A major update of Muffin is just around the corner. Well, I'm viewing it as more of a re-launch than a mere update. What started out as a simple project to add a couple of features has turned into a five-month, ground up, re-write.
So what's new?
◼ Fundamentally Muffin is still Muffin - a simple web app for making and tracking (household) budgets. While I wouldn't go as far as to call it all a mistake I do feel that while Muffin 1.0 was fine for me, it wasn't of a high enough standard to be released. I've started to think of 1.0 as being a beta, and the imminent launch of 2.0 as it's public debut. A lot of the code in Muffin 1.0 was brittle and prone to annoying bugs and errors so the code in 2.0 has been made stronger and more reliable. This in turn will make it more maintainable and extensible. In other words I've made it easier for my future self to add new features to Muffin and easier for the current you to use and enjoy.
◼ Muffin 2.0 will launch with a new design which I think will make Muffin a little easier to use, as well as a little easier on the eye. The Muffin marketing/signup site (getmuffin.com) will also receive a facelift with updated tour videos.
A preview of Muffin 2.0. See more
◼ I try to make every feature as self-explanatory as possible but in Muffin 2.0 you'll find a lot more inline help and guidance.
◼Bills take a more important role in Muffin 2.0. Bills in Muffin 1.0 started out as a list of, well, bills that I could refer to every month instead of wracking my brain trying to remember what bill was due when. In 2.0 bills also serve as a way to set up automatically recurring spending. This means that (if you want to) you can start off your monthly budget with all your regular spending in place. I think that this is a really exciting feature that'll save you a lot of time.
◼ There's also a bunch of little tweaks and niceties that you probably wouldn't really notice by themselves but together add up to a better experience.
So when's it out?
Truthful answer is that I don't quite know. I'd say that Muffin 2.0 is more than 95% done but I'm taking as much time as I need to be thoroughly satisfied that it's ready before I pull the trigger. Right now I'd say sometime in May-June this year. I'll pick a concrete date a little nearer the time. Check getmuffin.com or uhhuhyeah on twitter for updates.
For the future
- Some features I hope to have out sometime after launch include
- - A referral system
- - An iPhone App - codename Muffin Jr
- - (Better) support for weekly paychecks
I'll talk more about each of these as I get closer to releasing them but I'll just touch on them briefly here.
Muffin will soon have a referral system. The details are still being ironed out but essentially you'll be able to invite your friends and family to signup for Muffin and for each one who does signup, you'll get a month of Muffin for free. Like I said, the details are still being worked on but I'd like to have some way of thanking Muffin users who do my job for me in evangelising Muffin.
Muffin Jr will be the Muffin we all know and love, but with a little twist. Much more on this later.
Weekly paychecks will be the first feature to be added and will basically have Muffin show you your budget a week at a time (current week, last week and next week) instead of a month at a time. I hope to have this feature ready very soon.
I also have a wee mailing list for Muffin which you're welcome to subscribe to if you don't want to miss out on Muffin news or offers.
I'm very excited about Muffin 2.0 and I hope it's as much of a help to you as it has been for me.
Update - May 4th 2009
I am officially calling Muffin 2.0 done. There are some loose ends to tie up and expecting that they'll be done over the next few weeks. I'm hopeful now for a June launch.
