Thursday, January 26, 2012

Checkbook Register v1.15 has been published on Android Market

Status Update 

(01/26/2012):

**** Update version 1.15 has been published to the Android Market ****


[ **** NOTE: When Upgrading to the paid version, if you have an SD card, your data will not be lost when uninstalling the demo, and then installing the paid version. The process will not remove or overwrite the transaction entries data that you already have made. Feel free to email us with any questions. **** ]
  • Issues reported as of yet for version 1.15
    • Issues have been reported with some Tablet users, Android OS 3.2.4
    • Issues still exist with using apostrophes, resulting in a ? character.
      • We are actively working on resolving this issue.
  • v1.15:
      • Improved payee filtering when searching for transactions. 
      • Working on improving category filters also for next update.
  • v1.13: 
      • Support for moving the application to the SD Card
      • Database improvements
      •  Ability to create similar Payees/Categories (for example, you can now create a Payee called State Tax Commission and one called State Tax Board)
  • v1.12: 
      • Database Backup/Restore (In Database Maintenance settings, found in the Settings menu, accessed from the Accounts List screen. (requires SD Card)
  • v 1.11 
      • Resolved SaveNew Menu Option in the Register Entry/Edit screen.
      • Changed the Check # field to To/From range fields for check #'s in the Register Entry Search screen.
  • - v 1.10 
      • Introduced optional password protection
      • also improved database stability
      • Included the starting balance in the reconciled entries report so the total in that report can match your financial institution's actual account balance. 
        • *** (correct as long as all entries for an account that have cleared with your financial institution have been set as Reconciled in the Checkbook Register app.)
Improvements, enhancements, features that will be Published SOON:
  • Improvements in the transaction entry/edit process.
    • We want to reduce the amount of CLICKS/TAPS, or steps, required to complete tasks.
    • We want to make the process of creating and editing, reconcilling/mark outstanding, and other tasks, more intuitive.
      • Currently, in order to toggle the status of a single transaction as being reconciled or outstanding, a user has to Long-Press on that transaction in the transaction list.  This has been confusing for many users.
        • Besides this process of toggling the reconciled state being non-intuitive, it also required too many clicks/taps, or steps, to complete the process.
          • A better way would be to "TAP" or "CLICK" on a checkbox that is on the same row as the transaction.  Tapping or clicking on the checkbox would toggle the transaction's reconciled state.
      • Another example, one as an example of a process requiring too many clicks or taps to do a task, is creating a transaction.
        • Currently, a user has to use the menu function to first open the menu options, and then click on the 'New Transaction' option.
        • A better way would be having the menu options dispalyed at the bottom of the screen, to reduce the number of steps.  When entering many transactions in a day, or when in a hurry, the extra step of having to use the menu key to first display the menu options can be annoying.
  • A user requested how to have a widget to basically to do a "quick entry" for an account, without having to go through the menus and navigate into an account to perform an entry. We're looking into implementing this.
  • We have had several requests for recurring transactions.
  • We are working on a creating a brief How-To overview on using the app that will be accessible from the paid version of the app.
  • And we want to enhance the export to include search filters so only the filtered data will be exported when exporting from the transaction search lists. We want to add some report filters to allow  reporting for specific month and/or year range, payee or category range, etc.

Some other features being discussed:
    • A type of an optional auto-fill based on a selected Payee.

      • The application will take a look at previous transactions for that Payee.
      • If 2 or more (or 5, or maybe we'll let the users decide on the number of transactions to match on) matching transactions are found (based on Payee, Category, and/or Amount) then, after selecting the Payee, the Category and/or Amount will be auto-filled with the most frequent values used for that Payee.
    • Another feature we thought of would be to have additional information that would become available based on the Category that was selected. (which would mean we would probably add a value to the category table, so we can mark some categories as "application necessary" categories that cannot be modified or deleted.
      • An example of how this could be useful would be for the GAS category. After selecting the Category, some text input will be shown where the amount of gallons, miles driven on the tank, mileage, maybe tire air pressure...etc can be recorded.
      • We could do this for an Auto category for getting things serviced, routine and scheduled maintenance, etc.
      • And for those extra category information, reports will be made to track and display the recorded data.
Helpful Tips:
  • A user requested how to set a single transaction entry to be reconciled (or set it back to outstanding). Here is a quick description of how to do that:


    • "On a single transaction in the transaction list for an account, long-press on the transaction, and the options to set the transaction as reconciled or outstanding will be displayed."
    • Long-press Options on Transaction Entry List Items



We are focused on publishing the improvements as soon as possible as part of the next update.

Remember, send us an email with suggestions, if you find a bug, or if the application crashes.
  • Please include:
    • Any error messages that have been displayed
    • If you had a Force Close, details of what you were doing when the issue happened (for example, if you were trying to rename a category)
    • What  type of phone you're using
    • What version of the Android software you have installed (version 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, etc.)
    • What applications were, if any, running in the background, or ones that were possibly involved with the Checkbook Register app issue you experienced (for example, you received a phone call).
EMAIL US AT: practicallysimplesoftware@gmail.com

We hope you find the application useful and helpful, and we'd like to thank you for your support.

Please give a rating and leave comments and feedback on Android Market.

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