Ilium Software Blog

Behind the Scenes at Ilium Software

eWallet 8.6 update for iOS now available in App Store

by Ken

eWallet header logo

eWallet® 8.6 for iOS* (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch) is now in the App Store. The update adds several user-requested features regarding customizing cards.

What’s New in this version

  • Added new Standard card style setting on cards to improve how card background images look when used in eWallet on multiple platforms
  • You can now import pictures directly from Files (in addition to the Camera and Photo Library) when adding card backgrounds or picture cards
  • eWallet now uses a monospaced, serifed font for hidden fields to better distinguish certain characters
  • Sensitive information copied to the clipboard is now cleared after a user configurable period of time (iOS 10+)
  • Improved support for camera permission
  • Built-in password generator will now create random passwords up to 100 characters
  • Other miscellaneous fixes and enhancements

Card backgrounds

eWallet makes it easy to add information to its cards and it is only a couple of taps or clicks to change the card background color and icon on the card. Some people go a step further and add custom backgrounds to the card, either as a logo, a way to differentiate the card, or an actual photo of a real card. One of the things that’s traditionally been a bit tricky about backgrounds has been getting them to look the same across eWallet platforms where the screen sizes can be significantly different.

eWallet 8.6 makes this easier with the new Standard card type that scales the background proportionally across device types. For images larger than the card, you can decide if you want the image to scale to fill the card or rather to fit within the card. Along with the background image updates, eWallet also improves handling changing camera permissions and can now also get images from Files directly.

Custom Card Backgrounds

Passwords

Another widely requested feature was to use a font for passwords and other hidden fields that could help distinguish characters that can look alike in other fonts — for example, capital i and lower case L. With eWallet’s AutoPass feature and built-in AutoFill support you often don’t even need to see the password, but in cases where you do, reading the characters should be much easier. Speaking of passwords, eWallet’s built-in password generator can now create random passwords up to 100 characters in length.

Contact Us

As always, if you have any questions about these updates, or have other suggestions, please do contact us!

eWallet 8.6 for iOS runs on iOS 9 and up, including iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. eWallet is optimized for iPad Air and iPad Pro, iPhone 5, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The latest version is available via the on-device App Store. Get all the info about eWallet for iOS here on our site.

App Store logo

* eWallet supports both iOS and iPadOS. The new Standard card type is also available in eWallet 8.6.1 for Android, eWallet 8.5.1 for macOS and eWallet 8.5.6 for Windows.

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

eWallet 8.6 for Android now available!

by Ken

eWallet header logo

We’re pleased to announce that we just released eWallet® 8.6 for Android with several new features and it is now available in the Google Play and Amazon app stores. The new release is built to take advantage of Android 11, has improved biometric authentication prompting, and improved clearing of the clipboard across different device types. We added a new font for better password legibility in hidden fields, for those cases where you need to read the password. We also added a popular request: allowing the creation of no-password wallets for those cases where you want to organize information but not password protect it.

eWallet for Android

I should also mention that today is World Password Day — see our article on passwords, biometrics and backups.

eWallet 8.6 for Android runs on Android OS 5.0 to 11.x including both phones and tablets. This upgrade is free for all users who already own a license of eWallet version 7 or 8 for Android. If you purchased a copy from Google Play or Amazon using their app stores, then you’ll be able to use the Update feature in the respective store to get the new version. Get all the info about eWallet here on our site. And if you have any questions or suggestions, please do contact us!

get eWallet on Google Play

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

eWallet 8.5.5 for Windows PC (desktop) now available

by Ken

eWallet header logo

eWallet® 8.5.5 for Windows PC is now available.

Building on the 8.5 release, this new version now has better support for users running in a business environment under Microsoft’s Terminal Server. Ever had trouble telling a capital "i" from the number one in your password? Passwords are more legible now with a new font for hidden fields that makes those characters (along with zeros and the letter "O") easier to differentiate. We’ve made pasting cards a bit easier too; you no longer need to select the category icon before pasting a card. While we were at it, we remastered eWallet’s built-in documentation (accessible from the ? icon in eWallet’s upper-right corner), and if you prefer PDF or EPUB, those are available now too.

Let us know if you have any questions and keep the great ideas coming!

eWallet 8.5.5 for Windows PC (desktop) runs on Windows 10 PCs and tablets as a desktop app, Windows 8.1 in Desktop mode, and all versions of Windows 7 (sp1+). This update is free for all users who already own a license of eWallet for Windows PC (desktop), version 7 or higher; you can download or upgrade to the latest Windows PC version from our site (you do not need new registration codes). If you have version 7.5 or later with automatic updates turned on, you’ll get prompted to update to the latest version (you can press “Check for Updates” in the About screen too). Get all the info about eWallet for Windows PC (desktop), including access to a 30-day trial version, here on our site.

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

eWallet 8.5 Update featuring Apple Silicon and Big Sur support now in Mac App Store

by Ken

eWallet header logo

eWallet® 8.5 for macOS is now in the Mac App Store. The update adds support for Apple’s new Apple silicon chip as well as the recently released Big Sur version of macOS.

New from Apple

There’s been a lot going on at Apple with Macs, not the least of which is transitioning from Intel-based chipsets to their own Apple silicon. Apple also released macOS Big Sur with a refreshed and redesigned interface. eWallet for macOS will run natively on both Intel-based and Apple silicon-based Macs, and has been refreshed as well for Big Sur.

eWallet for macOS with tabs
eWallet 8.5 running on Big Sur (Dark Mode)

Touch ID

eWallet users on iPhones and iPads have told us they really like the convenience of unlocking their wallet using biometrics, so this new release includes full support for Touch ID on compatible Macs running Catalina or later. Like with eWallet on mobile devices, users have complete control over enabling Touch ID on a wallet-by-wallet basis.

