Microsoft Teams has long had a feature they call a Connector. Connectors allow third parties, like Simple In/Out, to send messages into the Teams chat channel of your choice. Using Connectors, our customers can relay messages to Teams when users update their statuses.

Connectors are very convenient for organizations that live and die in Teams chat. Coupled with our industry-leading Automatic Status Updates, Connectors can be a powerful tool to keep users up-to-date.

Since January 4th, 2023, Microsoft has broken connectors in Teams.

We began receiving reports from Simple In/Out users that their Microsoft Teams Connectors were no longer working. Worse yet, administrators couldn’t add a new Connector. It’s now impossible for existing customers to replace the broken Connector, and new Simple In/Out trial users cannot test Connectors at all.

We’ve been working with Microsoft since the first report. We’ve filed bug reports, held video calls, and transmitted feedback. Microsoft acknowledges the issue but have no remedy or fix at this time.

To add insult to injury, Microsoft hasn’t publicly acknowledge they have broken Connectors. With no idea of when Connectors will be working again, we have been prodding Microsoft to inform their own customers. Microsoft has avenues for notification, such as their Office Service Health dashboard or the Microsoft 365 Status Twitter account. Both show Teams issues, but this one remains conveniently absent.

When pressed on Tuesday, January 17th, we were promised Microsoft would make this public “very shortly.” After 24 hours of silence, we pressed Microsoft about their definition of “shortly” (which is clearly different from ours). Microsoft responded their “ETA seems Monday night.”

You read that right: Microsoft requires a week to publicize a bug they have been investigating for weeks. How long will a fix take if merely tweeting an advisory takes a week? We’re not optimistic.

As you can tell, I’m personally beyond-frustrated with Microsoft’s responses. We know it’s frustrating to our customers relying on Simple In/Out daily. On Microsoft’s behalf, we apologize that this feature stopped working. If you’d like to notified of Microsoft’s slow, glacial, lumbering progress fixing Connectors: reach out to us. We’ll do what they haven’t: keep you in the loop.

This week we’re proud to announce we’ve shipped a major upgrade to Simple In/Out TV. Simple In/Out TV 4 has an all-new interface and offers the most board customization we’ve ever provided in our TV app.

More Customization

Simple In/Out TV allows you to choose specific user information to display, a quantum leap over the old “our five options only” approach. You can add phone numbers, details, email address, etc. To enable these features, we also needed to allow more precision for text and profile image sizes, as well as control over column counts. We’ve also added advancing filtering by status and multiple groups. as well as multi-column sorting. You can design the TV board of your dreams with Simple In/Out TV 4.

Table View

Simple In/Out TV delivers a new table view alongside our classic card/grid view. Table views are fantastic at displaying tons of information on the screen, all in a single list that’s easy to scan with your eyes. Like our card/grid view, you control the user information displayed, the number of columns, and the sizes of text and images.

Vertical Display

Simple In/Out TV supports both portrait and landscape presentations. If you physically control your environment, you can mount televisions sideways and use Simple In/Out TV to present user lists similar to airport arrival/departure boards (this is my personal favorite way to see user lists).

Simple In/Out TV 4 is availabe today for download from either the Google Play Store or the Amazon Fire TV Store. We can’t wait to see them in the wild across the globe.

Simple In/Out has many great ways to update statuses. For customers that require kiosks, or common-area devices for users to interact with to perform status updates, we have both FrontDesk and TimeClock. Both run on either iPads or Android tablets and handle particular use cases. FrontDesk allows users to see the board and make quick updates with just a swipe or tap. TimeClock is for more controlled environments and works by scanning barcodes that Simple In/Out provides.

The only rub has been that they run on tablets only. Tablets are inexpensive (many even retail for under $100), making them perfect for customers needing new devices. But customers already posessing a Windows computer with a larger touchscreen were out of luck.

Historically, building FrontDesk/TimeClock for these few customers has been tough to justify. Developing new versions of any apps is a resource-intensive commitment that would take our team away from other priorities.

