WWYS 3.2 Apple Watch
Watch What You Spend
How to Use
On starting WWYS you have to create an Account to hold your expenses. Usually this would be related to the bank account against which the transactions are going to be made.
Accounts
On selecting the Plus button, you are asked for the following information:
- Name of the account
- The home currency for the account - your local will be used to suggest one, but you can change it using the picker wheel.
- A colour to help identify the account easily (also used on the complications where applicable)
Once the account is created it will show on the Accounts page. A two letter symbol for the account is automatically created, from the first and last letter of the name to help identify this account on watch face complications.
You can go back to the Account settings using the ellipsis and modify the account and colour selected, but once the currency has been chosen it cannot be modified on an account because it would invalidate all the stored Expenses. Instead you should create a new account for the currency.
Settings
Selecting the Gear icon on the top of the Accounts page enters WWYS settings. