we hope you’re doing well! If it gets approved, next week you will receive a new ListBook update with some cool features and I want to explain them in detail below.

The most important new feature is location based notifications like you get them in the Reminders app. So you can choose a place and ListBook will remind you when you leave or arrive. For example if you arrive at home, you want to be notified to water your plants or pay some bills. This was something we missed in ListBook and so we decided to implement it. This feature uses Apple Maps and because of this the new ListBook will only run on iOS6.

As you can see above we have also changed the workflow of the detail view. The new detail view is tab based and so you can switch very fast between each view. Your workflow will be much faster because you don’t have to push Cancel or Save buttons.

The second cool feature is the ability to move items between lists. We received a lot of feedback for this feature and we also thought that’s a must have, so we implemented it.

You can just tap the edit button and choose the items you want to move or delete.

These two features are the main features in the new version but we also worked on the performance and some UI stuff. For example the row hieght of each cell is now dynamic. That means, if you change the font size or you have a row with a reminder date, you will have the optimal row height.

What about sync?

As you probably have read lately, iCloud with CoreData just doesn’t work at the moment. iOS7 is around the corner and we really hope Apple will fix this issues otherwise we have to look for another solution. In the meantime we are working on ListBook OS X so when the new iOS and OSX versions are out we can focus on the sync implementation. We are also working on a new BudgetBook version with completely redesigned user interface.

Enjoy the update and let us know what you think about it, on twitter or via e-Mail.

Best regards your noidentity Team

Sandro & Mischa

Before the launch

In 2009 we launched the first version of MoneyBook. Without any promo, we just thought a good product would sell itself. And in 2009 this was almost true. But 4 years later the AppStore has changed a lot. Without any promotion, good contacts, a fan base and (to be honest) a lot of luck, it’s almost impossible to succeed in the AppStore. Of course there are the big names, they can release an app and get a lot attention of the press. But smaller teams like we are have to fight real hard.
So, for Next we did beta tests with about 30 people. We used Hockey app for this and can’t recommend it enough. It’s pretty simple and just works. Thanks to those tests we could ship Next without any bugs and we had the chance to implement some of the feedback too. And as a (important) side effect it allowed us to put Next in the hands of many people before the actual launch.
A week before the launch date we also put a little teaser video on youtube. To be honest I don’t know if this had any effect. But the plan was to get the people talking about our app. We also handed out prerelease copies to some blogs and review sites. We hoped they would publish reviews on the launch-day.

Launch-Day

Like always, you can never be sure how your plans will work out. Some blogs published their reviews and others not. Generally the initial impression of the reviewers and also the users was very good. This was a huge relief of course. After months working on this, it’s the greatest feeling to actually ship an app and see how the people react. It’s a beautiful reward for all the work.
Here are some of the reviews (english and german):

• - TUAW.com
• - iPhoneBlog.de
• - AppGefahren.de
• - AppAdvice.com
• - BeautifulPixels.com

Also there’s this cool video review from a few days ago:



Now for the lucky part: We really hoped that Apple would feature Next in some AppStores worldwide. And we were happy to see it in the New & Noteworthy section in some of the stores worldwide. As I said, this is mostly a thing of luck. Of course you have to build a great product. And then put it in as many hands as possible, let the people talk about it. This increases the chances. But it’s mostly about luck.
The problem here is, AppStore features have a huge impact on downloads. Without a feature your app will almost be without a chance. Our impression is that you absolutely need an AppStore feature to survive. And since this is mostly a thing about luck, it’s something that really bothers us.

We’re now at the point where the app isn’t featured prominently and here you can see just how big the impact is:

We love the AppStore, it’s a brilliant platform and it enabled us to do what we love. It’s just that you are extremely dependent on getting featured and since there are hundreds of new apps everyday, this is like a lottery. I think that’s the thing we still have to figure out. How to be less dependent on AppStore features. They are almost vital at the moment, but they should become more of a “nice to have” thing.