Today, we’re announcing a way forward. With the new Windows Subsystem for Android available in Windows 11, you can now run the Android versions of FrontDesk or TimeClock on a desktop computer. Both are available today in the Amazon App Store within Windows 11. Running on Windows 11 required some tweaks on our end, but we’re happy with the additional flexability this provides our customers around the globe.

We offer instructions on how to install the Windows Subsystem for Android. If you have a large Windows 11 computer already tasked with your in/out board management, you have an exciting new in/out board option.

Last month we began receiving reports from some of our Android users that automatic status updates were coming in long after the user entered/left a Geofence. After investigating, it became clear early on that the only users reporting this problem were on Samsung devices with Android 12.

Geofences originally worked great without any additional configuration on Samsung phones running Android 12. As it turns out, this changed in August when Samsung started putting apps to sleep more aggressively. This stops Simple In/Out from launching and immediately processing an automatic status update, instead being launched at a later time. For the purposes of Geofences, this delay is a Samsung introduced problem.

If you are a Samsung phone user on Android 12 and notice that Simple In/Out seems to stop updating your status automatically or if your automatic status updates become significantly delayed, you are in this category of users. We can only hope that Samsung walks this mistake back in future versions of their software.

In the meantime, you can toggle a setting that will stop Samsung from doing this, specifically called Put unused apps to sleep. We’ve added a writeup with screenshots among our Frequently Asked Questions. We’ve also shipped a new version of Simple In/Out for Android that points this setting out in our Automatic Status Update Troubleshooting screen for only Samsung customers running Android 12.

As always, check out our Troubleshooting screen for tips on making Automatic Status Updates work great on your device, Samsung or otherwise. Watch our video on the subject and always feel free to reach out to us directly for assistance.

Simple In/Out’s integration within Microsoft Teams is a big hit. Users living in Teams appreciate having their in/out board at their fingertips all day long.

Historically, there has always been one caveat. Microsoft’s idea of status within Teams and Simple In/Out’s are very different. After all, Simple In/Out shipped nearly seven years before Microsoft Teams. We’ve allowed users to update their Simple In/Out status from within Teams, and users could update their Microsoft Teams status, but the two never spoke to each other.

Today we’re announcing a Public Beta of our integration with Microsoft 365 that will accept status updates directly from Teams. With a few clicks, status update to your Microsoft Teams status will flow into Simple In/Out. Included are status updates made within Microsoft Teams itself, status updates made automatically within Teams (presence, Outlook calendar, phone system integrations, meetings, etc), and temporary updates.

If you have Microsoft Teams open all day long, Simple In/Out will keep everyone up-to-date. Because status updates within Teams transfer to Simple In/Out, all our features are at your disposal. Send followed user notifications directly to your phone when someone updates their Teams status. Utilize Simple In/Out’s plethora of reports to bring accountability to your Teams organization. View all your users and their current Teams status on large displays via Simple In/Out TV. The sky is the limit.

Microsoft 365 status integration for Teams is available today in our Public Beta program. We hope to make this generally available soon, but for now, join our Public Beta program today for access.

Finally.

Since iOS 13, the iPhone started giving users the preference between light and dark modes. As an iPhone user living in dark mode, I find switching to a “light” app jarring.

While supporting dark mode has always been on our radar, we’ve had other fish to fry with our iOS app. These other projects were always our priority and never left room for this massive redo. That is, until today.

The changes go much deeper than dark mode. We’ve modernized our user interface across the entire app. No more iOS 7-ish blue title bars. We’ve embraced Apple’s esthetic with big titles, semi-transparency, and modern settings menus. Every screen in the new Simple In/Out iPhone app feels new because they were all touched in this redesign.

Take a peek at this before and after:

And we’re not done yet. We have plans to bring our status fly-up changes (already live for our Android users) to iPhone in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Drop us an email to let us know what you think any time.

This morning we shipped a new version of Simple In/Out Desktop. In version 1.2 we added a number of new features to make updating your status quicker from anywhere on your computer.

Simple In/Out in your System Tray or Menubar

The most popular feedback we received was allowing users to update their status quickly from anywhere in the app, a behavior that existed in our old desktop apps. Today we’re exceeding that request by placing Simple In/Out right in your Windows system tray or Mac menubar.

