Ilium Software Blog

Behind the Scenes at Ilium Software

eWallet

Apple, Privacy, and What’s my phone’s name?!

by Ken

Apple has a strong focus on privacy and we believe that’s a good thing. For example, all third-party apps need to ask for permission to access your personal information such as location, contacts, calendars, and photos. An app using the microphone or camera requires your permission as well. And iOS 16 debuts a new feature called [Safety Check(https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/how-safety-check-works-ips2aad835e1/1.0/web/1.0) that allows you to quickly stop sharing your private information if your personal safety is at risk.

We believe in privacy too, especially in our eWallet app where the whole point is keeping your information private. Sometimes though, privacy can (at least temporarily) make things more difficult…

Before iOS 16, apps could get the name of the device by by asking it (using an API), "hey, what’s your name?" Pre iOS 16, the actual name of the device would come back, something like "Mary’s Awesome iPhone". When iOS 16 was released, a new privacy feature in iOS kicked in, and instead of getting back "Mary’s Awesome iPhone", iOS just returns "iPhone" regardless of the actual name. Normally that might not be a big deal, but for our customer families using local Wi-Fi sync with multiple iPhones (rather than cloud sync), they couldn’t tell from their Mac or PC which phone they were connecting with — every phone reported itself as "iPhone".

The story has a happy ending though. Although Apple has a strong policy, we were happy to see that they had an exception process for certain situations, including eWallet’s. We applied for the special permission to get be able to get the real phone name and were approved, so now when eWallet asks iOS what the iPhone (or iPad) name is, it get’s back the real name on iOS/iPadOS 16 (and newer) as well.

If you’ve run into this problem, just check to make sure you’re using the latest version of eWallet for iPhone & iPad, 8.7.1. The update is free for all users who already have purchased eWallet 8 for iPhone & iPad.

eWallet 8.7.1 for iPhone & iPad runs on iOS 11 and greater, including iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. The latest version is available via the on-device App Store. Get all the info about eWallet for iPhone & iPad here on our site.

App Store logo

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

eWallet updates featuring thousands of card icons now available

by Ken

The latest eWallet® updates, with support for thousands of card icons are now available on Android, iPhone and iPad, Mac, and Windows PC (see below for platform details).

Emoji image

We want more card icons!

eWallet users have told us they really like to customize the look of their cards, and one way to easily do that is with the icon that can be displayed in the card’s corner. This same icon shows up in your list of cards and categories too, making spotting your card quick work. eWallet has more nearly 50 built-in icons to choose from but sometimes that’s simply not enough. Then we thought, what about using Emoji as icons? There are thousands of them on almost every platform; many more in addition to the smileys we usually think of. People, Animals, Food, Travel, Activities/Sports and so many more. There are over 3,000 emoji you can choose from to customize your cards. You can even search to find the emoji that best fits your particular card and eWallet will size it and place it, just like the built-in icons.

  • eWallet for Android
    eWallet for Android
  • eWallet for iPhone
    eWallet for iPhone
  • eWallet for iPad
    eWallet for iPad

Small, fast, lean

One of the really nice advantages of using Emoji as card icons is that they are already on your device or computer, so your wallet doesn’t get large with tons of extra graphics and the eWallet app stays lean and mean too. For even further customization, change the card and text color, or add a full-card background graphic (Unsplash has some really nice images).

So what else do the releases have? Well each release also got a platform-specific list of enhancements and fixes to better support the latest versions of their host OS and respond to some popular requests. For example, eWallet for Android has additional support for Android OS 12, new export options and an update to the Wallet Info panel, to name just a few.

Contact Us

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

About these releases

eWallet 8.7 for Android runs on Android OS 8.0 to 12.x including both phones and tablets. The latest version is available from Google Play or the Amazon AppStore. The emoji as icons feature requires Android 8+ if purchased from Google Play, and Android 11+ if purchased from the Amazon Appstore. Get all the info about eWallet for Android here on our site.

eWallet 8.7 for iPhone & iPad runs on iOS 9 and up, including iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. The latest version is available via the on-device App Store. The emoji as icons feature requires iOS / iPadOS 14.2+. Get all the info about eWallet for iPhone & iPad here on our site.

eWallet 8.6 for macOS runs on macOS 10.13 or later, (includes High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey). The emoji as icons feature requires macOS 11+. Get all the info about eWallet for macOS (including access to a 30-day trial version) here on our site.

eWallet 8.6 for Windows PC (desktop) runs on Windows 10 and 11 PCs and tablets as a desktop app, Windows 8.1 in Desktop mode, and all versions of Windows 7 (sp1+). The emoji as icons feature requires Windows 10+. Get all the info about eWallet for Windows (including access to a 30-day trial version) here on our site.

eWallet is a registered trademark of Ilium Software, Inc.

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.

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