Tag Archives: cha-ching

Take Your Finances Everywhere With Cha-Ching For iPhone

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I’ve been using Cha-Ching on the Mac for about a year now. While Cha-Ching is not perfect, it fits the majority of my money management needs. When I heard Midnight Apps was developing Cha-Ching for iPhone, I was very excited about the possibilities. After beta testing the application for a month or so, Cha-Ching for iPhone (iTunes link) has finally hit the App Store.

While Cha-Ching for iPhone is a completely stand alone application, the real power of the application lies in the integration it has with the desktop application. My review will concentrate more with the total Cha-Ching package (iPhone and Mac) than just the iPhone application by itself.

Once you have data in the desktop application or the iPhone application, you can begin using them together. To sync your data open both the iPhone application and desktop application. Go to Settings in the iPhone application and then hit Sync. Once you touch Sync, you’ll get the below screen telling you how to proceed with the sync on your Mac.

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Currently everything is synced between both applications except for Budgets. Why? The budgeting function is being overhauled in the desktop application so right now they aren’t compatible. The budgeting function is a critical feature of any money management application so I hope the feature will be working within the next few beta releases of the desktop application.

Entering transactions on the iPhone application is a breeze. After hitting the New Transaction button, choose from a payee or add a new one. Once the payee is chosen, just enter in the amount and choose Income or Expense and click done. It takes just 3 taps to enter a new transaction!

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Cha-Ching for iPhone allows you to schedule transactions, create new accounts, add notes to transactions, password protect the application, is location aware, and much more. Cha-Ching for iPhone currently costs $2.99 and requires iPhone software 2.2.1.

The verdict: Cha-Ching for iPhone is a winner. The application itself is gorgeous, intuitive, and features killer syncing with the desktop application. The ease of use is incredible. In fact, I actually prefer to enter transactions on the iPhone vs. the desktop application because the iPhone application is that easy to use. Currently the only downside is the lack of budget support with the desktop application. The budget feature is currently being worked on so it’s only a matter of time before that downside is erased. In short, Cha-Ching is the preferred method to track my family finances.

Cha-Ching For iPhone Released

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Your finances have just gone mobile. Midnight Apps, makers of my Mac money management application of choice, have just released Cha-Ching for iPhone (iTunes link). You no longer have an excuse for not knowing if that debit or check will clear your bank account.

Cha-Ching for iPhone itself is a standalone money management application for iPhone. The real benefits of Cha-Ching for iPhone however come with the syncing capabilities of the upcoming Cha-Ching 2 for Mac. You can download a free copy of the Mac 2.0 beta from the Midnight Apps website.

I was lucky enough to beta test Cha-Ching for iPhone so I’ve been using it quite frequently for about a month. My full review of the application should be coming in the next several days. Bottom line, I liked Cha-Ching for iPhone enough to put down my own money and buy a copy.

Cha-Ching for iPhone is currently at an introductory price of $2.99 USD and is available now from the App Store.

Applications I Couldn’t Live Without In 2008

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At the end of 2007, I listed a number of applications I couldn’t live without that year. I recently realized I hadn’t updated the list for 2008 so I decided to do it now. Some applications remain unchanged, but others have been replaced or dropped off the list all together. I’d like to say “Thank You” to all the Mac developers out there who help make the Mac the premier computing platform today. These are the applications I couldn’t live without in 2008, in no particular order.

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Blogging wouldn’t be as fun or as easy without MarsEdit. The ability to draft posts offline allows me to work anywhere and publish once I get online. I love the ability to add new categories without visiting my WordPress powered site. If you blog without MarsEdit you aren’t being as productive as you could be. My one wish for MarsEdit would be bullet and numbered list support.

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While there are a number of good ftp clients for the Mac, many of them aren’t free. I’m not a power ftp user and Cyberduck allows me to get the job done. Cyberduck supports ftp and sftp and has integration with Spotlight, the Keychain, AppleScript, and Growl. If you don’t want to spend money on an ftp client, give Cyberduck a try. If you try Cyberduck and use it frequently, consider a donation to the developer (I donated).

