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Best of Smartphone Experts, 15 Nov 2009

(iXpenseit Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

iXpenseit [$4.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch is a budget tracking app that has recently appeared on the iPhone commercials. It allows a user to track monthly and daily spending, breaking items down into categories, as well as allowing the user to see overall spending.

You start the app by entering various budget amounts for different categories. The default allows for a $1,000 monthly budget for all spending. You can also break down the budget into different categories: $200 for food, $50 for entertainment, $100 for auto, etc. This allows you to track overall spending as well as spending within each of the categories. (Interestingly, they have a specific budget for iTunes!!)

Once you have the budget set, you then simply start by inputting an entry everytime you spend some money. Went to the movies? Put it $10 for entertainment. Paid a $50 water bill? Put it in for utilities. Simply tap the “new” button on the main screen to input a new expense. Chose the category (like auto), subcategory (like gasoline), the amount, date, how it was paid (cash, debit card, etc), and the vendor. You can even include a little note for yourself.

As you spend money, you can track it with the “report” option. You can get a report on overall spending, or within a specific category. You can see reports as a bar graph, pie chart, a written summary. You can even export the data if you like! On the main home screen there is a “battery meter” showing your overall budget – you can see how much you have left, how much you have been spending per day, and so forth.

You have the option of searching for an item as well. Can’t remember how much you last cable bill was? Search for it, and you can see if your bill has somehow drastically increased (gotta stop watching those pay-per-view UFC matches!!). Or you can just browse through the calendar for the date the payment was made.

Various settings allow for different levels of detail in the budget, using a passcode, editing the various categories and sub-categories, and even importing data from a CSV file (via a wifi connection from your computer). You even have icons for the different types of expenses, so you can look easily and identify the kind of expense.

Conclusion

All in all, iXpenseit is a full featured budget tracking program. In some ways, it is almost too full featured. It you simply want to track spending, this app may be overkill. But if you want a detailed breakdown of where you money goes each month, I think this is the app for you. At $4.99, (make sure to list it in the iTunes category!) the price is reasonable for the number of features that is included. Because of the breadth of features that are offered, I give this app four and a half out of five stars, but make sure to spend the time to learn how to use it to the fullest!

Pros

• Nice interface
• Easy way to track spending and budget

Cons

• None, except maybe too detailed.

TiPb Review Rating

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App Review: iXpenseit Expense Tracker for iPhone

Verizon has unleashed yet another Droid-centric, anti-iPhone attack ad (YAAiPAA), a page in Sports Illustrated, that’s closer to the first tragic iDon’t commercial rather than the later, more clever “map for that” ones. And what’s more, CNET thinks they’re getting more personal, expressing feelings about their (ongoing) negotiations with Apple to bring the iPhone to Verizon, and perhaps even attacking Steve Jobs himself for his role in those negotiations. Here’s the text:

This is a world of “nope,” “nuh-uh,” and “sorry, Charlie.”

A world of smiling denial. Petty tyrannies that have made their way into our cell phones. Into the very way we choose to speak to another human being. There are dozens of doesn’ts. Doesn’t allow customization. Doesn’t run multiple apps. Doesn’t allow you to swap out batteries. doesn’t allow open development. These arrogant little devices are barely worth more than the pocket link they rest upon. Because now there’s a phone so smart, so strong. So subservient to its user, it refuses to include “doesn’t” in its dictionary app.

In a world of doesn’t. Droid Does.

Also specifically targeted again are the commonly-voiced frustrations of certain power iPhone users, and those philosophically opposed to Apple’s iPhone model, with whom the above is certain to resonate. Who knows, maybe it will even push Apple to address some of those issues in a future product revision. Ultimately, that’s as good for consumers as Verizon ditching (mostly — yikes!) their own incredibly controlling, consumer-hostile practices in order to be able to make these claims in the first place. (Call us cynical, however, for not believing Verizon has had any huge philosophical turn-around beyond cold, profit-centric, anti-iPhone competitive positioning, though we’d love to be proven wrong).

But back to this specific ad. Is it effective, and is it personal? Did they just take it to the iPhone, Apple, and Steve? (And are they trying to make his brain explode with that typography and punctuation alone?)

[Thanks Icebike for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Verizon iPhone Attack Ads Take the Gloves Off, Target Steve Jobs?