Square Redesigns Its Register Point of Sale App

Square has updated the design of its Square Register app in an attempt to improve user navigation and provide a consistent experience across different operating systems such as Google's Android and Apple's iOS 7.

Square Register's new navigation is designed to increase speed at the counter. For example, the timing of Register's screen changes is designed to correspond with how customers naturally order at a restaurant.

The new software also allows employees to collect tips without disrupting the payment flow or the connection between the buyer and the seller, Square says in a Nov. 20 press release. Square Register also now features a full-screen dashboard in the app that makes sales and activity quickly available to users at any time.

Square Register was initially released in 2012 and is designed to perform many of the functions of cash registers. Square later added a Square Stand to house an iPad at the counter and a Business in a Box package to provide larger merchants with tools such as a cash drawer and receipt printer.

The updated Square Register app adds features that help keep the company competitive with rivals such as Groupon, which has been making steady updates to its Breadcrumb POS app to support easier navigation and the handling of payments without a WiFi connection.

Register also includes broader merchant services such as inventory management, a feature increasingly included in mobile point of sale devices sold by providers such as Leaf, VeriFone  and Ingenico's Roam.