By David Greenberg

Published Apr 26, 2022

Updated Dec 26, 2023

At Updater, our aim has always been to simplify and make moving less stressful. We are pleased to announce a series of product enhancements that will further automate, personalize and simplify the moving experience, including:

• A more intuitive user interface to help movers accomplish more, with greater ease
• The launch of iOS and Android native apps for Updater users
• The launch of Updater Pro, which includes advanced resident onboarding features for our multifamily partners
• Refreshed brand and visual design across all apps, channels, and platforms

For our movers

With over a decade of experience building relocation technology, we decided it was time to reimagine what a “moving app” can do. Our app helps movers (what we call people who are moving) accomplish essential moving tasks in one place. In addition to the one-stop-shop for moving that we currently offer, our movers can now take advantage of enhanced functionality like smart-notifications, personalized moving tasks, streamlined signup, and the ability to access Updater on-the-go with the launch of native mobile apps.

Here are the highlights of what we are launching for our users this week:

New look for the Updater brand and apps

For moving to feel easy, it needs to also be easy on the eyes. So, we have refreshed the Updater brand and added a new modern visual design across our various channels and platforms, including the launch of a new www-staging.updater.com. Now, movers and partners will have the same intuitive experience with our brand no matter which tool or device is used. We leveraged a hands-on, user-centric design process to further simplify our various navigations and help our partners and movers get the answers they need…faster. As part of the new site rollout, real estate partners also now have access to our help center, rich with manuals and how-to videos.

Simplified task management

After interviewing dozens of movers it became very clear that movers are often swamped and this plays a huge role in why moving is so stressful to begin with. Movers need to make hundreds of decisions and choices within a short window of time which can be overwhelming. Our new product enhancements are designed to make the moving process intuitive and simple for our movers.

Easy-to-navigate tabs: To better organize the moving process, we categorized all of the important moving tasks into three easy-to-navigate tabs: 1) Your highest priority tasks appear in the Today tab; 2) All of the essential services you need for your home – like Internet, Insurance, and Utilities – live in the Essential tab, and 3) Everything needed to move your stuff to your new home appears in the Moving tab. All the tasks in our app are algorithmically-driven to alert and remind movers of the most critical tasks as their move approaches.

More personalized experience: We added a layer of personalization to our app so that it feels even more attuned to the individualized move details and logistics of each user. Movers’ profiles are even smarter as we improved the individualized recommendations of services they see in the app. For example, if you tell us that you’re downsizing from a three to a one-bedroom, we’ll help you haul away items or donate accordingly. Or, if the two addresses are on different sides of the country, we’ll be sure to personalize your experience for a long-distance move.

Added convenience with new native apps: The launch of new iOS and Android apps allows movers to conveniently tackle their moves from any device (desktop or mobile). Movers can now access Updater while on-the-go to easily plan, organize, compare, and purchase everything needed for a move in one place. The new apps have all the same great features as our web app, keeping our movers on-task and on-time for their move. Movers can easily access Updater at the push of a button, eliminating any sign-in friction. Smart push notifications are tied to specific move-in requirements making it easier than ever to complete tasks and communicate with on-site teams. Movers who are invited to Updater can now download the new mobile apps from the Apple or Google Play store.

Streamlined signup: In the spirit of making moving effortless, our movers are never asked for the same information twice. For example, our streamlined signup for renters pre-populates required fields through our deepened integrations with property management software companies such as Yardi, Entrata, Realpage, and others.

For our multifamily partners

Introducing Updater Pro

Updater Pro re-imagines the move-in experience by allowing your entire team to manage move-ins from a single platform and syncs important documents with your core property management software. Updater Pro also auto-generates welcome letters personalized with the tasks you’ve turned on and made required on a community and resident level. Most importantly, this product makes messy move-ins welcoming, simple, and actionable. Your leasing teams and future residents are going to love it.

Configure unique move-in requirements

Onsite teams can configure and automate the move-in experience for their residents. Specifically, community admins can configure unique move-in requirements for the community, unit, and resident. Onsite teams can track tasks like requiring proof of renter’s insurance, displaying move-in costs, designating preferred providers, registering pets, and vehicle registration. When a future resident completes a critical task in their Updater account, the task’s status is automatically reflected in the Updater Pro dashboard. The same information is ready for on-site teams to review and approve in real time – making it easy to track how residents are progressing on each task at a glance.

Send your welcome letter automatically

Send a custom welcome letter with one click and give residents the tools they need to finish move-in tasks twice as fast. Updater will transform your welcome letter to include all the required move-in tasks future residents need to complete and include an invitation to complete those tasks in the Updater resident app.

Monitor resident progress and keep track of important documents

When residents move into their apartments, most communities require proof of insurance and proof of utilities. In the vast majority of cases, onsite teams capture this information manually over email, tracked via Excel spreadsheet, and, ultimately, enter it manually into the core system.

We are pleased to announce that we’ve removed this manual component for onsite teams by deepening our integrations with property management software so that we can push completed tasks and the required “proof” back into the core system. We’ve also expanded our existing integrations with over a dozen core property management software systems like Yardi, Entrata, RealPage, and more to further automate the move-in experience for renters.

This is a positive development for our multifamily partners because it will save time and money for their onsite teams. We’ve closed the communication loop to ensure a seamless move-in experience for both residents and onsite teams, as information flows automatically between systems.

To learn more about Updater for multifamily partners or talk with our sales team, click here.

David Greenberg

David is the Founder and CEO of Updater, the nation’s leading moving technology company. He works tirelessly to simplify the way over 12M US households move each year. He’s a die-hard Boston sports fan living in NYC.