Bug fixes and minor changes. Plus keeping the app inline with the full version of Account Tracker to be released on Sunday!

Last Sunday afternoon, I finally had everything lined up and submitted Account Tracker for Mac to Apple for review.

On the Monday morning, I was being paranoid and decided I needed to add one more security feature, so I rejected my own submission. I added support for automatically backing up your data in the background, just in case a bug on the Mac corrupts your database and the changes are synced back to iOS. The Mac app can export these backups back to iOS over AirDrop. Phew!

I resubmitted the app on Tuesday evening at 9:40pm (GMT). It went into review at 11:29pm (surprisingly quickly), but I woke up on Wednesday to a rejection notification! The app violated one of Apple’s rules around iCloud.

I quickly added an alternative launch option to let users view a backup file, a bit like ATB Viewer, however I fully expect most (all?) users to enable syncing instead.

iTunes was down (or very slow!) on Wednesday evening, so it took until Thursday morning (7:13am) to re-submit my new app. It went into review at 6:43pm and by 11:06pm it was approved. Result!

Despite the setback, caused entirely by me not fully reading what is and isn’t allowed, I was impressed with the very quick turnarounds by Apple. A few years ago, each submission and review would have taken 1-3 weeks!

So there we are, Account Tracker for Mac is ready to be released. I have a few minor things to do in preparation, so I plan to do this next weekend.

Sorry for the delay.

Despite the version number (5.2.1), this is the first release of Account Tracker for the Mac platform.

It supports two-way syncing with your iOS app (initially over iCloud), letting you view, edit and manage your data on the bigger screen of your Mac. You can also add and bulk edit transactions and easily reconcile your accounts. Changes are automatically synced back to your iOS devices on close.

Note that this is NOT a standalone Mac app!  It doesn’t really do anything unless you have Account Tracker PRO (for iOS) acting as a PRIMARY (sync) device. The basic version of Account Tracker (iOS) will also work, but only if you previously bought the Personal Sync upgrade.

UPDATE: as an alternative to syncing, it can also be used to open and view a backup file, a bit like ATB Viewer. I don’t really expect anyone to use this feature though (almost everyone will want to enable syncing).

Not every feature of Account Tracker is supported on the Mac, most notably syncing over Dropbox (which will be added soon). A full comparison of these apps can be found here. If a feature that is really important to your workflow is not yet supported on the Mac, PLEASE DO NOT BUY IT YET. Instead let me know what is missing so I can prioritise adding these additional features and workflows.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Bringing my backup viewer into line with the full version of Account Tracker (for Mac), coming very soon!

No new functionality but I have tidied up a lot of peripheral stuff like screen sizes and table selections. I have also fixed a few bugs.

Just doing some final testing on Account Tracker itself, before submitting to Apple in a few days. For a full comparison of features between iOS, the Mac and my backup viewer, please see this post.

  

The following table shows the main features of Account Tracker and how they are supported on both the Mac version and my backup (ATB) viewer.

It will be updated as development and new updates progress.

Feature	Account Tracker for iOS	Account Tracker for Mac	ATB Viewer	Comments(*)
Add/Delete Accounts	Y	Y(*)	N	Edit on iOS, sync to the Mac
Add/Edit/Delete Account Groups	Y	Y(*)	N	Edit on iOS, sync to the Mac
Edit/View Account Settings	Y	Y(*)	Y(*)	Mac is read only
Hide Accounts	Y	Y	Y	Mac does this at the group level
Change Account Order/Move Between Groups	Y	Y	N
Add/Edit non-Split Transactions	Y	Y	N
Add/Edit Split Transactions	Y	Y(*)	N	Edit on iOS, sync to the Mac
Bulk Edit Transactions	Y(*)	Y	N	iOS can only bulk edit the details and category fields
Reconcile Transactions	Y	Y	N
Delete Transactions	Y	Y	N
Budgets	Y	Y(1)	Y(2)	1) Edit on iOS, sync to the Mac 2) ATB Viewer loses changes on close
Reports	Y	Y	Y(*)	ATB Viewer loses changes on close
CSV Export	Y	Y	N
CSV Import	Y	Y	N
PDF Export	Y	N	N
Alerts	Y	N	N
Backup and Restore	Y	Y	Y(*)	ATB Viewer can read and view backup files
iCloud Syncing	Y(1)	Y	Y(2)	1) Account Tracker PRO only (or the basic version if you previously bought the Personal Sync upgrade) 2) ATB Viewer can read and view backup files on iCloud, but not sync
Dropbox Syncing	Y(1)	Y	Y(2)	1) Account Tracker PRO only (or the basic version if you previously bought the Family Sync upgrade) 2) ATB Viewer can read and view backup files on Dropbox, but not sync
PIN Code Access	Y	Y(*)	Y(*)	Edit/set on iOS
Touch ID	Y	Y	N

Since my last update I have continued working on a few missing features.

