What’s On Tap for MiniBooks
Jul 30 2009
Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive for MiniBooks since we released it a few weeks ago, even earning us a spot on Apple’s New and Noteworthy section. Score! Since release, we’ve added:
- Support for major currencies: USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, and AUD.
- Better support for poor internet connections: changes are submitted in the background rather than forcing you to wait for them to go through.
We’re feverishly putting the final touches on our current update, which includes the following:
- Support for estimates. Hooray! This was one of the more popular feature requests.
- Even better support for poor network conditions.
- More of the overall polish you should expect from us. You know how the client information shifts up abruptly after the pending message disappears? We’re not huge fans of that. Expect something a bit nicer with this next update.
“That’s all fine and and dandy,” you say, but what about this feature or that feature. Fair enough. Here’s what we have planned for our next couple major updates:
- Support for projects and tasks. Along with estimates, these are the most requested features. Rest assured, they’re at the very top of our queue.
- Invoicing from time entries. This is a little tricky since the FreshBooks API doesn’t tell us whether a time entry has been billed or not. We’re confident we’ll figure something out.
Course, we have plenty of other improvements up our sleeves, but hopefully this will be enough to whet your appetites.
Keep the great feedback coming, and as always, leave us a nice review at the App Store if you’re feeling particularly gracious. They make us feel warm and fuzzy inside and we like feeling that way.
14 comments
Robert Dyson Jul 30 2009
Great work Groovy! Loving Minibooks. I’d like to see support for entering time into the timesheets without having to run the timer.
James Jul 30 2009
Hi, Robert. Actually, you can do that already: check out our FAQ under “I forgot to start a timer…”
Admittedly, the UI for timers could probably use a bit of improvement. We’ll see what we can do to make them less confusing in the future.
Robert Dyson Jul 30 2009
Great, thanks for the quick response!
Matt Aug 2 2009
This app is awesome! It sold me on diving into a paid account with Freshbooks. I just migrated all my billing over and did a fair amount of it via the app while i was at lunch.
One issue though… Is it me or does it seem taxes don’t sync properly? The taxes I have setup via the web interface do not appear as options when I add items to an invoice. I added a test tax via the iphone app and it did not seem to sync back to Freshbooks. Additionally, the tax i entered via the iphone app does not give me any options to edit or delete it.
thanks
James Aug 2 2009
Thanks, Matt! It sounds like you’ve gotten plenty of mileage out of MiniBooks already.
Strangely, the FreshBooks API does not allow us to sync taxes. Due to this limitation, the taxes you enter in MiniBooks are not available on the FreshBooks website and vice-versa.
We do plan on adding the ability to edit and delete taxes you enter in MiniBooks, however.
Matt Aug 2 2009
James-
Thanks for the quick response. I will manage the tax setting manually for now. I will also put in a request with Freshbooks to make taxes available via the API. I figure the more request they get for it the better chance they will make it available for you to use.
Matt McNett Aug 6 2009
James
I can’t thank you enough for MiniBooks. I had never used freshbooks and registered after purchasing the app. Do you have a ETA on when the next update will be ready?
James Aug 6 2009
We’re currently testing the app internally, Matt. With luck (and a brisk stay in Apple’s approval queue), we’re hoping to have it available within a couple weeks.
AK Aug 30 2009
Hey Groovy… The inability to create and send estimates was the only reason I didn’t purchase this app. Can’t wait to get the update…
Tim Sep 2 2009
Great app, this app tipped me over the “Should I purchase an iPhone” scale!
Two requests for future versions:
1) In the settings, a toggle that allows multiple companies, with fields to add additional domain and API keys. When on, I can choose which company to run in minibooks by default, and an easy way to switch back and forth. I have 2 freshbook accounts, and there no easy way to invoice on both!
2) Landscape mode would be killer for typing out my time notes - I usually type out quite a bit, depending on the time entry (I do computer repair, so like to be detailed about what I did, including stating the problem and repair info).
Thanks though, will continue to use MiniBooks!
Kalani Oct 21 2009
Timesheet based invoicing from an iphone is the killer app for us. You say that the API is missing billed/unbilled info, would it be helpful for us to contact FB about it, putting our vote in for that. (I’m sure they are aware but perhaps additional comments from interested parties would be good?)
James Oct 22 2009
Kalani: absolutely, that would be helpful. The more requests they receive, the better.
ein Dec 26 2009
Hi Groovy, able to add a few more currencies?
SGD Singapore Dollar
MYR Malaysian Ringgit
BND Brunei Dollar
Thanks!!!
Ty Feb 28 2010
No comments or updates in a while… Saw a couple postings requesting the ability to use multiple companies. Freshbooks is amazing and Minibooks equally so, but I too need the ability to switch between different businesses and would love nothing more than way to accomplish this.
It could be as simple as if you have more than one company’s API programmed in you get a prompt when starting the app to select the business you need.
Again, awesome friggin product, but let’s try and squeeze a little bit more awesomeness out of it.