bad IGG didn’t spend a little more on renaming…… Now I am wondering how and why do I get the update……..
I m not fussed about your name – a distraction, no more. What I do care about is quality of the product. So why not put some energy into fixing (1) telephone support (2) the instruction manual (3) arcane scheduled transaction glitches.
Agreed. My experience with chat support has been very disappointing. I have several small items I would like resolved, but I am not willing to spend the time involved , only to be disappointed.
Support has always been their weakest link. No telephone and NEVER a “getbacktoyou” when the chat person has had you send something to them to research.
Banktivity? Really. Ok, whatever.
Apparently you feel it’s more necessary to fiddle about your product name than the actual product performance. And to throw away your brand recognition.
iBank is good, the latest version better and faster than before, but like many others have posted here, the lack of attention to issues from the developer has remained pretty much unchanged since the first version.
You scrapped the user forum some time ago, probably because the complaints on there were scathing, and the user suggestions mainly went unanswered in one version upgrade after another. So rather than improving the program you deleted the forum – way to go. At least the forum complaints won’t show up in a google search anymore…
But the same complaints/user suggestions that were posted there years ago and never attended to are posted here. Tells me that while the program is good the developer is simply not up to the task of improving the program in a way useful to the user. So what do they spend time/money on – a product name change!
I can only assume getting rid of the “i” means they’re working on a windows/android version – again, instead of dealing with what needs to be fixed.
Like many have posted already, these are the big issues that have been ignored for far too long:
Lack of global search. This used to be part of the program and was a great help but was removed in v.4 (can’t remember exactly). For what logical reason? Searching for a vendor across all accounts is a great, useful feature! Really a no-brainer.
Reports. Plainly put they suck. That the program still lacks customization and export options, as many posters have pointed out for over 10 years, is inexcusable!
Consolidating/changing vendor names. Another useful feature that was in QuickenMac 2007-09
User customization of qfx import data fields. Most banks screw up the fields resulting in incorrect field assignment during automatic downloads. Surely iBank follows the standardized rules, but most banks don’t, so we should be able to adjust those settings. I brought this up on the forum 6 years ago, and was recommended to contact my bank (Citibank) to ask *them* to change *their* system!
Still, I like iBank and use it daily for personal and business accounts. But the ongoing ingnorace of reasonable customer request taints an otherwise excellent program
Amen on the lack of global search. A major deficiency. For far too long.
Ditto on the reports. I badly need a report that filters transactions on the content of the Note field (“show me all transactions containing ‘BW'”).
Guess I won’t hold my breath for either of those.
I absolutely agree that the reports function needs to be better. It would be very helpful to filter transactions with the note field. It’s something I definitely miss from Quicken.
Totally agree.
Lack of report export is my one complaint after happily leaving Quicken. This time of year when doing tax prep I would export data from Quicken to Excel and do the work I need to do for taxes. It’s hard to believe the IGG guys still kick this one down the road. How hard is it?
Banktivity is an excellent program but crappy internal reports and inability to export to Excel are a big shortcoming.
Okay fine… but I won’t be asking my wife “did you record that in ‘Banktivity” anytime soon. You could have come up with a catchier name. But still an okay product. I hope one day you spend the same amount of money adding a reporting function with futuristic features such as a customize heading….
On top of what mats oloffson The equation for growth of iggsoftware was Very clear during this years: maintain the ibank for Mac and delivery ibank for iPhone and ibank for Mac ( sold separetly!!). Now, SALES in Apple are sluggish and They need IT to continue to growth. Improve the apps?! No. The solution is jump to Android and Microsoft system…. Come on guys, look how many posts you have Here! People are loyal with your Product but They need attention! Improve the software.
I could not possibly care less about your rebranding rationale. How about spending that energy on improving your product? Lots of low hanging fruit there.
I am confused. Does this mean I need to pay $60 to change IBank 5 to Banktivity 5 (Name only)?
It’s a free upgrade for all v5 customers.
