Beta testers needed for expenses manager (WP8.1 only)

[frostieDE]

Hey guys,

I am developing an expenses manager app for Windows Phone 8.1 (using Windows Runtime) and to make the app more stable I need your help. Anyone interested can send me a PM with his/her Microsoft Account.

These are the features that are already implemented:
- track your expenses and income
- set montly income and fix costs which are applied automatically
- see your monthly overview
- strict use of the Modern UI language (or whatever Metro is now called)
- (transparent) live tile

I also added some screenshots ;-)

Feedback is welcome, too I also need English native speakers to check the English translation, anyone who is interested in translating the app into another language can do so (just write an PM and you will receive the language files).

Regards,
Marcel

Note: This app only supports Windows Phone 8.1 ;-)
Note 2: A German translation is not needed as I am a native speaker.

 

[AnestisL820]

sent you a pm

 

[TheMightyCraken]

Will apply as soon as 8.1 becomes available to the public...Thanks

 

[blugnier]

Hi,
I'm a lumia 1520 french user.
I'm interested to be a beta tester.
I don't know how to send you a pm. I know it sound ridicoulus but ....

Can you help me ?

Thanks

 

[frostieDE]

Hi,
I'm a lumia 1520 french user.
I'm interested to be a beta tester.
I don't know how to send you a pm. I know it sound ridicoulus but ....

Can you help me ?

Thanks

To send me a PM follow this link: http://forums.windowscentral.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=221876 ;-)

 

[ALX88]

I've tested the app for several days while in road trip with my wife. A few bugs and crashes.

1. After I add an expense, i go back to the start screen and then try the app again... All my expenses disappear.
A. Possible fix: Try saving data at app deactivated.

2. App crash... Don't know what happened but this morning i was going to open the app to track my expenses the i used the back button to exit the app.. The app crashed my phone. It rebooted.

A. Possible fix: Try running the app in debug mode and check what kind of crash is happening... It's definitely something fatal

3. A few fixes in app translation maybe... Value is a good term but probably using a different word to describe inputting expense in dollar amount.

A. Possible fix: Someone with time can translate your app in English.
Few little formatting and details need to be polished... But overall great idea. When in landscape, and you swipe all around the panorama items a bit of a sudden lag but again minor detail. Try spending time on it your self... The more you spend time with it the more you will find out. Clean it up and I'm hoping for an update soon.

Cheers

 

[frostieDE]

Hey ALX88,

thanks for your feedback.

1. I will take a deeper look into that. Good thing is that I am able to reproduce this bug with my phone.

2. I can't say anything to that. I hope I can see some crash reports through the Windows Phone Store.

3. I am happy for every correction/feedback on the English translation. My English isn't the best

I also notices the scrolling bug in the panorama control. I am trying to fix that, but maybe I will just lock the orientation to portrait Can you give me some details on "few little formatting and details need to be polished"?

Regards

Update 2014/07/02:
It seems I am not able to reproduce (1). I thought that I reproduced your bug but it turned out that the month changed and the UI didn't refreshed properly.

 

[ALX88]

A few adjustments would be to re-word or remove the "new" from "new expenses" or "new income". The word income and expense already imply that it is a deduction or addition; plus, it would fit in the allowable space for menu description.

Also, the categories option on the menu is not necessary. By allowing the user to automatically add more categories in the panoramic item helps keep things simple. (when I first downloaded the app, it was hard for me to understand where to add categories) You can create a handler to change the application bar when the user navigates to the categories section of the panoramic. Thus hinting the user can add/remove/edit categories.

On the entries, being able to edit the entries after input would be great. It's difficult to have to delete entry, then create a new one. With that in mind, the entries can get out of order and automatic sorting by date would be a plus. In landscape mode, I have a Nokia Lumia 810 and the screen size isn't that large so the entries can get pretty small and the screen is a bit crouded. (picture below) (I removed personal info and created fake entries to illustrate)


In the settings menu we have automatic income and expenses. It's a great feature, which I haven't tested yet since I been only using it for a few days now, but being able to set the date for which these automatic income and expenses happen would be better. I like to have accuracy in my data, but my rent isn't due on the 1st of each month, in fact it's on the few last day of each month. Being able set the date and add it would be a great addition. One way to implement this would be to create a background task to check what day it is and to see if there are any automatic expense or income that needs to be added.

I know I have been pointing out a lot of things but there is a lot of features I do like.

1. Export and Import of data is amazing! That is by far the best of this. This includes the CSV file but hopefully export to excel in phone is added.
2. Live tile is great! knowing exactly how much I have spent and how much I have left is great.
3. The category format is nice and simple. The box with the letter works with the simplicity.
4. The idea is great and I love the simplicity of the application to track my expenses. Some other applications require too much or are too complex.

One last note:
I am only 1 person with a few days of beta testing your application. I'm sure the more I test out the more things I can help to continue it's evolution. I have developed an application similar to yours. It's called Tip Tracker. Allows users with tip based jobs to record their tip and get performance statistics from my application. So I know where your going with this. I wish I had users to test my application before launch and let me know the issues and improvements I would have known. But one thing should always be certain, a developer should always use their app in everyday use to experience what their users are experiencing.

Cheers

 

[frostieDE]

Hey,

thanks for your feedback. Somehow, I did not get any notification which is the reason I answer only now.

1. I am now aware of the problem with the applicationbar buttons. Somehow, in the German translation the system adds a newline automatically so the whole text is visible. I will investigate some time into this!

2. You are right, the categories menuitem is not necessary, but obviously MS did not give me any possibility to determine which part of the view the user is currently viewing. Hopefully I will find a workaround for that But after launching the app for the first time, you should see a button "manage categories" in the categories-section ;-)

3. With one of the latest updates, you can specify the date of the month for a fixed cost/income ;-)

4. The date accurrency, somehow, sucks indeed. I might spend some time understanding the DateTimeOffset data type

5. I will add a background task that automatically adds expenses/incomes, but for now this is a little complicated Currently, those expenses/incomes are added on application startup/launch.

6. Thanks for the positive things

Regards,
Marcel

 

[frostieDE]

Hello again,

I will try to add Cortana support in the future. But as my native language is not English, I need your help. My question now to every American: how would you want to add expenses or income?

Regards,
Marcel