We're aiming to open the iOS app to beta testers some time next week. If you'd like to help us test out the new app by providing feedback and testing for bugs, please EMAIL US with your email address. Don't post your email address in the comments below or in the support forums or it will be removed. Use the Contact Us form or email address at the bottom right side of the page instead.
You'll receive an invite to the beta program if you're needed.
We've been busy working on new features, updates and bug fixes over the last two weeks and wanted to give you a quick roundup of everything in case you missed our other announcements in the support forums.
Other things to note:
* Like we do every year, we opened the 2015 text reports to all free members until April 15, 2016 for tax purposes
* We met with our iOS app developer and the rebuild is coming along well. We'll have a better idea about possible release timeframe in a few weeks
iOS 9 broke something in the framework we're using for the ClearCheckbook app. We tried updating it but apparently xCode/Apple deprecated a lot of stuff that our app's framework relied on and we can't simply issue a 'quick fix'. We'll need to actually rebuild the app which needs to be outsourced and will take some time to do. In the meantime, I'd recommend using the mobile optimized website from the browser on your phone. Simply go to clearcheckbook.com from your phone's browser and you'll have access to the full site, optimized for a smaller screen.
Update Sept 14 @ 12:15am ET: We finished running part one of the tests - creating a full backup of the database in a format that we can easily move to the new server. The total elapsed time was about 20 minutes, which is faster than expected. The next step is the actual test of transferring the data.
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We'll be running a test transfer of the ClearCheckbook database from our current server to the new server environment on Monday September 14th at 11pm ET. The site might run a little slower than normal during the time it takes us to do a full backup of our database.
The purpose of this test is to figure out how long the actual data migration from our current server to the new one will take.
We're reaching the final stages of our migration to the new hosting environment and this test is one of the last major steps before we can fully transition over.
We've been working hard this last month and a half getting ClearCheckbook's code modified to run in a cloud based environment. All of the code has been transitioned over and is running on a scaled down version of the new environment. Right now we're running a bunch of tests on all of the scheduled jobs (sending reminders, rolling over budgets, automatic backups, etc) and making sure all the background processes are working properly (importing files, mass deleting transactions, restoring transactions, etc).
There are a few things left to tackle such as transferring the SSL certificate and DNS and most importantly, getting all of the data from our current server to the new one. This transfer of data is going to be the biggest hurdle in the whole process and we'll be running several tests in the coming weeks to find the fastest way to transfer our database with the least amount of downtime possible.