Changing the iBank’s name to something that is long, awkward to pronounce and sounds like a disease is NOT an upgrade by any stretch of the imagination… frankly, when I speak the name it reminds me of “CAPTIVITY” — not exactly something to tell your friends and colleagues about.
Just switching from Quicken Mac 2015… uncertain future so being prepared… Quicken has taken a lot of knocks but it does have several features that Banktivity lacks. Date handling is a pain. To access the calendar you have to use the down arrow.. why not just click on the date and bring up the calendar. Reports and not the easiest do work with. The tax report shows unrealized capital gains…. No easy way to set up pension and social security payments. Difficult to setup a scheduled deposit of a social security benefit. My payment is scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month. Easy to do in Quicken but, unless I am missing something, that option is not available when you set up the deposit date. Hopefully the name change will not be all we see.
Be carefull…too many suggestions/complaints may result in entires being removed like the old user forum.
Too late!! My entries posted before 1/30/2016 already gone. ? Too bad as the contents of the majority of these blog entries demonstrate that many, many customers are disappointed with IGG’s lack of response to articulated customer requests to fix buggy software and provide requested features.
IGG are you listening?
I like the old name better. Please bring back wifi synching and make other improvements mentioned here.
Great move..for a great product! By far the best “banking” program in the Mac world!! Saved me when Quicken stopped supporting the Mac.
Can I safely assume that the program will still recognize & open previously saved iBank documents?
I start a new “document” each year – e.g. iBank 2015, iBank 2014 – and rely on these to check on past transactions – esp around tax time!
Will their names remain the same?
Thanks!
…John
Speaking of end of the year? Does iBank…er….Banktivity have any type of archive functions for years past?
Agree with the genreal sentiment that this seems a frivolous waste of resources and throwing away a good reputation. While “iNames” are a bit of a “metoo” these days, the classics can still carry them off, and I think iBank was one of them. Plenty good reviews out there use that name.
Personally I don’t think much of the new name, but as long as it works well I don’t care. This is where we run into a problem:
– Support responses should take less than a month please! 2 out of my 3 tickets took that long to get just a response, let alone a resolution.
– Multi-currency is a mess.
– Reporting! The provided ones are superb (and no doubt what the rave reviews are based on), but unfortunately have a very limited set of customisations. If we want to sort, we’re screwed. Even a straightforward Excel export would be nice.
– Graphs were nice in the iOS versions, why did you remove one of my favourite features?
I would sum it up as a polarised app: What it does right, it does very well (which is why I use it), but where it lacks it falls down badly.
Your reasons for changing the name make sense to me. I’ve used the software for several years and I like it
I too don’t care about the name. I still see the same annoying stuff that makes iBank/Banktivity look less like a professional app than something I threw together with Numbers (in fact, my Numbers spreadsheets are more professional looking).
I sitll can’t get to the latest entry after a search without putting in a dummy new entry then cancelling it. The annoying date thingie still gets in my way when I’m scrolling looking for something. There’s still nothing that shows me visually that I’m at the bottom of the register. No “move” function – gott do cut and paste? Get real. The unlinking thing after I needed to change a transfer entry took me hours to find and fix. I don’t use 95% of the “bells and whistles” but I sure wish the basics were cleaner. Little stuff – but terribly annoying!
The name is not very smart. Who did the marketing for you to give you a name the customer has a hard time to pronounce?
iBank, now Banktivity, is very good software and it a pleasure to use. Your logic for the name change makes sense. I hope you will work to give us improved report writing and analysis tools in coming years. Keep up the good work.
Love pleasant to read comments like this one! Thanks Rick!
While comments like Rick’s are pleasant, my experience is that the most important comments by users are the ones that point out issues that need to be addressed. It appears that there are many opportunities for improvement. I’d been thinking of buying iBank 5; however, the number of unresolved issues gives me pause. I trust that you’ll address the issues that have been elicited here, Ian, to make Banktivity a truly outstanding product.
We are doing our best to make Banktivity the best. Our dedicated team is working very hard.
Don’t hold your breath, Rick. Folks have been requesting numerous features for several years and they just keep getting ignored. Reports, reports, reports!!!
