Unfortunately, our server hosting company has done something awful to their DNS servers, otherwise known as our DNS servers.  For some users, it’s possible you’ll see errors when trying to access Simple In/Out.

We apologize for the inconvenience, we know everyone relies on Simple In/Out.  We’ve fixed the problem, but we’ll still be affected until the DNS can replicate the good changes.  We’ll do our best to get back running.

Again, we’re sorry for the inconvenience.  If you have any questions, please email me directly at brandon [at] simplymadeapps [dot] com.

If you were one of the lucky 2 million people that got up early enough to pre-order an iPhone 5, then today is your lucky day. Or, if you can’t be bothered to wake up at 2am to buy something you can pick up at the store, then Godspeed in your quest to find one locally.

As developers, we have had a sneaky suspicion a larger screen phone was on the horizon going back to Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference when they announced a new screen layout system, Auto Layout. That was back in June of this year. It wasn’t hard to see the writing on the wall.

Here we are today, and sure enough a new phone with a bigger screen. There was a lot more packed into that 5 day conference than just hints at a bigger iPhone. There were tons of improvements to existing developer tools and even some brand new ones. I won’t bore you with the details, but rest assured, it is a great time to be an iPhone owner. Apps are going to keep getting better and better.

We have been working hard here at Simply Made Apps to make sure everything is ready to go for the new iPhone. An update released yesterday that will allow you to take advantage of the taller screen without letterboxing (black bars on the top and bottom) the app. We also have some other features that are in the works that we are working hard to bring you.

Thanks to everyone that has been using Simple In/Out so far. We are just blown away at the response we get on a daily basis from our customers. They are finding new and creative ways to use it. We are very thankful to everyone that has helped us shape Simple In/Out to the app it is today. So from all of us here, all 3 of us, thank you.

Simply Made Apps

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We recently pushed a small update for our iOS users. It fixes a couple of small bugs our users found from our last release. We definitely appreciate the heads up on that. We also included, by suggestion from another user, localised dates. We built the app to work for our American users, but have gained quite a following overseas. So we are happy to add this feature for our users across the pond. We hope to add even more localizations in the future, but for now, the dates were quick and painless.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in suggestions as well as problems you may have had. We are working hard to make Simple In/Out the best it can be.

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Today, Simple In/Out 3.1 has shipped on the web, the iOS App Store and the Android Marketplace.

Simple In/Out 3.1 offers the ability for administrators to update other users’ statuses! We’ve had a ton of requests for this feature over the past few months and we’ve listened. Now, if you have an employee who calls in sick, forgets to sign out, or is just lazy, you can change their status with just a few clicks or taps.

To do this on the web, just make sure you’re an admin-level user. Simply click on someone else’s name on the status board. When you do this, you’ll receive a popup dialog that shows you their 7 days of status history. Below that is a button labeled “Change Status”. When clicked, you’ll receive the familiar In and Out interface with an optional comment box. Once you’ve changed someone’s status, you can see that an admin (you) made the change right on the main status board.

We offer this same functionality on our phone apps as well. Just tap on the user when looking at the board. From there, you can tap on the “action” button in the upper right and tap the “Change Status” option. Again, you’re presented with a familiar interface to change the users status.

The biggest problem we needed to solve with 3.1 was one of transparency. Since Simple In/Out relies on GeoFences to change statuses automatically, we needed to be real clear when your status was changed by a third party. So, if someone else changes your status, the admin’s name will appear next to the date it was changed. Transparency is a pillar of Simple In/Out, and this feature adds the power our user’s desire while maintaining the openness that makes Simple In/Out a great solution.

Thanks as always for the feedback everyone, we really appreciate it. Most of our favorite features come from user suggestions, so keep them coming.

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Emma Furniss (@emmfurn) from Tuffley, Gloucester UK. We want to thank all of our new fans and followers for participating. And thank you to everyone that downloaded and tried Simple In/Out this past month. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we did making it.

The Simple In/Out Team