A new version of the giffgaff app

sadeek_the_po

Hi All,

Hope you are keeping well and staying safe. I have some exciting news around the giffgaff app.

As you may know for the last few months we’ve been working on building a new version of the giffgaff app, and the next part of the plan is to roll it out to more members over the coming weeks.

Learnings from beta period

Over the course of the beta period we learnt loads thanks to our beta users. Just to name a few:

Fixed a whole load of bugs
Implemented the feature to allow members to buy a goodybag with credit
Implemented the feature to allow members to buy credit with a voucher
User experience tweaks based on feedback

With all this feedback and the changes we made, we are now ready to get this out into the hands of more members.

New app version rolled out to 5%

We will begin rolling the app out from Monday 6 April 2020.

To start us off, we’ll be releasing this version of the app to a randomly selected 5% of Android users. We chose Android users for now as this platform allows us to scale up and down the release of the app version fairly easily.

We’ll get as much feedback as we can from this test group as well as monitoring how the platform is performing.

While this is happening we’ll continue fixing bugs, making improvements and working on our backlog of tasks, which can be found here.

How will the 5% of members get this new update?

It’s very simple

They will see an update for the giffgaff app in the Google Playstore
They simply need to hit update and the old version of the app will be replaced by the new one
If they have auto-update on, the app will automatically update

What happens if I’m not part of the 5% but still want early access?

You can join our beta channels and always get early access to the latest version of the app. (Please note that you'll have to follow these steps also if you were already part of our original beta tester group)

Android user

Head over to Google Play, look for giffgaff and join the beta program. Spaces are limited so hurry on over.

Apple user

Install TestFlight from the App Store
Once you have downloaded TestFlight, click on this link and follow the instructions to install the giffgaff app

What happens If you have the original beta app (white icon app) on your phone ?

The beta scheme described above will now replace the original beta app we launched in October. If you still have this app (with the white "giffgaff beta" icon), please delete it. If you want to continue as one of our beta testers, please follow the installation steps listed above.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who has been part of the beta testing. Your input through the community, phone interviews, coming to our offices or submitting feedback within the app has been invaluable and played a crucial role in getting us to where we are today and will continue to be a key part of the future development of the app.

Please keep the feedback coming and let’s shape the future of the giffgaff app together 🙂

Thanks

Apps Product Team

kathleen414

Thanks for updating us sadeek_the_po

shabazmoqsud

sadeek_the_po this is fantastic

i have deleted the original beta app with white logo and joined the beta program.

cant wait until the new app is available for everyone.

sloz

Hi sadeek_the_po
I raised some concerns here about the app here
https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33097710-updated-giffgaff-app-for-android

Could you confirm, that you can start a goodybag early?
Either of you don't have one lined up, or if it's queued /recurring,

And before anyone downloads the app, would it be usefull to mention what the app CAN'T do?
(start a goodybag early, buy a goodybag direct with a voucher, fingerprint log in ect)

i_am_sy

sadeek_the_po

Nice I'm in the 5% club or rather I'm on the beta since way back 😃

Looks good not that I can use it fully, as my main SIM is on O2 until July, but all seems decent so far!

wedgington

sadeek_the_po cheers for the update I look forward to an iOS release to the masses 🤘

elli87

sadeek_the_po Thanks for updating us

brulaw

sadeek_the_po

Is it just me or has the fingerprint login disappeared , when I click the icon it logs me into the app without any security ? , I did have it set up to use fingerprint login now I can't find the option to use it

ma2013

sadeek_the_po
This is awesome! I hope I'm one of the 5%, but even if not... Looking forward to the final release this year! 😊📱😁

claire1uk

sadeek_the_po
Thanks for sharing this.🤗 Sounds great.

themzbiker

sadeek_the_po

Sounds great 👍

I'm looking forward for when it becomes available to us all

ukrun

sadeek_the_po Thanks for update. Looking forward for changes

cemor32

sadeek_the_po Thanks for the update. Every day were making giffgaff better and better. Thank you 😊

defraybo

sadeek_the_po
Thanks for the update and well done to all involved in building this, this is why giffgaff is so different to any other business model, it's open to discussion, criticism, member input, and it's managed to become a community devoid of abuse or any other distasteful social media type traits.
The input from all members is recognised and acknowledged from members who are right at the top of this knowledge base input right down to the members who are seeking help.
The new beta app has made a big difference to the way we get access to our accounts and I'm pretty sure it will be getting better very quickly.
Well done giffgaff and please "everyone"! stay safe and well through this very testing time of crisis we find ourselves in at this time.

clikasarus

sadeek_the_po
thanks for the heads up look forward to using it 👍🏻

mijthebarber

sadeek_the_po I like this version dint change it to much

tricia3006

sadeek_the_po

thanks for keeping us updated. Something to look forward to 👍🏻

jamesw361

sadeek_the_po only just read this, but good to see work going on improving the experience in the app, I look forward to hearing more about this in future.