The nearly universal short cut “command+up/down arrow” to move to the top or bottom of an open window would be appreciated.
I enjoy the program.
I like iBank better..its way much catchier. And sorry, the iEverything is still sky rocketing. Anyways, nice the ability to make our own reports based on a customized query, or at least give us export to excel. Another major down fall, which is very, very easy to do, is to add an extra field for project/trip so yo can record all transaction under it and be able to easily report on it after. with a fancy app both on desktop and IOs, I still can’t automatically find out how much I spent on my last trip to amsterdam, or the house renovation project I worked on. I have to dig and dig, and manually calculate to reach a figure that should be very straight forward with a financing application.
Another thing that is quite silly, is the payee by category report..run that on transactions with multi currencies and look at the numbers!
Ian,
I detect some bitterness on your part at all the “constructive”, less than flattering comments, by you responding to the fawning ones, while not responding to the items that are referenced by your other “loyal customers”.
Please don’t feel that you must respond to every point in every post, but it would put your customer base at ease it you did address a few point that keep resurfacing. We are not critical as much as we are worried that we might once again have the rug yanked out from under our collective feet.
Tell us not to worry. Thanks.
To me, “iBank” was a fundamental, slam-dunk, slick name suggesting developers of vision, early adopters of the “i” naming convention. It further conveyed a mature product that it has stood the test of time (although users know that’s not true because we’re still waiting for simple fixes to ease our work flow). Bankativity? Sounds like v.1 was released yesterday. Bankarama has a better ring to it. Or Bankalicious! How about Bankathon, Bankalator…
The stalled development, the name change, the unresponsiveness, a loyal but increasingly frustrated customer base – all signals to me of a product ripe for sale and assurances otherwise are all part of the script.
This doesn’t signal a cultural shift and no, we aren’t for sale. We aren’t ready to post about what we’ve been working on. But we aren’t just twiddling our thumbs!
This new name is ridiculous and embarrassing and makes the program sound like a joke. It’s four instead of two syllables and is a little hard to pronounce. Though the developers actually explain that they had the brilliant idea of combining “bank” and “activity,” the explanation is completely unnecessary: most people that see or hear the name will know instantly that someone had the stupid idea of combining those two words. It’s like walking down a marina dock and observing the awkward and painful boat names people plaster on their boats after forcing together parts of two words or names.
The new name is not just a matter of bad aesthetics. This name change is a big step backwards to the beginning for any loyal iBank users hoping at some point that financial institutions would start to recognize iBank as a standard, like Quicken, and provide download in iBank format. Does anyone seriously believe that ANY financial institution would EVER provide download in “Banktivity format?”
I believe this awful name will also have a negative effect on the longevity of the program itself. People looking for financial software are likely to shy away from a program with a silly name that sounds like something high schoolers would come up with.
Speaking of longevity, the iBank staff would be well-advised to start improving their basic program. It sound like your customer base is mostly made up of people who were quite fed up with Intuit’s inattention and neglect of its Mac customers and were angry and eager for some alternative to Quicken for Mac. That was the case with me after years of loyalty, first to Andrew Tobias’ Managing Your Money from its inception in the 80’s until its demise in the 90’s, and then to Quicken for the next 20 years. I understand that new programs need time to mature, but IGG’s copyright says “2003-2016.” So why have none of the following glaring issues been fixed yet?
1. Program instability. The iBank5 program either locks up or quits unexpectedly far too often, typically 2-3 times per session.
2. Black-and-white. The IGG staff might be very fond of old Leave It To Beaver reruns from the early 60’s, but it’s now 2016 and most of your customers have expensive retina displays. Is the option for some color schemes so much to expect? You’re obviously not very busy making the program better functionally, so why not spend a bit of time making the program at least look a little less boring and like something from this century?
3. Report generator. IGG cannot have missed the countless complaints about the report generator. At this point, if one wants any reasonable control over reports, the only way to do it with iBank is to export to a CVS file and then design the report using a separate spreadsheet program.
4. Split transactions: this function is very user-UNfriendly and rudimentary. Cursor movement is illogical, and the whole process requires far more clicks and keystrokes and time than it should. One gets the impression that the developers never actually use the program to see how awkward many of its features are.
