Our new accounting software now runs on iPhones and iPads. The three-part networking contract is now complete: Internet and LAN connections, then apps for Android and iOS.
Mobile apps are not something we can ship yet. In fact, we won’t do any further iOS or Android work until after the desktop versions are out (and stable) for Mac and Windows. The past 7 months of effort were just to see if they could be done at all, and how hard it will be to finish them.
On iPad and Android tablets, the app looks like the desktop version. Many things work OK, but it’s probably a long ways from a final interface. The mobile apps use Internet or LAN to fetch data from a desktop server, just like a desktop client.
The dream is to store file locally on the tablets. Then we will have a cheap, mobile small business monster. Still uncertain if that will be possible.
Both phone apps connect to a desktop server, but they do nothing after that. We came up with a pretty good interface design, but programming it wasn’t in this contract. Once we develop the first app (entering material purchases), others will be easy.
Next on the list is building apps that users can download. Most of the work is jumping through hoops for Apple and Microsoft, so it runs on their newer hardware. We managed to do it once, a year ago. Then tried again and couldn’t duplicate the feat. This time we’ll try harder, and make a cheat sheet so it goes faster in the future.
Once there are final, there will be download links on this blog so users can try it out. It will be a free public download, and stay free for quite a while.
As Goldenseal users and others actually start working with the new app, our staff will be busy for quite a while: fixing bugs as they turn up, and gradually finishing the new website. It has been a long slog.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com