czbikerchick

sadeek_the_po
Hi, have you considered adding an Apple Pay to the payment options? As with Apple pay on my bank account statement it shows exactly what was the payment for compared to the Paypal which just says Paypal on my statement which is really annoying when then having to search what I have paid for so I would prefer rather using an Apple pay to a Paypal.

barishna

sadeek_the_po wow that's great and good step for us and great thanks for sharing with us

sjd75

sadeek_the_po this sounds good

duncanpb

sadeek_the_po loving the new app. Being able to add multiple accounts is brilliant! Keep up the good work::😀👍

antiochean

sadeek_the_po Thank you for the careful and well planned approach looking good 👀

barishna

sadeek_the_po thanks for head up and weldone man 👨

chand311

sadeek_the_po got updated today on my 1 plus 2.

margmacm

sadeek_the_po
Thanks for the update. stay well.

egglassa

sadeek_the_po thanks for updating

deana1957

sadeek_the_po sounds interesting, look forward to using it when available but in the meantime look forward to hearing how the 5% get on with it

willi12603

sadeek_the_po Is the new app out I would like to try it

jones573065

kathleen414 hiya can you tell me if you o personal loans please thnks karon

team_leader

Thanks for giving us something to look forward to @sadeek_the_po 😀

julie12910

Look forward to using it when it becomes available to me.

shabazmoqsud

sloz

@sadeek_the_po i agree with @sloz here because the beta app has limitions

should there not be 2 versions of the app available to download on playstore the original app where u can do everything that is currently available and the beta app where new things are being tested

this way we dont lose any functionality.

I liked the way it was before where u have the beta app with the white logo and the normal app with the black logo

sadeek_the_po

sloz Hi sloz wasn't aware of the contribute thread - and thanks for raising your concerns. I jump on that thread shortly

I can confirm at the moment you won't be able to start your goodybag early on the app - however this is on the backlog and the feature is coming soon. Please check out our Trello board where it shows the features we have in the pipeline and working on here.

As our app has moved to a new tech platform we have had to make some hard decisions about what we can go live with, so at the moment you are correct we haven't got biometric login, start a goodybag early and buy a goodybag direct with a voucher however this is on the backlog and the team are actively working hard to get these features out - whilst we still roll out the app to get even more real insight into how our app platform will cope with more users, using the app - and get even more feedback from a wider member base.

Hope this provides clarity
Thanks

brulaw

sloz And before anyone downloads the app, would it be usefull to mention what the app CAN'T do?
(start a goodybag early, buy a goodybag direct with a voucher, fingerprint log in ect)

@sadeek_the_po , I think the lack of fingerprint login needs to be looked at , it was a good feature to have and it would be nice to see it back .

jason1973tess

sloz does anybody like this new app because I think it's got good layout

sadeek_the_po

shabazmoqsud HI shabazmoqsud - due to the technical infrastructure and to get a more wider user base using our app - we have had to move to just having one app, to avoid causing confusion and having to potentially deal with wider issues were we need to then maintain to many apps.

There are some key features like early repurchase and purchasing goodybag via voucher which we are actively working on and they should be live very soon. Features such as biometric login - need a bit more work, as we believe we can deliver a better experience for you guys on this particular feature.

It's one of the main reasons we are aiming to release the app to small group of members as we know that some features still need to be released.

shabazmoqsud

sadeek_the_po as i use the giffgaff app as my primary source to topup buy goodybags and help in the community i have decided to leave the beta group and installed the public version of the app again

i would love to be a part of the beta testing program but only if there are seperate apps available so we dont lose functionality.

sloz

sadeek_the_po
Thanks for responding, have you considered changing the general layout of the main page, perhaps merge the best parts of the main app as it is now

For instance, the lighter feel of the current app is more pleasant on the eye than the dark appearance of the beta app

Have you had much feedback on the way you swipe to see your next goodybag? What's the percentage of positive and negative?

Have you considered having the next goodybag on the same page below the live bag as it is at the moment,

With the queued goodybag you can see a half a centemeter glimpse of it on the right edge you put your thumb against that to swipe and it swipes your other log in,s,
That I feel is one of the inadequacies I mentioned in the thread I linked to,
Yes you can quickly realise that you need to place your thumb further to the left to complete the swipe,
But it feels award, I'm sure others have brought this to your attention in their feedback, but it's important to have a completely smooth proccess

endorphin

sadeek_the_po Features such as biometric login - need a bit more work,

Can I suggest this feature gets top priority please? In this age of frequent smishing attempts I'm sure we all have strong passwords which are a real PITA to type in everytime we want to use the app.

suppers_ready

It's looking good. I didn't use either version of the app as my route to giffgaff, but I will be now.

Account switching works well, community access is quick and easy.

Great job 🙂

timwilliams25

Look forward to the new app going live for us all. Well done all involved.

paul_brown

I’m looking forward to an updated giffgaff app as I have intermittent freezing of this one