5. Payee templates: more control is needed, including the ability to lock templates so that every time one uses a template the same predictable and controllable data shows up in the new transaction, rather than a much less useful duplicate of the last transaction for that same payee. Quicken-PC provided this basic option years ago, though Quicken-Mac had not yet done so as of last year.
6. Lack of backup function: Sure, we are probably all using Time Machine, but that system is not 100% reliable. Most of us know enough to go Finder and copy the iBank data file and add a date and time to the saved copy and then put it some place safe. But this is time-consuming, and this actually is a bit of a challenge for some uses not that comfortable moving files around. The annoying thing is that data file backup is a very basic and expected function and should be effortless and automatic in a program that is the key to the user’s entire financial life.
IGG staff should recognize that their user base collectively invests huge amounts of time using this software to manage their finances. It is a major time-consuming task to switch to a different software program. At this point, about 8 months after my switch from Quicken Mac 2015 to iBank5, I was already feeling no more confident with IGG than I was with Intuit that the program would improve and continue long-term. This latest nonsense with “Banktivity” only erodes that confidence further. I’m even planning to visit the Quicken Mac website to see if they solved those major problems that cropped up last fall with downloading transactions.
Thank you for the specificity on all of these issues. They are definitely on my list of old, unresolved issues with iBank (oh, oh… I used the old name!)
I have no objection to the name change, But you screwed up the deployment big time. I sat down at my iMac this morning, clicked the “iBank” logo in my tool bar — and got a question mark! I went applications to start iBank from there and it was — GONE! Went to my laptop. Gone from there too. Looked in the trash. Nothing. So it seemed clear that something “pushed” me and update that removed the program. I frantically went on line and started a chat session. But before it began, I notices the new name on the page and went back to look at my applications again.
I then figured out what had happened.
But my point is that you should have done what other software vendors have done in similar situations:
1. A week or more ahead of the change, push out a change that pops up an advisory about what you are about to do. The advisory should tell people that if they currently access iBank from their dock, that link will break.
2. Send an e-mail to all registered customers. You have my e-mail. I didn’t get any heads up message.
3. Then, after ample warning, push out the name change.
(Ideally, it would be nice if there were a way to change the name but keep the internal link on the Macs so the icon in the dock would keep working.)
I wish to add my voice to George Carvill’s on this change. I too have no objection to the name change but I earnestly request that IGG announce directly to existing registered customers via email a week before any future such change. I suspect that I am not alone in not regularly reading the IGG blog, so I missed the original post about the name change. Sitting down this morning (2/1/16) to do the monthly bookkeeping, only to find the iBank icon in my dock unresponsive and overlain with the “no such file” question mark was Not a Good Feeling. Yeah, sure, I immediately looked in App Store and found last Saturday’s update that implemented the name change so I knew what had happened, but that only turned the fear to anger.
Please don’t do that again.
This is good feedback. Thank you!
I agree strongly; a name change should have been announced at least a week advance, along with any instructions about how to transfer to the new program…. Agree that the new name is not an improvement.
I will leave it to others to comment on the name change. But I would add my votes to all if the numbered requested improvement mentioned by GOM62 above. I could go on at length about the weaknesses of both reports and budgets, for example. Those pushed me to actually try Quicken 2016 a few weeks ago, but got my money back when I found it isn’t yet up to par.
To GOM62’s list I would add the need for a context search when typing in a category. For example, if I were to enter a check and type in “rec” the dropdown list would show me these:
-Records
-Family Recreation
-Corrections
This is a follow-up post. One other thing: the most useful function of your software is allowing reports to be dragged to a spreadsheet and dropped there so that the data can be sorted and analyzed. It’s tax time, so I’m doing a good bit of that. What a surprise to find that when I drag the breakdown of postings, the source account column does not drag over with the rest of the information. (The memo does, but not where the funds came from!) That is absolutely critical, because the point with taxes is to determine, for example, how much interest income came from Bank A, how much from Bank B, etc. etc. That’s what I use your software FOR. I think you need to talk to people who actually use your software for financial record-keeping, not just programmers who are trying to add lots of bells and whistles. For years I’ve used the 2004 Quicken, which is almost perfect as financial software goes, except that it will no longer run on current Mac OS, and the computer that does use it is getting old and precarious. (The new versions of Quicken are toys for children, not financial software.) But your software is hobbled by its inefficiencies, so I am still posting everything to both programs; yours is just a backup for when my old computer finally goes.