What’s coming

We almost finished the 1.1 update of Next and it will be really great. We listened to you, we looked at what you miss the most and searched for a way to implement it in a great way. Most people want more icons, or some way to customize them, because they are missing a symbol for the barber or make-up or something else. So we found a great way for the users to be able to change the icons on the “buttons”. You’ll be able to choose amongst 60-70 icons and assign them to every button.
As for the promo and marketing, we’re still contacting blogs and other sites, I think we already contacted every single internet site in the universe. At least that’s how it feels to us. The frustrating part: If you’re a small 2-man-studio from switzerland, from 20 or 30 sites you’ll contact, you’ll get maybe 2 or 3 replies. The big sites receive so many mails everyday, that’s just how it works today.

Conclusion

We’re happy how the launch went. I guess it was our best launch yet, but of course still miles (or lightyears) away from the launch of an app like Clear or some of the other big ones. But we’re learning step by step and we just continue to build great stuff that we love.

So, a big thank you from us, Mischa & Sandro, without your support, your help and kind words, we would be nothing.

If you want to get in touch with us, want to talk about this blogpost or anything else, just use the contact form or tweet us

It is our take on how expense tracking should look, feel and work in the year 2013. We built everything from the ground up, thought about every feature and removed everything unnecessary. The result is an expense tracking app like you’ve never seen before.

It was hard work and we spent a lot of time to make the app simple, intuitive and fun and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Next is available at the AppStore now.

Let us know what you think about it and how it helped you to regain control over your expenses.

You should also subscribe on our newsletter below, to be the first to know when it launches.

So maybe you think whats wrong with noidentity, because you have other apps with iCloud sync and they work quite good. Thats because those apps are Document based and not CoreData (with a relational database).
For some apps like ListBook it could make sense to make it Document based, but not for apps with a more complex data model like BudgetBook. iCloud in combination with CoreData at the moment is very beta and we as developer have poor control over it. I am sure apple will change this in iOS 6 and we will know more after WWDC, which starts June 11th.

And now let us talk about BudgetBook. BudgetBook will get a completely new user interface and I can’t say it often enough but i promise you, it will kick asses! BudgetBook is the most ambitious app we ever worked on. Every pixel is in the right place and it is a joy to use. Oh and if you missed it, it will be a universal app.
Unfortunately I can’t tell a release date, because of the iCloud problems and we want to take all the time to make it perfect.

Thanks again for all your feedback, we do our best to bring you some great stuff.

Your noidentity team Sandro & Mischa

We know many of you are waiting for the iPhone version of BudgetBook and we just can say it will kick ass! We’re trying to make the best finance app you’ve seen in the AppStore. But there is still a lot of work and we will do our best to make it perfect.

So let us talk about ListBook 3.0. The new version is now also available for the iPad with iCloud sync and is a Universal app. So current users just have to update the app and can install it on their iPad too.
Our goal was to make a powerful Todo app which is still easy to understand and use. An App between Clear and Things.
2012 is the year of simplicity, not just for the usability, also by designing an App from the icon to the interface.
Here is an example:

As you can see, we have completely redesigned the list overview. Now you just need to swipe from left to right and you will see the list overview. Switching between lists is so much faster than in the old ListBook versions.
You can also assign category icons to your lists to distinguish them from each other. There are now also informations about your tasks for each list. Two counters show you how many tasks you have and how many of them are still open.
If you push the i button, you can edit your list options:

These are the biggest improvements from the older versions of ListBook. We also improved some little things in the detail view. Swipe left or push the big green button to quickly add multiple items.

You can see more images and screenshots in the ListBook product page or of course in the AppStore.

We really hope you like the new version and appreciate your support, for this and of course also for our future work.

Your noidentity team

Sandro & Mischa

The two big releases for 2012 are BudgetBook for iPhone and ListBook for iPad.
Both will be universal and both will Sync over iCloud!
We are currently working on it and make good progress, but we don’t have any release dates yet.
There is still a lot of work. Both apps will come with a kickass user interface and we will promise you, that you will love them…

These are currently the two main projects for this year. Of course we will also make bug fixes and updates for our other apps.

Best wishes Sandro and Mischa