We have been asked about syncing devices before, but now that the iPad is out the emails are pouring in. We are putting up this poll to see if there is enough interest to build this module. It will take a considerable amount of time to develop and test and we want to make sure that our time spent is justified (profitable) if we move forward with this. I wish we could tell you that we were making tons of money on the app store like a very small handful of developers (the ones press likes to talk about), but I will say are doing "ok" thanks to the interest in Time Master (Thank you!!!). We write software for a living and this is not a hobby for us (in case you were wondering.
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Doing a correct sync is not an easy process (or easy to program). You have to keep in mind how to sync all the different things, such as Clients, Project, Tasks, Expenditures, Time & Expense Entries, etc. For new syncing, where the items are not yet matched up or if information is added on one device on the fly, we would try to compare the "name" against the other device's item name. If the "name" matches, we might have to display a screen asking if it is a new item or if it is supposed to match an existing item. We would also need the ability to "merge" data when necessary, post facto. So that is a simplistic view of what would need to happen.
The sync could be set for a one-way sync or a bi-directional sync. You would want a one-way sync if your employee was sending you info, but you don't want all the info from your device, with other employees data, going back out to them. Bi-directional would be what you would desire if you wanted to keep your iPhone and iPad synced with the same data.
The benefit for some people would be that each of your employees could send you their information with a one-way sync to your device. Then you could create all the invoices, using our optional Invoice module, on your device to bill all of your customers.
There are many other things for us to consider. For example, you may need to do an export of only the Clients, Project, Task and Expenditure lists, so that your employee would have the same data as you, that you had setup prior to them going out in the field. You would not send Time or Expense entries. This would probably be a necessary option for people doing a one-way sync.
With iPhone OS 4, due out this Summer, all of this could become possible. You would simply tap on the attachment in the email and it will ask to launch Time Master and then Time Master will ask you if you want to import the data. Note for users that have both an iPhone and iPad that they would want to sync, they would only have to pay once for the option.
So that is it in a nutshell. Please vote and let us know if this would be a worthwhile investment in our time and that we could recover our development cost over time.
Cheers,
Adam.
