Xero Blog

Time for a feature round-up!

The team have been busy, which has given me a lot to cover in this post. So let’s not waste any time (seriously you’re still reading the intro?) and jump right into what’s new on Xero for iOS!

Searching and selecting your organisations

We’ve improved the organization list and made it easier, and faster to find the organization you’re after.

The way we fetch and search for organizations has been updated and made more efficient, meaning results come back faster. For those of you with less than four organizations, you can simply pick and change from the ‘More’ menu. If you’re looking after greater than four organizations head to the ‘More’ menu again and tap on your current organization, which will give you a full list including search.

The search bar is tucked away under the app navigation — simply pull down on the list to display the search box. Search is available anytime you need it.

The organization list is now ordered alphabetically (as with search results), and that list order doesn’t change. So no more having to scan the list each time to see where your organisation went! You can change organizations from the ‘More’ screen, found via the three dots in the top-left of the home screen navigation.

A new approach to login and keeping you secure

A large piece of work we’ve had underway is improving the login experience on Xero for iOS. We’re taking a new approach to login, one that we believe makes for a much nicer and more efficient experience.

The major improvement we’ve made is that we now trust your devices’ security credentials. This means if you use Touch ID, a security pin, or a password to unlock your iOS device you no longer need to to use a security pin or Touch ID with Xero for iOS. If your device isn’t secured, the app is smart enough to know and won’t provide you this option.

We believe that if you have taken the steps to secure your device at the system level, we don’t need to bother you again when opening Xero. Of course when it comes to security, we still want to provide the ability for users to enhance the steps they take to protect their business and personal data. So using a pin or Touch ID with Xero for iOS for an extra layer of security is still supported.

Your existing security settings will remain after updating, so no need to worry there. If you want to change the way you login to Xero for iOS, just head to the ‘More’ section of the app, followed by ‘Account’. New users will be asked during setup which method they would like to use.

Squashing login bugs

Problems and bugs were causing some serious headaches for users and our developers alike. We’ve addressed all of the most common ways that login and Touch ID would cause issues for users.

Touch ID failing and causing you to have to re-enter your email address and password again? See ya — it’s gone. Had Touch ID enabled, but you accidentally opened the app so you chose cancel or hit the home button; mysteriously making Touch ID disappear the next time you login? That also got given the boot.

Those plus a very long list of other bugs and issues were exterminated with a vengeance by our iOS team.

A new unified, single list of invoices

We’ve also been pretty busy updating the invoicing side of things. We’ve given the invoices list a makeover. Sorting is now done by priority.

Invoices are also color coded and grouped by status. That means you can quickly see what needs your attention. Paid invoices are included as well, so you finally have full visibility of all invoices. We’ve also added search to invoices, so you find them even faster now. Viewed flags? Oh yeah, we now have those too!

View payment details

Small business owners can now stay up-to-date and keep track of who’s paid their invoices, who’s paid a little and who needs chasing up.

Your invoices now have a section that displays the payment details. You can also view more information about each payment including the type, when it was paid, the payment amount and a total for all payments.

Record invoice payments

What’s better than being able to view your invoice payments? Being able to record them! We’ve also added the ability for you to record payments against any of your outstanding invoices, so you can keep track of all that sweet, sweet moola you’re pulling in.

You can record partial payments as well as full and complete ones. Made a mistake when recording a payment? No worries! You can also now delete payments too.

And there is more to come

We’re by no means done. In fact, we’re ramping things up to bring even more useful features to you. Here is a quick sneak peak into a couple of things that are coming up.

Add and edit contacts. Yeah about time we get this to you! It’s coming, and work has begun so keep an eye out because I’d expect to see this very soon.

Quotes are coming! The work we’re doing on invoices is also laying the groundwork for quotes. There is a bit of UI change we need to do here, so the invoices screen will slowly change – but we’re doing it in a way that will keep you familiar with experience.

We’ve already made a start on quotes. View quotes will be hitting Xero for iOS soon, followed by edit and create. Check out my post on how we’re bringing quotes out for more detail.

If you don’t have Xero mobile yet – you can download Xero for iOS from the App Store. Leave us a review once you’ve had some time to play around with the app.