Category Archives for Announcements
It’s Official: Gruveo for iOS Landing Next Week!
Update October 9: Click here to learn about the key features of the upcoming iOS app.
It has been a long, long wait but now it’s finally over. This past Friday, we have received that coveted email from Apple saying that the Gruveo app’s status has been changed to “Ready for Sale.” In plain English, this means that we can finally release Gruveo for iOS!
We need about a week to ensure that all our systems are 100% ready for the launch (including the inevitable spike in traffic), so we decided to set the release date to Tuesday, October 14. That’s just 8 days from today.
After spending a total of 5.5 weeks in the App Store's review limbo, we are super-excited to be releasing the app… and we hope you are just as excited to finally be able to use Gruveo on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
In a few days’ time, we’ll be previewing some of the app’s features and capabilities, so hold tight!
The App Store Blues
We have submitted the Gruveo iOS app to App Store almost a month ago, and, frankly, we expected it to be live for a while by now.
Well, things haven’t quite worked out that way. To start with, the approval process for that first version took full 21 days, which is extraordinary even by the App Store standards.
And then, our app got rejected because of a tiny crash that we had overlooked.
Fortunately, our beta testers made us aware of the crash ahead of Apple so we lost minimal time fixing the bug and resubmitting the app. We resubmitted last week and are now anxiously awaiting that “Ready for Sale” status! (Don’t worry, the app will be free, it’s just how Apple puts it.)
On the Bright Side…
On the bright side of things, the App Store approval delay gave us enough time to make sure that Gruveo works perfectly on the new iOS 8 and looks just as great on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
We have also spent some time improving our web app. In particular, there was a pesky bug with camera muting under certain conditions in a call between Chrome and Firefox. It’s fixed now.
Finally, Gruveo got its first mention on Forbes last week, which makes us super-excited!
We hope to be able to share more good news very soon 😉 Thank you for using Gruveo and stay tuned!
iOS App Screenshots
As promised, here are some screenshots of the upcoming Gruveo app for iOS. The app is still undergoing review but we hope to be able to announce the release date very soon. Enjoy!
iOS App Update: Encryption Matters
Good news! We have submitted the Gruveo iOS app to the App Store this weekend, and it is currently awaiting review. Fingers crossed for a speedy approval!
If there is one thing we learned during the submission process, it is that governments take encryption pretty seriously. Due to Gruveo encrypting all of your calls, we actually had to apply for a permission from the US government to make the app available worldwide. (This is because the app will reside on Apple’s US servers, and whenever someone downloads it from abroad, “export of encryption technology” will take place.) Thankfully, we managed to get the permission very quickly.
Things turned out to be different with the French government. France has very stringent laws for importing encryption products. Making an encryption-related app available in France involves mailing quite a bit of paperwork around (in French), and then waiting one to four months for authorization.
Unfortunately, this means that the Gruveo iOS app will not be available in the French App Store at launch. We will do everything possible to release it in France as soon as possible though.
Be on a lookout for the first screenshots of our shiny new iOS app!
Gruveo Codes Get Human Touch with Letters Now Allowed
Gruveo codes have been numeric ever since we launched the service last year. The main reason was that we felt there was a smaller chance for error when you had to tell someone a Gruveo code verbally.
However, we quickly discovered that there were issues with numeric codes. First, they are hard to remember. Second, they carry no emotional charge, which further contributes to problem #1. And third, lots of new Gruveo users confuse them with telephone numbers that they can somehow “dial”.
Today, we are addressing these issues by allowing Gruveo codes to contain letters as well as numbers. This means that instead of using a faceless “10910” for a call with your friend Joe, you can go for “joe79”, “joesmith” or even “justchillin” as your code.
The new Gruveo codes may contain letters but they don’t have to. So if all-numeric codes is what you are used to, there is no need to change anything.
Gruveo us on #funkybanana, anyone? 🙂