This update is mainly COSMETIC, with some minor IMPROVEMENTS and fixes for all known BUGS (i.e. both of them!).

Fixed a potential crash when editing custom dates in the budgets and reports.

Changed the currency code MUR to have 2 decimal digits (an iOS bug that I am having to workaround!). If you are using MUR, PLEASE get in touch!

Added support for loading backup and CSV files directly into the app from other apps (e.g. Mail or Dropbox). As an example, if you have a CSV file in an email, tap and hold the file and choose to open it with Account Tracker. NOT SUPPORTED IN THE FREE VERSION.

Changed the default backup file extension to .atb to allow the above to work properly for backups (I need a unique file extension for each of my apps).

You can now set category budgets BEFORE you enter transactions. Also these budget categories are made available when entering new transactions.

On the backups screen you can now access both Dropbox and iCloud. If you do have both configured, new backups will be sent to iCloud only.

Slight colour change to the smaller text to help those who struggled to read it.

All “second row” text in the tables is now in italics (rather than my inconsistent use of italics previously). If you don’t like this change, you can turn it off in the ADVANCED settings.

Moved the “update rates now” feature to the main Accounts screen where it is most needed – simply pull down, hold and release to update. Note that you don’t really HAVE to do this manually but it is nice to have the option.

Removed the group and overall totals when viewing minimum balances (as they don’t make sense).

Layout improvements on the budget and list view screens.

Changed the balance graph for individual accounts to show the intra-day min and max, rather than the end of day balances (which is how this screen was designed). The graph itself will continue to show end of day balances as there is only one point per day.

On the settings screen, moved the advanced settings to the top right, and moved backups into the backups section (still visible on the first page though).

I am finally making some reasonable progress, although there is still a LONG way to go!

I now have a cut-down implementation that runs on a Mac. It reads your most recent backup on either Dropbox or iCloud (these are on your Mac already), and gives you a READ ONLY view of all of your accounts (the account view), the three transaction views, the budget screen, and the seven report screens. All using the settings and data in your backup file.

I am currently adding a few options to the toolbar at the top of the screen, specifically to add transaction searching, filtering reconciled transactions, and changing the dates and accounts on the budgets and reports screens. Once I get that far (perhaps in a few weeks?), I will make this available as a limited alpha release to get some feedback. No need to sign up or anything, just keep an eye out for further updates.

After that, I will need to work on letting you actually change things.

And then iCloud syncing of course …

I do like to keep my website unmoderated, so that posts appear as soon as they are sent … etc. However from time to time, the low life of the Internet start leaving spam posts that ruin this for everyone.

As there have been a good few of these over the last week I have had to moderate posts (again) for your benefit.

If you do post something, it might not appear right away, but rest assured it will, usually with a response!

Its now been a year since I first got involved with Windows Phone, and I have just received my first ever revenue payment for app sales from Microsoft! In this post I share my experiences coming from an iOS background, good and bad.

First of all, the Windows Phone UI is very refreshing, the devices look good and its a very different user experience from iOS and Android (competition is good for the industry). I really like the way Microsoft support free trials of apps, and you can also tweak pricing in different countries (although I have yet to use that feature).

C# is horrible of course, I much prefer Objective-C. But then again I personally pre-date Java so perhaps younger software developers will like it. 🙂

Thankfully I didn’t have to do much of the coding myself!

Developer portal

The Microsoft developer portal is OK, with nice download and sales graphs, and easy access to customer reviews (with translation). Like Apple, Microsoft don’t let developers respond to reviews, which is a big shame – most of the negative ones are because people don’t bother to read the documentation!

Initially sales reports were 6 days out of date! Coming from Apple, where you nearly always get today’s sales figures by 11am tomorrow, this was pretty shocking.

Microsoft seem to have improved it to only being 2 days behind, but why can’t they be in real time or hourly? If you make a price change or have a promotion, you want see what effect it is having immediately, not a few days later!

App sales and payments

This is the main reason developers write apps. While you can see how many sales you are getting (albeit 2 days out of date), it takes Microsoft MONTHS to pay you anything (even assuming you exceed their $200 threshold). Their excuse is that “mobile operator billing can take up to 120 days”.

What’s more, you don’t get any indication of how much or when a payment will be made into your bank account. In fact they only tell you 2 weeks AFTER you have been paid!

By contrast, Apple is slick, with monthly reports per region a week or two after the end of each month, and the money for this month’s sales will be in my account by the end of next month. I know in advance exactly what will be paid and on what date. It has been that way since 2009!

