PocketMoney 4+

Will persevere but the new app is very different

Was pretty annoyed yesterday when opened the Pocket Money app to discover it was no longer supported and would need to download a totally different app. Really feel that some warning messages could have been sent. Eventually worked out how to get my data using iTunes and file sharing, even though I couldn’t open the app, but took me most of an afternoon. Once I’d got the file transferring the file into the new app was easy. The new version is pretty different and it’s going to take a while to figure out whether it can do some of the things the old app could (roll up cleared transactions, process repeating transaction to date…). I would suggest that for people who just want to keep a note of incoming and outgoings for the month so they don’t overspend before payday and want to check how much they have after monthly bills this is a little complicated and there are better apps out there but I will persevere for a bit as starting with a new app will be a lot of work.

Mixed feelings!

Having read the reviews I was very reluctant to update from the original PocketMoney app which I’ve been using for many years. However, following a forced iPhone reset, I had no option. Having spent a few days using the new app it has really grown on me. The data transfer process worked pretty seamlessly, apart from my Budget and account sort codes, but many years of transactions pleasingly did. I can understand why some people find the user interface less friendly to use, but under the hood the functionality works very well for my purposes and has enhancements over the original app. I think with a bit more refinement to the UI this could bring the fans back. UPDATE 3 years on -Unfortunately I can no longer recommend the PocketMoney app. Over time bugs have crept in and it’s proved impossible to raise support tickets via the designated Help page. The automated Scheduled DD / Standing Order function stopped working throughout February 24 so had to add repeating transactions manually each month. Also only able to sync between devices manually which has been an issue for the past 18 months. It is a shame as this App did have great potential.

Living with the app

Almost my most-used app. After feeling somewhat highjacked into adopting this app after the former PocketMoney app disabled without warning, I have lived with it for a few years now and, importantly, I am still able to access the historical data accumulated previously. My greatest niggle is that there is no way to assign a default category to regular payees (eg Sainsbury’s is nearly always Groceries). It is also dangerously easy to inadvertently delete data when accessing existing records. I would also like to be able to backup my data to a cvv file that would, in extremis, be accessible on a platform such as Microsoft Excel. Otherwise, users remain vulnerable if/when this iteration of the app is abandoned by the developer. Finally, I pay an annual subscription to remove adverts and presumably support development. But there appears to be little ongoing development of this app. Whilst it is stable, I would argue it has yet to reach the pinnacle of perfection.

Developer Response ,

Dear user, thank you for your feedback!
We would like to address two of your concerns:
1) Regular transactions: each time you create a transaction you can show previous transactions from a button which appears below, and you can quickly add transactions which appears on a regular basis.
2) Export function: you can definitely export your data on CSV, either in case you want to access it from another app (Excel) or simply migrate to another software in the future.

I hope this helps.
Best regards
The PocketMoney Team