The New Batchbook: Mobile Version
- Posted November 10th, 2011
- Filed under: BB2
This is the third installment of The New Batchbook series, a collection of blog posts intended to keep you all updated on the progress of our re-write of Batchbook. We’ve been extremely busy the last few months building the back-end architecture and core functionality. We’ve made some great progress on contacts, custom fields, a new import process, advanced search/lists and integrations all of which I will share shortly. But for now I want to tell you about the mobile version.
A major change in philosophy for this version of Batchbook is our approach to the mobile application. In the past, our mobile versions of Batchbook were built as separate applications native to the mobile platform and completely separate from each other or the web version of Batchbook. They launched months, or even years after the web application and relied entirely on the phone’s OS and database to store data and serve the application. This has meant that new features were not immediately available in the mobile application, customers with large number of contacts could not access them on the phone, maintenance has been time consuming and slow and the only mobile versions available are the iPhone and Android versions.
This time around we’re going with a mobile optimized view of the app. Phone browsers keep getting better and better and we think this is the best way to give you an excellent experience across multiple platforms. This means support for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, and (newer) Blackberry devices on day one. It also means shifting the burden of large databases off your phones (don’t worry, we’ll cache stuff that makes sense) and onto our beefy new server infrastructure. And it means that we can more easily push out updates to all platforms simultaneously. Exciting stuff (for the right kind of person)!
We’re working hard to make the new Batchbook better across the board and this is an improvement we’re pretty psyched about. We’re excited to get it into your hands and hear your feedback. Stay Tuned!
Sounds great! Any plans to launch an iPad version?
Ooh, cool! (I think I’m the kind of person you’re describing that gets excited about this stuff).
I’m most excited about how well thought out this new version of Batchbook is. It sounds like you guys are really listening to your customers, so as one of them, thank you!
I downloaded the Android app. Looks cool. However, it doesn’t seem to sync up any contacts. I see nothing on my dashboard or contacts but the to-do screen IS populated. Any idea what might be happening?
Any techie insight about used frameworks, …?
So you’re abandoning the native iPhone app? I’m disappointed because I live in New Hampshire, and we don’t have 100% cell coverage, especially in the mountains where I have quite a few of my clients. Being able to sync to the native app and then head out on the road made it worthwhile.