Timeline

February 2012 – first approached about doing a Windows Phone version of Account Tracker
May 2012 – designs completed and agreed by Microsoft
June 2012 – development started in earnest
August 2012 – version 1.0 submitted to Microsoft (hidden on Marketplace)
September/October 2012 – version 1.1 submitted to Microsoft and app officially launched!
February 2013 – first ever payment report from Microsoft for app sales

So that is 9 months from starting on the design to first payment, not so good for cash flow!!

Stats

Account Tracker made it to the top of the personal finance section in many countries. It has been very well received, with press publicity and multiple features on Marketplace.

It hit 1000 downloads in 2 weeks, 5000 by December and 10000 by January. Sadly actual sales are well below these figures. 😦

Note that the conversion rate from trial versions to paid is FAR worse than on iOS! I don’t know why this is.

Added support for storing notes per meter, e.g. for recording your supplier or tariff … etc.

Added support for exporting all of your readings together, rather than one meter at a time. Simply export as normal (using the compose icon at the bottom right of the Readings screen) and choose from the two options (Single Meter or All Meters).

Fixed a crash while scrolling further left than the first meter.

Version 13 of the Database of British and Irish Hills was released in December, and support has been added for a few of the MountainViews lists, specifically the 900s, the Vandeleur-Lynams and the Arderins. The Binnions are also there as a subset of the Marilyns (those less than 400m). The two lists that they don’t currently support are the 400s (recently named the Carns) and what I call the 150s which is really the other lists plus a collection of hills which don’t really belong anywhere due to lack of height/drop.

There are plans to support the Carns in v13.1 towards the end of March, at which time I plan to just use this one database for all of my hill list data. THIS MEANS LOSING THE 150s LIST (sorry!), however in its place I will be able to support the following (new) Irish lists: Furths (3000s), Marilyns (150m prominence), HuMPs (100m prominence) and Hewitts (hills over 2000ft with 30m prominence).

I am also working on something else to add to the app which should be very useful for hill walkers in Scotland, the Lake District and Snowdonia. Its possible this will be released later this month or early February. Watch this space! 🙂

A couple of people have left reviews saying you can’t edit transactions. Quite clearly you can, however this can only be done from the account screens, not the all transaction view or the budgets and reports views.

Simply select an account first, then you can choose and edit as many transactions as you want.

As previously indicated, this project had to be put on hold for 6 months, however I am now back on it “full time” … well, apart from a wasted 3 days dealing with the fallout from Apple’s buggy iCloud implementation!!

As you know iCloud syncing is now implemented in iOS, and the same mechanism will be used by the Mac version. This was a major piece of design work and it is now done. 🙂

I am pushing ahead with a lot of Mac UI work. Compared to the simplicity of iOS it is a bit of a nightmare! The account and transaction screens should be done in the next week or so, and I would then like to concentrate on getting something in place for the budgets and reports. The UI is about 80% of the work (does that surprise you?).

As a heads up, there is a LONG way to go before this is released. Most likely 3-6 months.

More updates will be posted as and when I make progress.

As another year draws to a close, there have been fewer awards than in 2011 but just as much work!

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and a healthy and prosperous 2013!

Here are some statistics for the year …

133,417 views of my website
994 views on the most popular day (16th December)
280 images uploaded (mainly screenshots)
196 tweets
157 countries viewed my website
78 new posts
26 new Munros climbed (Scottish hills over 3000ft, I have 74 to go out of 282!)
25 app updates in total (1 every 2 weeks!)
11 updates to Account Tracker (3.5.1 through 3.9)
6 updates to Meter Readings (2.9.5 through 3.2.1)
6 updates to Hill Lists (3.2 through 3.4.1)
2 new apps released (Account Tracker and Meter Readings for Windows Phone)
1 new app platform (Windows Phone)

Some highlights by date …

December 26th, launched Meter Readings for Windows Phone

December 16th, finally added my most popular feature request – iCloud syncing in Account Tracker

October 17th, added printing support to Account Tracker

October 8th, launched Account Tracker for Windows Phone

September, added support for iOS 6 and the new retina display on the iPhone 5

August, added support for the new Dropbox APIs

July 16th, added limited support for Stocks and Shares in Account Tracker

March, added support for iCloud and the new retina display on the new (now old!!) iPad

While Apple are having some time off (21st-28th), apparently Microsoft are working away! I am therefore really pleased to announce that the first public release (v1.0) of Meter Readings for Windows Phone is now available!

It builds on the design of Account Tracker to take advantage of the Windows Phone metro interface, and it looks fantastic! Many thanks to András (Velvárt) and the Response team for their development, especially for turning this around so quickly!

As it can take a day or so for new apps to appear on Marketplace, here is a direct link.