Balance: For your Bip! card

This update contains minor bug fixes and improvements. Thank you for using Balance!

– Lau

This version introduces support for card transactions and unlimited tips on Bip QR cards, bringing the Balance experience to a whole new level.

Remember to always always drink water, wear sunscreen, and to tell your loved ones how much you love them. Thank you for using Balance!

Lau

This version introduces support for card transactions and unlimited tips on Bip QR cards, bringing the Balance experience to a whole new level.

Remember to always always drink water, wear sunscreen, and to tell your loved ones how much you love them. Thank you for using Balance!

Lau

This version introduces support for card transactions and unlimited tips on Bip QR cards, bringing the Balance experience to a whole new level.

Remember to always always drink water, wear sunscreen, and to tell your loved ones how much you love them. Thank you for using Balance!

Lau

Have you ever tried to generate a QR Code from your Bip QR and encountered a random error? I really hope not, but in case you have, this update should fix that.

Remember to always stay hydrated and tell your loved ones how much you loved them. Thank you for choosing Balance!

Lau

This update contains minor bug fixes and improvements. Thank you for using Balance!

– Lau

This update contains minor bug fixes and improvements. Thank you for using Balance!

– Lau

This update contains minor bug fixes and improvements. Thank you for using Balance!

– Lau

This update contains minor bug fixes and improvements. Thank you for using Balance!

– Lau

Hey there. How are you? Did you update your iPhone to iOS 16 already?

If so, I'm glad to announce that this new version of Balance includes LOCKSCREEN WIDGETS FOR iOS 16. That's right. You can now glance at your latest card balance and get quick access to your Bip's QR code without unlocking your iPhone.

If you like the new Widgets be sure to talk about Balance with your loved ones, or share it on social media. It would really help me reach more people. Also remember to drink some water if you haven't already.

– Lau

One of the things I struggle the most with is how to explain Bip QR cards within Balance. "How do they work?", "how does one charge them?", "how are they different from a regular Bip card?" are all valid questions that pop up when adding one to the app. So, in order to try and anticipate better to those question (and hopefully answer them beforehand), this update includes various changes to the process of adding a new card—with special focus on the first time one enters a card, and special focus on Bip QR cards.

Apart from that, this update also fixes some minor issues and details I hope you didn't notice.

Remember to drink some water, wear sunscreen everyday, and talk about Balance with your loved ones.

– Lau

This update fixes some boring bugs I hope you didn't notice.

Last version's update notes were a lot more fun, so here they are:

Ok, I'll be honest. I had to turn on my robot vacuum cleaner twice in the same day just because of the amount of hair I pulled from my head trying to figure this thing out, but I was SO excited I managed to do it that I just had to make two of them. Did I mention what I'm talking about? Starts with "W" and ends with "idgets."

That's right, you read it correctly. This update includes two brand-new Widgets for your iPhone!

• "Card," so you can get quick access to one of your saved cards and glance at its latest balance.
• "Show QR Code," so you can quickly jump to your Bip's QR Code (if you have one).

Apart from that, I also optimized some things internally, so Balance consumes even less of your internet data (less than it already did).

Enjoying Balance? Don't forget to talk about it with your loved ones and leave a review if you can. Dry lips? thirsty? maybe you need to drink some water if you haven't already.

Thank you so much for using Balance; I hope you enjoy the new Widgets as much as I do.

– Lau

Ok, I'll be honest. I had to turn on my robot vacuum cleaner twice in the same day just because of the amount of hair I pulled from my head trying to figure this thing out, but I was SO excited I managed to do it that I just had to make two of them. Did I mention what I'm talking about? Starts with "W" and ends with "idgets."

That's right, you read it correctly. This update includes two brand-new Widgets for your iPhone!

• "Card," so you can get quick access to one of your saved cards and glance at its latest balance.
• "Show QR Code," so you can quickly jump to your Bip's QR Code (if you have one).

Apart from that, I also optimized some things internally, so Balance consumes even less of your internet data (less than it already did).

Enjoying Balance? Don't forget to talk about it with your loved ones and leave a review if you can. Dry lips? thirsty? maybe you need to drink some water if you haven't already.

Thank you so much for using Balance; I hope you enjoy the new Widgets as much as I do.

– Lau

I recently bought some new clothes, and now I can't wait for spring to wear them. I'm so excited about spring that I even made a new card artwork design for all Balance transit cards: "Abstract." With its think lines and spring-like colors, I even thought about naming it after the season, but maybe it would've sounded too desperate for my taste, so I just named it after what it was. Abstract.

Anyways, I liked the new design so much that I even made it simpler to customize your transit cards. If the instructions used to be "tap on the three dots on the right-side corner and then go to Edit", they're now as simple as "tap on the name of your card." Cool, huh?

Did I tell you I have a Patreon where you can support Balance? Maybe it's not your jam, or you simply cannot chip in –which is fine– but in case you want and you can, you can now find it along with your card details (by going into the three dots).

Oh, also, last week, the server that provides the balances for Bip QR cards was down for a bit, and I got quite a few emails from people that added money to their cards through Balance but didn't see it reflected on their cards. I made some adjustments so that it doesn't happen again.

Apart from all that, this update fixes some minor issues I hope you didn't notice and sets the groundwork for upcoming features. I hope you like it!

