It only took an hour and a bug has been found in iTookOff 1.5.6. Ignored items are showing up in the email backup. Thanks Joe.

Thanks again for waiting, this should address some of the highest requested features and fixes for iTookOff. I'm going to attach links to screenshots at the bottom. I plan on fixing the UI to make the eight categories fit better and also possibly review the color choices if anyone objects to them. Here is the meta for the update:

Please backup your data before updating! This was actually a pretty big update. Fixes and Features:

• Adds FOUR more leave categories! (Colors may be reviewed in future versions. Thanks for your patience on this update everyone! Also, I'm going to update the home screen to better fit them all without scrolling soon.)
• Fixes rounding issue that could contribute to double the amount of time added when using bi-weekly accrual. Please let me know right away if this does not fix the double-time issue for you.
• New app icon and modified loading screen.
• Saturday and Sunday are now ignored when adding multiple days to the calendar. This will be adjustable in future versions.
• Display error when deleting time fixed to take into account individual leave category display type. This was just a display bug, correct time would be re-added if user requested.

Screenshot (more to come soon): Home screen with eight categories open (needs some work now): http://i.imgur.com/lHfoQ.png

There is a bug where sometimes time accrued bi-weekly may appear to double up the amount of time it's adding. I am currently testing a fix for it. If anyone would like to beta test a patch, please contact me ASAP! I've also fixed a display bug when deleting items that are not the default display type. Also, I've added 3 more leave categories which are disabled by default. This particular update has been asked for by many Fire and EMS workers. I'm hoping to have some interface updates for 1.5.6 but it may have to wait for 1.6. Things don't seem to fit right with 7 leave categories but it's definitely something I will work on. Thanks for your patience everyone. While iTookOff isn't a very successful app, I do enjoy working on it and always appreciate the feedback I receive. It has unfortunately had to take a back seat while I pursued more profitable opportunities but, depending on future sales performance, I may have a few more updates in store for it. Hopefully coming in 1.6, (but subject to change):

• Updates to the UI
• US Holidays
• Adjustable Weekends Ignored by the Calendar
• Weekly Accrual
• Local Notifications on Accrual Dates

1.5.5 has been uploaded to Apple for review. Below is the meta from the update and a sneak peek of the new settings screen. Always remember to back up your data and please report any bugs. There's a ton of new code in this. Thanks and sorry this isn't a major feature update.

BACKUP YOUR DATA BEFORE INSTALLING THIS! This is a major service update which changes of a lot of how iTookOff works on the back-end so there is a possibility for data loss. - Fixes bug with anniversary-date and next-paycheck date crashing the app. - Settings screen is redesigned and now has in-line instructions. - Adds "set this leave amount as app badge" - Display type (hours or days) is now independent for each leave category. - You can now turn off leave categories you aren't using. - Internal revisions to code to allow for more leave categories and localization. - "Added time" is no longer counted in the summation column.

Sneak peek of the new settings screen. With three quarters of a vacation day, now you know why these updates are taking so long:

Due to a change in how date objects are serialized, there is a bug in loading the Anniversary and Next Paycheck date. I'll hopefully get a service patch out soon.

A user sent me this fantastic example with the following email:

Great app! This is the way I used to keep track of vacation time before iTookOff app came along. :

Due to some unforeseen issues with iOS4 1.6 has been pushed back a bit. There may be a small service release coming soon and then several other small updates while the codebase is updated. Thanks again for your patience everyone!

It's not done yet, as it's another rather large update. However, I have started gathering together an almost final list of changes that will be in 1.6. For the most part, 1.6 won't be released until all of this is in and tested.

• 3 new leave categories with the option to enable or disable them. disabling removes them from the front page.
• updated settings screen which is easier to navigate.
• better instructional information for each setting.
• show adjustable summation of time as a badge on the application icon (red number on the icon).
• prediction screen that shows current actual usage of time versus predicted usage at a specified date.
• countdown to accrual in notification area.
• use-it-or-lose-it notification when you are 60 days away from your anniversary.
• adjustable weekends so the calendar will skip over them when entering blocks of time.
• a handful of public American holidays that you can turn on and off. More to come in maintenance releases.

There is a ton of code behind the scenes that I am also wrapping up into this update. I am getting ready to localize it internationally for 1.7 so the groundwork for that is being written. This is not an exhaustive list, I'm sure there's more than a handful of features I've added that escape me right now. Sorry for the delays.

Anyone have any ideas for iTookOff using the newly announced features in iPhone OS 4? I, for one, am really looking forward to having access to the calendar and the local notifications. What I am currently envisioning is iTookOff chiming up the morning of accrual to tell you to open the app. Also, backing up your data to your iPhone calendar and maybe re-importing days if you lose them? Any other ideas?

My apologies, 1.5.2 broke something in the settings screen.Basically when inputting time in days the time was being construed as raw hours. This should be fixed in 1.5.3, sorry for the version churn. If you haven't done so, please avoid changing settings if you use "days" until 1.5.3 comes out. You may lose your allotted time banks. A fix has been pushed to apple. Sorry again! iTookOff 1.5.2 has been removed from sale in the app store.