Square Adds A Nifty iOS 5 Feature And Makes A Few Improvements To Their Card Case App
November 3, 2011
Released to the App Store back in August, the Square Card Case app makes paying for some purchases much more convenient than before. Arriving in v1.1 is a new hands-free feature for those who've moved to iOS 5, some additional management options, a few previous feature improvements, and more.
If you have an iPhone 4S or iPhone 4 upgraded to iOS 5, it's likely you're already enjoying the tons of new features. What you may not realize is many of the abilities Apple has integrated into their default apps and used to offer new apps can help enhance third-party software. The most relevant of these new core features in regard to the Card Case app is geofencing.
Geofencing is the action of creating a virtual perimeter or fence around a geographic location, in this case, a business. This concept should sound very familiar as it's used by social check-in services like Facebook Places and Foursquare. The biggest difference is that iOS 5 manages geofencing at a core level of the OS, allowing apps to provide location-based reminders without being active. Basically, you can authorize the Square Card Case app to open your tab as you enter the store and provide necessary account details to the merchant at checkout without taking your iPhone out of your pocket. As before, simply tell the cashier your name, let them do a quick verification of identity by photo, and you're off.
In addition to that neat new feature, Square Card Case v1.1 includes improvements to the merchant directory, adds the option to remove a card from your case, automatically backs up your list of cards to the server, allows merchants to update their cards with more information about their business, plus the normal maintenance.
Square Card Case is designed for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.1 or later, and available in the App Store as a free download. Certain features, such as automatic tab opening, require an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S running iOS 5.0 or later. Continued use of GPS functions can result in much higher than normal battery drain.