Stop worrying about name changes and add features like this that make your software functional (i.e., build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door, etc.).
I, too, think the name change is a retrograde step. “iBank” is slick, short, with a ‘commanding’ presence; I bet lots of other companies in the field would give their right arms for it. ‘Banktivity’ is not a name I will feel confident in telling my friends about – it sounds adolescent and trite.
In the nature of things, ‘the management’ won’t dare lose face by returning to iBank, though. And they will have to wait at least a couple of years before coming up with something different.
I have to say, it does feel as if the development and support of this (generally excellent) product, in grossly under-resourced. This is a recipe for decline, by loss of new customers and haemorrhaging of current users.
As so many have said, the lack of easy reporting systems is lamentable. The whole programme is linear – multi-tasking is impossible (for example, the simple need to be able to access account records in order to deal with ‘Confirm Schedule Transactions). And – forgive me for being a Brit – the support of international users’ requirements is poor.
In many ways, I do still like this product. And I do hope you get your act together to improve the basic programme. The idea of setting up with another system is daunting – but I hope you don’t rely on inertia to allow the delivery of a second-rate product.
The name change is unfortunate. Often used words get shorter over time, not longer. It make me feel as if the Apple user is no longer the focus of your product.
I hope you are paying attention to the frustration being voiced. I too feel that many of the improvements mentioned are long overdue. In addition to all those mentioned a very simple and useful improvement for those of us getting older is the ability to make the font larger. While I can still read the entries I would prefer they be larger. This size would be more helpful. My father cannot read the font size you use and has had to change the display resolution so he can read the entries. This is a terrible solution for all his other applications.
I too, came to iBank, because Quicken for Mac was so poor. Right now the only thing keeping a customer is that changing financial apps is a pain and I haven’t seen a better option. But I am not here because I like this application. I know how to use it and I am tolerating the glitches and lack of attention to improvements.
I would like nothing more than to see all these less than satisfied customer complaints go away as you are meeting our needs. However, currently you’re marginally meeting my needs at best.
First, you took away wifi sync, which was a MAJOR step backwards. Now, you’ve changed your name from the simple, easy-to-remember “iBank” to the cartoonish “Banktivity?” I’m starting to wonder: are you guys intentionally thumbing your noses at your customer base?
I’m confused. I’m getting the message now when I open my ibank (version 4.3.5) that I have a free 30 day trial, after which time I need to pay for ibank 4. Is there an option for me to continue using my free version through banktivity?
Hi Liz, probably best to contact support with this question: http://www.iggsoftware.com/support
It’s hard to give support via blog comments. It sounds like you have a much older version installed.
Overall I like the program. But since changing from wifi sync, too the cloud sync it is now taking forever for that sync to take place. I have a fast Xfinity1 upload speed but that is not helping this problem. I would appreciate it if you could either bring wifi sync or figure out why the cloud sync is taking so long. FYI…I am not the only user that is having this cloud sync problem. I have several friends who also use iBank now Banktivity who I know have the same problem and are just as frustrated as I am.
How long does it take? And what does the status view in the toolbar say when it is taking a while?
Greetings from Uruguay!
Best wishes to all of you under the new name; we will keep enjoying Banktivity as much as we enjoyed IBank.
Carlos and Nenny Rabassa
Aloha Ian – I have been using iBank since the very first version, and it works very well for the simple accounting that I do.