A single click from anywhere on your computer now displays your current status, allows for quickly launching the app, and allows updating your status using your Quick Picks.

This new feature unlocks a handful of other new features as well. Users can now launch Simple In/Out Desktop on startup, in a hidden state, so it’s ready to go. The system tray/menubar will be available for your immediate use.

If you’re using Desktop Presence, launching the app on startup can also begin automatically updating your Simple In/Out status. Because a lot more users will be running Simple In/Out all the time in the background, we’ve brought our Active Time feature to Simple In/Out Desktop. You’re in control of when Simple In/Out Desktop automatically performs status updates.

Right Click to Save Time

We’ve gone further in this release to save managers time by adding right-click menus to the Simple In/Out board.

Managers can quickly update another user’s status or scheduled statuses without having to click to view the user’s profile first. This shortcut saves a number of clicks, and gives us a place to add more time-saving features in the future.

Update today to the new Simple In/Out Desktop

A reminder that the old Simple In/Out Desktop apps are “end of life” and will no longer allow users to remain logged in consistently starting June 1st. Now is the best time to head to simpleinout.com/desktop and download the new app for Windows/Mac.

With the changing calendar, it’s time for us to look back at 2021. We’re thrilled to welcome a new year and new possibilities to expand on the best digital in/out board. Many people around the globe are returning to work onsite, and many are embracing new ways to work. Regardless of how you operate, Simple In/Out has you covered.

Here are a few highlighted features we shipped in 2021.

New Simple In/Out Desktop

We began 2021 by allowing users to see the new Simple In/Out Desktop app for Windows/Mac. A complete rewrite/rethink, the new Simple In/Out Desktop may be the best board we’ve built to date. More features, more customizability, more power. Our new Desktop Presence feature is both more powerful and more predictable regarding automatic status updates than the previous desktop activity system.

This year, support for our old apps for Windows/Mac will end. We’ll announce the official “end of life” date in the future. Now is the time to have your team transition to the new Simple In/Out Desktop.

Schedule Simple In/Out Status Updates from Calendars

Simple In/Out calendar integration was one of the most popular feature requests we’ve had in our history. By integrating your calendar, Simple In/Out can now automatically schedule status updates based on the events of your day.

This feature joins Geofences, Beacons, Networks, and the new Desktop Presence as ways to keep your in/out board up-to-date without manual intervention. It’s yet another way Simple In/Out maintains our lead as the most accurate in/out board around.

New User Interface for Simple In/Out on Android phones

Our phone apps are beginning a transition to a new user interface. In 2021, we started this transition with our Android app. Our new Android app has clearer meaning, fewer tabs, and places the things you need closer to where you spend your time. You can read more about the changes here.

We also ushered in an upgrade to Quick Picks by introducing Favorites and Recents. Instead of combining these two concepts, the new Simple In/Out for Android separates them for more simplicity and control. All of our apps and simpleinout.com will transition to this paradigm in the coming months.

Here are some other updates from 2021.

iOS 15 Broke Geofences and Beacons for developers everywhere

When Apple introduced iOS 15, they introduced several bugs that have broken Geofence and Beacon reliability across Apple’s entire platform. All developers, including us, have been affected. We’ve been working with Apple for months, and unfortunately, they still haven’t resolved all the issues.

With our latest release of Simple In/Out for iPhone, we’ve shipped a workaround for Apple’s bugs. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we’ve been working through Apple’s issues.

We Hired a New iOS Team

We hired two new iOS developers in 2021. This will translate into more features and bug fixes coming to all our iOS apps in 2022.

From our team at Simply Made Apps, we wish everyone out there a happy new year. We cannot wait to show you the new features we have coming to Simple In/Out.

A few updates from your friends at Simple In/Out.

iOS 15 Geofence/Beacon Reliability

As we’ve noted, Apple introduced a bug in iOS 15 preventing apps from always being notified about Geofence/Beacon updates. This week iOS 15.2 launched with the hopes of a fix. But to our disappointment, the bug is still present.

