We've been busy with a lot of updates and upgrades to the systems that run ClearCheckbook and our mobile apps. This blog post will cover a lot of those changes and how they affect ClearCheckbook.

1. DNS / SSL Updates - The biggest change this week has been switching DNS servers and SSL certificates. Our old DNS provider was discontinuing service so we found an alternative that also has some really cool features such as automatic asset minification and caching which have cut down bandwidth by over 50% daily.

Since we switched DNS providers it also gave us the opportunity to update the way we handle SSL certificates and serving our site over HTTPS. This fixed some of the redirect issues some people were experiencing when entering http://clearcheckbook.com. Now all urls are redirected properly to https://www.clearcheckbook.com. These new SSL procedures also brought up a couple unexpected errors though, which brings us to...

2. Android app connection issues - When we switched DNS servers we started receiving messages from some Android app users saying the app would no longer connect. At first we thought it was simply a DNS propagation issue but after a few days of people still having problems, we finally figured out that it was due to the new SSL certs that use the latest ciphers not supporting some legacy Android versions and really old versions of Windows. Once we discovered this we were able to make some changes to the way SSL certificates are handled and provide an older certificate for these antiquated systems, while still serving the most recent and secure certificates to modern day technologies.

3. API updates for mobile apps - We've been busy making updates to the API for our mobile apps which include adding the Bill Tracker and currency + conversion methods. The current iOS app is almost finished being updated to add the Bill Tracker as well as the auto-complete feature.

4. Android app 2.0 - Our developer is finishing up some of the last pieces of the new Android app and we'll be launching the previously mentioned beta testing very soon. Thank you for those who have submitted your information to our beta testing program. We'll be sending out invites soon to download and start testing the beta app. If you're interested in helping us beta test the new Android app and haven't already done so, please sign up to be a beta tester!

5. Updated Pie Year Charts - We realized that our old 'Pie by Year' charts weren't that helpful. They were small and didn't show all of your spending in a very intuitive way. With the update to the Pie Year Charts, we now use one large chart that shows both parent and sub categories on the same report in a very nice and clean way. Below the report we also have a breakdown of each of your categories with total spending for the year.

This new view of your spending for the year is a great way to help figure out where you can cut back on for 2017. We also recommend taking a look at the chart and using the information from 2016 to help you set your 2017 budgets. The Pie Year Chart is available to all premium members and can be found by clicking on 'Reports' at the top of the page, then click on the 'Categories' tab and finally 'Pie by Year'.

We want to apologize to anyone that was affected by the DNS/SSL legacy issues but those have all been sorted out and we hope you're able to connect without any issues now. There's been a lot of activity behind the scenes lately and soon you'll start to see some of that make its way up front in the way of the mobile apps being updated (iOS) and overhauled (Android).

If you have any questions about these upgrades or simply want to leave us any comments or suggestions, please let us know!

Thanks,

Brandon O'Brien
Founder, ClearCheckbook

Update: It appears there's an issue with older versions of Android and the updated SSL certificate we're using. The new certificate uses protocols that aren't supported by old versions of Android (<=3.0) and some very old operating systems. We're working on a fix for this now.

Last Friday (February 3) we had to switch our DNS servers due to our previous one discontinuing service this month. There seems to be some lingering issues with the Android app not connecting with our site for some users and showing No accounts / No balances. All of your data is actually fine and secure on our servers (since no data is actually stored on the app). We believe it's simply a DNS propagation issue and it should be resolved with time. Until that happens you can always access your accounts, balances, budgets and more by visiting https://www.clearcheckbook.com from the browser on your phone.

We're monitoring the situation to see when it starts clearing up. The problems don't seem to be affecting everyone which is what makes us think it's taking some time for some Android phones to get the updated DNS information. We've tested logging into the app from several of our own Android devices and it's been working properly.

If you previously had this error in the last few days and then it started working again, please let us know.

We're sorry for the inconvenience.

We will be running a test to switch to new DNS servers on Friday February 3, 2017 at 10pm ET. We're not anticipating any downtime but we wanted to make you aware of the maintenance just in case.

We're happy to announce that the new ClearCheckbook Android app is nearing completion and we'll be ready to start beta testing it soon. If you're an Android user and would like to sign up to help us beta test the app, please submit the email address associated with your Google Play account on our beta signup page here: beta testing signup closed.

Beta testing for the app will run for a couple of weeks which should give us time to address and fix any bugs or issues with the app. After that we'll launch the app to the public.

We've been putting in a lot of work into our API to make sure the Android app (and the iOS app) will be great tools for you. We'll also be releasing a big update to the iOS app soon that will contain auto-complete and the Bill Tracker.

The start of a new year always brings a renewed interest in keeping your finances under control. At ClearCheckbook we want to make this as easy for you as possible. To help make our Jiving (balancing / reconciling) process much easier to understand for beginners, we made a dedicated tutorial page that has a video tutorial as well as a guided written walkthrough and some troubleshooting FAQ's. This tutorial can be found here: https://www.clearcheckbook.com/help/jive

This time of year can also lead to some headaches when it comes to adding transactions. When you're adding a transaction, be very aware of which year you're adding it for. If you add some transactions for early 2017 and then go back to add some from December 2016, make sure the year is switched to 2016. Also, the opposite is true. If you're adding transactions from late last year and then want to add a transaction for January 2017, make sure the year is correct. If it's not correct, the transaction will be added as January 2016 and you won't see it at the top of your transaction list (since it'll be with all of the year old transactions).

2016 saw a lot of behind-the-scenes work plus some new features and a revamped iOS app. Plans for 2017 include a new Android app as well as a lot of enhancements to ClearCheckbook as a whole.

We've been very pleased with the continued growth of the site. You can help us even more though by spreading the word of ClearCheckbook to any friends or family members who might be looking to get a better grasp on their finances for the new year.

Thanks and happy new year!

- The ClearCheckbook Team