Developers tease new auto-updating feature

IGG Software, which is planning to release a version of its iBank financial software for the iPad sometime later this year, has teased a new feature of the unreleased app on its developer blog. The product now has a name -- iBank Access -- and will feature a new optional service to automatically keep bank records and the app in sync every time the app is launched. The new feature, which expands the number of institutions available, will be available by subscription.

The personal financial software iBank is already available as a standalone Mac application and a companion iPhone app, but the new iPad version will be able to operate in either mode. For those who want to use it as a standalone program (without the accompanying Mac app), the monthly subscription for automatic syncing will be available for "about the price of a fancy cup of coffee," wrote developer Ian Gillespie (final pricing for either the app or the subscription has not been set). Users who manually import their transactions or sync from the Mac app will not pay any fee.

The new service will dramatically widen the number of banks, credit unions and other financial institutions available to iBank users to over 5,000, though it may still not work with every bank. Users with banks that support the OFX standard can also continue to use that option.

The program has largely been built by veterans from Intuit, the makers of Quicken who have had a spotty, on-again-off-again relationship with the Mac and iOS market. Intuit is presently planning to upgrade Quicken 2007 to make it Lion-compatible, which should be released on or around tax time. The iBank program has emerged as one of a handful of popular alternatives for people who can't find what they want from Quicken.

The iBank developers also say they will be adding iCloud syncing compatibility into forthcoming editions, and maintaining Mobile Me iDisk compatibility until the service goes offline in June. IGG Software hopes to have the finished iBank Access for iPad out sometime during the summer.

by MacNN Staff