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In 2007 I used iBank to manage my household finances. Sometime in 2008 I switched to Cha-Ching as my Mac money management application of choice. Neither application is perfect, but I liked the UI and ease of use of Cha-Ching. Cha-Ching 2.0, currently in beta, improves the UI and a number of other features. There is even a Cha-Ching iPhone application in beta (I’m testing it right now) that will sync your Cha-Ching database to your iPhone. When both of these Cha-Ching applications are officially released, it will create a killer experience.

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Cha-Ching 2 Beta Released

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Just a quick note to let everyone know that Cha-Ching 2 Public Beta 1 has now been released. I know that some of my readers are interested in this based on my referral logs and people searching for “Cha-Ching 2.0.  You can read more about the Public Beta and some of the improvements on the beta announcement post on the Midnight Apps blog. One of my big wishes (Import Rules) is currently not implemented in the beta, but is planned for the 2.0 final release.

Among the improvements:

  • Split Transactions
  • Improved Interface
  • New Tag Editor
  • Flag Transactions For Review
  • Much More

I’ll be posting a first impressions post in the next week or so.  If you’ve downloaded the beta and tried it out, post your thoughts in the comments.

MacHeist Retail Bundle Released

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If you’ve been reading the blog for more than a few months, no doubt you heard me talk about MacHeist before. The folks behind MacHeist released a boxless “retail bundle” recently. Basically it’s like the other MacHeist software bundles but without the hoopla involved; missions, locked applications, etc.

The bundle includes 12 applications and will set you back $49 USD. The bundle will be on sale for a “limited time”, but no word on exactly how long it will last. Here’s a list of the applications included:

Awaken
Cha-Ching
CoverSutra
DEVONthink Personal
iClip
Overflow
Wallet
WriteRoom
XSlimmer
Enigmo
Bugdom 2
Nanosaur 2

I purchased the last MacHeist bundle but I’m going to skip this one. While there is no denying the value of the bundle, there just doesn’t seem to be that “must have” or killer app to take it over the top. Both the previous MacHeist bundle contained that one applications that pretty much sealed the deal to purchase it. While that killer application will vary from user to user, an application like TextMate or Pixelmator can really bring in the buyers.

The bundle is on sale now and you can buy it HERE.

Sneak Peak At Cha-Ching 2.0

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If you’ve been following the blog lately you’ll likely notice I’ve talked a lot about iBank and Cha-Ching. In my opinion those two applications are two of the best Mac money management applications. I’ve used them both a lot and while I think iBank is the more full featured application, I’ve stuck with Cha-Ching based on the UI and ease of use.

In my iBank vs Cha-Ching comparison, I noted the versions I tested. Since that comparison, iBank 3 was released. Now, the folks behind Cha-Ching have released some mockups for Cha-Ching 2.0 (below).

The folks behind Cha-Ching have released about 8 mockups of what Cha-Ching 2.0 might look like. While these aren’t screenshots of the actual application, you can probably expect some of the design in the mockups to make their way into the released product. You can view the entire set of mockups in their Cha-Ching 2.0 Mockups Flickr Set. There is even an RSS feed so that when new mockups (or maybe screenshots) are added to the set you’ll be notified.

There is no word on a release date for the Cha-Ching 2.0 beta. The current version is 1.2.2 and it will set you back $40. You can download a demo of the current version from the Midnight Apps website today.

iBank 3 Released

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One of the heavyweights in Mac money management software received a significant update yesterday. iBank 3 was released by IGG Software after about three weeks in public beta. The update to iBank 3 will cost existing users $29.99 and new users will pay $59.99. iBank 3 is Leopard only.

There’s a gallery of screenshots available if you want to see the new interface. iBank 3 includes the following new features:

  • Direct transaction downloads from your financial institution
  • Interactive graphs via Core Animation
  • High resolution category images
  • .Mac syncing and editing with iPhone and iPod touch
  • Cover Flow for your transactions
  • Drag and drop support
  • Loan management
  • Export your tax records to various tax software packages

I played with one of the iBank 3 betas and thought it was OK. I didn’t really use some of the new features so I uninstalled it after only a day or two. I’ve been going back and forth over using iBank or Cha-Ching for my money management needs so I’ll probably take another look at iBank 3 since I’m a paid iBank 2 user.

If you’ve tested the new iBank post your comments below.