– Lau

Last week I was at the office (at my real job, heh) and a friend of mine came to my place. “Laura, your app isn’t working for me”, she said. She wasn’t able to add her Bip QR card to Balance. Intrigued, I spent most evenings of that week trying to understand why it wasn’t working for her, until one day we crossed paths at the office again, we sat down, and we managed to figure it out.

The problem was very funny, although it’s a bit technical and boring to explain, so I won’t, but I didn’t wanna stop from giving you all of that context to say that: If you were having trouble adding your Bip QR card to Balance, now it should all be working fine.

This update also includes some minor adjustments and improvements for things that you might haven’t even know were broken, or could brake. Now hopefully you’ll never know.

Thank you so much for using Balance. Remember to talk about it with your loved ones and wear sunscreen everyday.

– Lau

Some people say that "it's what's inside that matters." And if someone were to say I agree with that phrase, they'll be right. Because of that –and because every good product needs some regular maintenance–, this update contains few external changes but many internal ones.

This update does contain some minor external changes though, but they're so tiny I'm going to let you find them yourself.

Remember to stay hydrated and talk about Balance with your loved ones if you haven't already.

– Lau

One of my favorite artists of all time, Jorge Drexler, recently released a song that goes, "Cobra lo que tengas que cobrar, pero hazlo por amor al arte" (meaning "Charge whatever you must charge, but do it for the love of art"). Even though I've never charged for my projects, and I like to keep Balance as a free and ad-free product, the truth is keeping Balance running takes money (which I've always paid out-of-pocket) and time (which historically I have dedicated just for art's sake).

A couple of months ago, I decided to open a Patreon account to try and make the project a bit more self-sufficient while also establishing a dedicated virtual space to post behind-the-scenes content, explorations, and news about this and other related projects. In an attempt to give that space a bit more visibility, this update includes a little shortcut to my Patreon page.

Thanks for reading this far. Remember that supporting me on Patreon is optional and that you should drink some water if you haven't already.

– Lau

This update includes bug fixes and improvements. Thanks for using Balance!

– Lau

This update adds support for checking your latest transactions on BioTren cards and includes 5 new card designs for all EFE-issued cards.

Remember to stay hydrated and talk about Balance with your friends if you can.

– Lau

Did I mention you can now ride transit using Balance?

This update includes a minor yet necessary feature to wrap up the new Ride with Balance feature, which is the ability to Top Up your Bip QR cards without leaving the app.

Remember to drink water, clear your mind from time to time, and post about Balance on social media. Thank you for using the app; I hope you're enjoying it!

– Lau

I've been thinking about a silly way of describing this update, but it looks like I'm way too excited for that, so I'm going to express my excitement instead. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS UPDATE!

This version introduces a brand new feature that I have been personally waiting to build for years now. Introducing "Ride with Balance," a new way to ride trains and buses using just your phone. Just add a Bip QR card, hold your QR code towards a transit reader, and boom! Next thing you know, you're starting your journey to the rest of your life. Pretty exciting stuff, I must say.

Remember to stay hydrated and post about Balance on social media. Also, I'd love it if you could reach out and give me your thoughts about this update. You can find ways to contact me by going to your saved cards and then the three dots in the top-right corner.

– Lau

*cracks knuckles* Okay, hear me out. You know that feeling when you go to bed knowing your entire house is clean? Well, that's kind of what submitting this update feels like for me. Maybe you don't notice anything different. Perhaps you don't even care. But internally… Oh boy. Things are VERY different now. If you could see the code of this update, you'd probably be wondering if you're seeing letters on a screen or Marie Kondo's house. Yes, that level of cleanliness.

Now, even though the main point of this update was to make things simpler for me (cause, besides the occasional help of a few wonderful friends whose names you can find in the "Acknowledgments" section of Balance, I'm a one-person team after all), there are still a few amazing features and improvements you can take advantage of with this update:

• Balance now supports Pase Escolar cards from Valparaíso (FINALLY!).
• Balance now supports Bip QR cards.
• Everything should feel much faster now.
• A lot of little things got some healthy doses of love.

Were you able to spot all the little details? Let me know! Also, remember to drink some water if you haven't already, and recommend Balance with your loved ones.

– Lau

Troubles with your Bip card balance? This update should fix it.

Keep reading for nerdier stuff…

Metro de Santiago has been doing some changes to their servers lately, which made me spend my entire weekend getting everything back up and running (with the help of a few awesome friends who also spent a great part of their weekends helping out). Due to these changes, I actually had to start paying for a dedicated server. Long story. My point is, if you're reading this, I'd really love it if you could help this ad-free, junk-free, privacy-first project by leaving a good review and/or telling your friends & family about it.

Remember to stay hydrated, and thanks for reading this far. Hope you're enjoying Balance!

Lau

Have you heard about a city named "Rancagua"? Yeah, me neither. Some people say there's a train that goes there, but every time I ask for Rancagua in Central Station, people think I'm making things up, kind of like the city didn't exist.

Anyways, if you want to try it yourself, you'll need a TrenCentral card, which you'll now be able to check correctly through Balance, since an issue that made some TrenCentral cards show an incorrect balance amount is now solved.

Thank you for using Balance. Remember to stay hydrated and recommend this app to your friends & family.

– Lau

This update fixes a bug that caused some Adulto Mayor cards (TAM) to show an incorrect fare and number of trips left.

Always remember to hug your grandparents and, if you can, tell your loved ones about Balance.

– Lau