I feel have to add yet another comment regarding the new name “Banktivity” – I really dislike the name because it sounds like so many other inane, cheap, and silly mashup names that are used by software that you just want to stay away from when you see their names in app stores and in software search engines like download.com, softonic.com, and freewarefiles.com. I only wish that you had done some sort of user vote (radio-button simple style with visible results) based on a set of names which you may have already cleared with search engines, domain names, trademarks, etc. This process would have allowed many of us die-hard users to have an emotional investment in the change.
In summary, I think the name “Banktivity” cheapens the perceived value and pedigree of the product, unfortunately. Best of luck moving forward, however..
Personally, don’t care about the name, it’s just an icon on my tool bar to me. However, in downloading the newly named version, you did not make it clear that it was a new app, using the same icon as the old version. Although it didn’t take me long to figure it out, it was somewhat confusing.
Agree with many others that reporting and customer service need improvement. On my last open ticket, it took one month (!) to get a reply. This for an error that you are clearly aware of since it is mentioned in the FAQ’s but continues to be a problem. (Error, can’t save file, P_Source invalid). If you can fix the program in a timely manner, the least you could do is provide a meaningful error message.
I really would prefer to have been informed of this change in advance! I’m on here to research what has happened to my iBank software. Ok I know now, after a panic. My app was via the app store so it auto updated sometime. I go click my iBank task bar icon and zilch- not recognised! Go look and its gone. Just this Banktivity thing (ugly name in my view but its the software that counts, which is good) so I panic, like, WHAT is BANKTIVITY? Time wasted with panic checking that all my valuable, confidential financial data is still there. So not happy about the change that came to me at least without advance warning. Yes, there’s a message when you open the app up but I don’t open software I don’t recognise! Grrr.
I like it.
Well done
Count me among those who dislike the new name. Say it again? No, not even once! The i in iBank to my thinking does not refer to the internet, but to my activity, e.g., “I bank”. Tell the marketing types to stop butchering the English language and mangling what was a perfectly good name for an excellent product.
Obviously, based on the many posts I’ve read, this utterly pointless name change hits a nerve. Crashing, bug fixes, and new features seem to have hit a wall. This reminds me if when Intuit stopped supporting the Mac version of Quicken. Is it because IGG knows that they’ve got us and there are no alternatives? So, maybe Ian should spend less time dawdling on his farm and more time working on the software that he is apparently milking. Me? I’m heading back to the Dark Side. Parallels works just fine and I can run “real” Quicken. I’ve given this company the benefit of the doubt for too long. Done.
The only thing that matters to your customers is the quality of your products; your customer service and your price (not your name or logo). Changing a company or a product’s name does none of that and normally distracts key personnel from it.
I’m a bit confused. I open the software and it still says iBank 5. Do I need to download a new version? If so, how (apologies if it should be obvious, but I’m older and technologically challenged)? Please put a simple explanation in the FAQ location on your website.
Really disappointing new name. Hard to say, hard to read. too long. Would have been nice to toss out a few choices and let the ‘users’ vote on it. Probably would have resulted in something far better. I have read all of the posts here. I agree that creating reports in Quicken was easier. “Finding” a single item in say the ‘notes’ field, that kind of search, was easy in Quicken. Overall I enjoy the program very much and find it easier to use than Quicken which I used for over 15 years. I hope the co. will truly listen to the customers and provide improvements that are much needed.
How do I get the update? I did not purchase from App Store. The app does not prompt me to update, and I don’t see any links on your website.
After my earlier post expressing discomfort with the new name, I have grown more accustomed. I still wish the name change came with some meaningful upgrades in functionality. In particular, I use Banktivity for my taxes and business expenses, so being able to scan receipts directly into Banktivity for iPhone would be wonderful. I’d also like to have a full function iPad version that showed the receipts and have the receipts sync with my iMac.
Really like your software. Keep up the good work.
I agree with many others. New app name is crap.
It would be great to be able to change / add colours to reports. The green and red(dish) is horrible…
Reports seem to use the colours that you assign to categories so you can customise it to some degree. I use various shades of a single colour for related, but different categories/subcategories.
Trying to find the version history release notes on your new website. Where are they now located? I’d like to see what issues/features are part of 5.6.5 besides the new app name.
Here are the changes: https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/version_changes_5.html