Simple In/Out 7 is Here!

Today, we’re incredibly proud to announce a big update to Simple In/Out.  Simple In/Out, the best electronic in/out board anywhere, has now hit version 7.  Thanks a ton to our loyal users and the team here at Simply Made Apps for spending the last few months putting this great release together.

What’s new in Simple In/Out 7?  We’ve made some bug fixes and other small features, but here are the big 3.

Feature #1: Support for hardware Beacons

For about a year now, we’ve supported using Apple’s iBeacons in Simple In/Out using our iPad app FrontDesk.  This summer, when we rewrote our Android app, we supported an open Beacon standard there too, which allowed them to work together.  However, you still needed an iPad running FrontDesk in the foreground in order to use this excellent feature.

With Simple In/Out 7, we’re changing all that.  Starting today, you can order Beacons right from our new Simple In/Out Store.  These Beacons, starting as low as $29 a piece, plug right into a USB port and broadcast up to 30 meters away.  Using these inexpensive little Beacons, Simple In/Out can be accurate with check in/outs regardless of the location and what Apple/Google know about your area’s cell towers/wifi hotspots.  Because Beacons are based on Bluetooth, they allow for much smaller areas than Geofences.  They also can be stringed together to cover larger areas.

When you purchase a Beacon from us, we’ll preconfigure it with a name you choose and ship it to you for free.  Simply plug the Beacon in once you receive it and you’re all set.  For anyone who has tried Simple In/Out and the area they operate in just doesn’t work well for Geofences, this is the answer.  And, we support this in both our iPhone and Android app immediately today.

Feature #2: Add users from Address Book

Over the years, we’ve received many requests from users who’d like to speed up the process of adding users to Simple In/Out.  This is especially true of new users, many of which have to add 100 people right out of the gate.  To that end, we’ve made two important changes.

First, we’ve removed the need to choose a new user’s password right away.  This removed 2 fields that had to be filled when adding a user and it is far more secure.  Now, your new user will receive an email with a link to choose their own password to complete the sign up process.

Second, and because of the first, we’ve now integrated with the Address Book in your iPhone and Android device to allow you to bulk add users.  With a single tap on a name in the list, you can immediately add users without any typing whatsoever.  This is a major improvement, but even better for large organizations that use a service to add all the employees to each other’s address books.  With a bunch of taps, you’re in/out board is populated with new users and ready to go.

Feature #3: Board Search

This is a change that will really come in handy for any organizations with more than a single screen of users.  Now you can search right from the board view for users, allowing you to quickly find the status of a single person without having to scroll and hunt.  You can also tap on that person, allowing you to place a call or send an email quickly.  For those using Simple In/Out as a company directory, life just became a lot easier.

I hope everyone enjoys these great new features in Simple In/Out 7.  We’re excited to see our users put these new features to good use.