We’ve been working diligently for the past several months attempting everything under the sun to help Apple diagnose and fix this issue. We’ve sent them gigabytes of logs, built separate apps to demonstrate their bug, and wore out our shoes walking through Geofences.

We have a theory explaining the iOS 15’s bug, and we’ve concocted a workaround to stop Apple from launching the Simple In/Out app in a broken state. We have launched a new Public Beta to test this with our workaround and additional logging. If you’re interested in helping us diagnose Apple’s bug, head to our Public Beta page and click to join.

The Internet Security Issue, No Impact on Simple In/Out

Last week it came to light that there is a critical bug in a popular Java library that affects a lot of sites on the internet. Simple In/Out was never affected by this issue. We do not run Java for our web services.

The new Simple In/Out Desktop

A reminder that the new Simple In/Out Desktop is ready for download for Windows and Mac from our website. The older apps are considered “End of Life” and will be decommissioned in the future. We’ll announce the exact date these older apps stop working at another time.

Now is a great time to download the new Simple In/Out Desktop or prepare your team for the changes in the new desktop app.

Happy holidays from all of us at Simply Made Apps.

Over the past few months, we’ve been working on a new status update user interface for Simple In/Out on Android phones. After a Public Beta period, the app update is now available to everyone. We’re excited to talk more about one of the most significant user interface changes we’ve made for our phone users.

We started with a core question: how could we make it easier to see your status and perform status updates while inside our app? Historically, we’ve always had a Status tab. This tab displayed your current status, scheduled statuses, and all the interface elements to perform updates like Quick Picks. But this interface suffered from usability issues. Primarily, new users would often confuse the list of Quick Picks with their status history. Because Quick Picks would automatically populate with recent activity, this wasn’t unreasonable. Even new employees of Simply Made Apps would make this mistake.

Now in Simple In/Out for Android, we’ve reorganized the user interface to simplify the experience.

New tabs with clear meaning

The Status and Settings tabs have been replaced by the new Profile tab. The Profile tab is a better Status tab. It displays clear access to your Scheduled Statuses and your settings. We’ve also elevated the user’s status history to a first-class citizen on this tab. Users no longer need to find themselves on the board to view their past status updates.

We’ve maintained the QR code (if you’re using TimeClock) and an Update Status button to ease the transition away from the old Status tab.

More places to update your status

Updating your status has never been easier with our new status flyup. Visible on all tabs, the new status flyup displays your current status at all times. With a tap or swipe up, you can perform status updates from inside the flyup. You can tap once to update your status, utilize Quick Picks, or type a custom comment. When completed, we’ll slide the status flyup away so you can get back to work.

When it comes to typing a new status comment, we’ve done away with the words “in” and “out” in a “tabbed” UI element which was difficult to understand which status was selected. Instead, there’s a dropdown menu complete with our in/out symbols and color. This will look familiar to any users of the new Simple In/Out Desktop.

Improved Quick Picks

To make Quick Picks useful, Simple In/Out has always automatically populated them with status updates you’ve made recently. If you don’t want to curate your Quick Picks, this saves a lot of work. If you do wish to curate your list, however, this was tricky. We allowed for favoriting a Quick Pick so it remained at the top of the list, and we allowed for deleting a Quick Pick so it would disappear. Deleting a Quick Pick was always a cop-out on our part. If you update your status with the same comment again, it will just come back.

The new My Quick Picks is 100% curated by the user. No more favorite Quick Picks, instead we provide a list that only you control. We can do this because we’ve added a separate list of Quick Picks called Recents. Recents is our non-curated list of status updates that you can reuse to update your status. It’s the best of both worlds. Now your curated Quick Picks can be managed without Simple In/Out automatically adding to it. If you don’t want to manage Quick Picks, Recents provides what users have always had: a list of likely-popular status updates to reuse.

Summary

All of these changes combine to make Simple In/Out easier to use, especially for new users. We now offer more interface labels/hints, more places to perform status updates, and more control over behavior all while displaying less to the user. We hope to bring these changes soon to the iPhone, Desktop, and simpleinout.com.

As always, we’d love your feedback and welcome your questions. Send us an email anytime.