Mac Touch Bar showing Touch ID prompt
Touch Bar showing Touch ID prompt to unlock wallet

Many other enhancements

In addition to supporting the new hardware and new version of macOS, we also added lots of tweaks to eWallet like fully supporting tabbed windows, a new font to make passwords more legible, dynamic link color on cards, along with many other enhancements. We now even include a What’s New feature that will show you what has changed in the latest release. Perhaps most noticeable on MacBook Pros is the new support for the Touch Bar, providing a handy way to access a feature while keeping your hands on the keyboard. And like the Toolbar, the Touch Bar is customizable, letting you change which icons are visible as well as their order.

All the basics are still there too including being able to sync with eWallet on your iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets, and even other Macs and Windows PCs.

About this release

eWallet 8.5 for macOS runs on macOS 10.13 or later, (includes High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur). This update is free for all users who already purchased a license for eWallet version 7 or 8 from Apple’s Mac App Store. Get all the info about eWallet (including access to a 30-day trial version) here on our site.

Mac App Store logo

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

World Password Day 2020

by Ken

eWallet requesting wallet password

It’s once again World Password Day today — a day to promote better password habits. As we’ve been in the business of protecting personal and business information for over 23 years, we often get asked for advice on passwords, which usually looks something like:

  1. Create strong passwords or passphrases (at least 14 characters with a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and punctuation — it should not be something easy to guess or unaltered from a dictionary.
  2. Use a different password for each account (easy with eWallet’s built-in password generator)
  3. Use a password manager — eWallet® of course!
  4. Use multi-factor authentication with cloud/server accounts that support it (and eWallet can store backup factor info too)

But today let’s focus on some of the other important but related questions we receive:

  • What should I use for my wallet password?
  • How can I backup the information in my wallet?
  • What if something happens to me?

Wallet password

Your wallet password essentially protects all the passwords and other private information you store in your wallet. This password needs to follow the same rules for the passwords outlined above with one major difference: you need to remember it. Although a password like N6Y@300q3&62^# would be a great one where eWallet is storing it for you, for your wallet password, you may want something a bit easier to remember! The trick here is to create a password or passphrase that you can remember, but would be difficult for someone else to guess. If you like you can use eWallet’s hint feature to set a hint for the password; again you’d want it to be something useful to you but not to anyone else.

Note about biometrics

Biometrics (for example Face ID on an iPhone or fingerprint unlock on an Android device) can be a very convenient shortcut for not having to enter a long passphrase on a tiny keyboard every time you want to unlock your wallet. There are many things that can essentially deactivate the biometrics though, so it’s no permanent substitute for remembering your password. If you use eWallet on a Mac or PC as well as a mobile device, then typing your password on a full screen keyboard can help with the muscle memory to remember your very important wallet password.

Backing up information

Like any important digital file, you typically want your wallet file backed up in case of damage or loss of your computer or mobile device. eWallet gives you several options for saving your wallet files to another location in case something happens to your mobile device or computer. You can also configure synchronization to automatically save your wallet to multiple locations, effectively backing it up. Some of our desktop users have told us they periodically print out their wallet (or part of their wallet) and place the "paper backup" in secure storage.

What if something happens to me?

If something were to happen to incapacitate you, you might want other key people to have access to your personal wallet file. This means two things: they will need access to the file itself, and they will need the wallet password as well. One way to handle this would be to give your spouse, relative, or someone else that your trust access to your wallet, thereby giving them access to your important information if they need it.

Thanks for listening

Just a reminder that eWallet is available for the Android (phones and tablets), iPhone/iPad, Mac and Windows platforms.

Need more info? We’re here to help — just contact us!

From all of us at Ilium Software, we hope you, your family, and your friends are safe and healthy.

eWallet 8.5 Update featuring AutoFill and Dark Mode now in iOS App Store

by Ken

eWallet header logo

eWallet® 8.5 for iOS* (iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) is now in the App Store. The update significantly enhances AutoFill and adds support for Dark Mode in iOS 13.

AutoFill

eWallet’s AutoPass feature has long allowed users to click on a URL in their wallet and have the username and password filled in on the website, all displayed directly within eWallet. In eWallet 8.4, AutoPass was enhanced to also work with the AutoFill feature that was introduced with iOS 12. Now this new update takes auto-filling of usernames and passwords even further, adding QuickType bar support, improved domain matching, and search. Tap in a username or password field in Safari or any other app, any you’ll be presented with credentials right above the keyboard; tap the credentials and voilà! We’ve got full instructions in our support area if you would like more detailed information.

Using eWallet with AutoFill — just tap the credentials above the keyboard

Dark Mode

The release of iOS 13 brought Dark Mode to iPhones and iPads, where “the system uses a darker color palette for all screens, views, menus, and controls, and it uses more vibrancy to make foreground content stand out against the darker backgrounds.” As we did with Dark Mode in eWallet for macOS, we went through every panel in eWallet for iOS and made the appropriate adjustments, so they look great in both Light and Dark appearances.

  • eWallet for iOS, Dark Mode
  • eWallet for iOS, Dark Mode
  • eWallet for iOS, Dark Mode

As usual, we had a hard-working group of beta testers for the 8.5 release; we made significant changes during this beta as a direct result of feedback from the group. If you have interest in participating in a future beta, or have any questions or comments about the release, please contact us!

eWallet 8.5 for iOS runs on iOS 8 and up, including iOS 13 and iPadOS 13. eWallet is optimized for iPad Air and iPad Pro, iPhone 5, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The latest version is available via the on-device App Store. Get all the info about eWallet for iOS here on our site.

App Store logo

* eWallet supports both iOS and iPadOS

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

Copyright © Ilium Software Inc. | All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us