Foreign transactions (including rate lookups) and almost all recurring transaction types are now supported, meaning that for day-to-day use, the only feature that will not work (initially) is splits. You will be able to create these on iOS and view them on the Mac, just not create or edit them.

I will be wrapping up development by the end of January (i.e. in 2-3 weeks), and will then start preparing the app for submission to Apple. Adding on the approvals process for a new app, and allowing for a few issues, I would expect to be able to release by the end of February.

I will then be adding Dropbox syncing support as soon as I can manage it, and of course implementing splits.

iCloud improvements and bug fixes, in preparation for my Mac app (coming soon).

Added a percentage increase/decrease to the balance report, based on the starting balance.

Note that you now require iOS 8 or above (which means the 6 year old iPhone 4 is no longer supported). Older versions (of iOS and my app) will continue to work in isolation, however syncing is not supported between different app versions (5.2 to 5.2.1 is ok).

UPDATE: if you notice the app freezing when running this version, please see my support page where the issue and fixes are discussed.

Continued steady progress on my Mac app during the past month. I have released 16(!) betas to a small number of testers, and feedback has been positive so far.

The app now supports syncing to and from iOS. You can edit most fields in existing transactions, as well as being able to add new ones. The three exceptions are …

1) foreign transactions, where the transaction currency is different to your account currency. You can’t create these on the Mac, nor can you view or edit the foreign amount if the transaction is created on iOS.
2) split transactions. You can’t create these on the Mac, nor can you view or edit the splits created on iOS. The budgets and reports will work though. Basically splits need to be manipulated on iOS.
3) recurring transactions. You can’t create these on the Mac, nor edit the period if the transaction is created on iOS. You can view them though, and end the series.

Some of these will be implemented before release, but not necessarily all. My thinking here is they can all be done on iOS and adding support for these on the Mac will take time (i.e. months).

Quite a lot of progress since my last update!

I managed to get iCloud working much more reliably, possibly more Apple’s doing than mine! I have since added editing support for the transaction date, details/location/payee, category, cheque/check number and notes.  You can move, copy and delete transactions too, as well as turning reminders on and off. Next up is editing the transaction amount and a button to add a new transaction.

I will soon be at the stage of wanting some help testing this out before release. I can only support a very small number of users doing this, so will be looking for people willing to spend a bit of time testing out lots of editing combinations and syncing in particular. Ideally any career testers out there! Please get in touch if you are interested.

If you just want to see the new app, just run my backup viewer – it is almost identical!

Tentative plan is to release Account Tracker before Christmas (2016!). It will NOT (probably never) be a standalone app, rather it will require a PRIMARY device running on iOS to work. Initially it will use iCloud syncing only, however I will add Dropbox at some stage too. Finally it will require a Mac running macOS Sierra, old version of OS X will not be supported.

A little more progress in the last month or so, however a lot of frustration around iCloud on macOS. Read on for details …

In my last update, I had my Mac app syncing from a PRIMARY device on iOS, i.e. registering for and receiving the initial sync. I have since got it receiving subsequent changes (from any iOS device), as well as pushing changes made itself through iCloud to all iOS devices.

I currently only support reconciling, however I will slowly enable other editing features over time. As I said previously this is “just” UI work and the underlying sync is working in both directions.

I do seem to have a major problem with iCloud though. It seems the Mac doesn’t receive changes from other devices automatically at all. However I can force them to appear simply by writing to iCloud once (e.g. creating a new file). This seems to kick macOS into action and allows my app to function as expected. I have wasted most of this weekend trying to figure this out, but I will keep looking for a more elegant solution. Very frustrating!

Which brings me on to my plans moving forwards …

Writing a fully functional, stand-alone Mac app is just too much work (for me), and this is partly why progress has been so slow. I have therefore decided to only support the Mac as a companion app to iOS, meaning you need to be using iOS as your PRIMARY device and the Mac itself will only support a limited set of editing functionality. More complex editing will have to be done on iOS.

Initially I will release an iCloud only version, but will also try to support Dropbox too (later).

Again, further updates will be posted as I make progress.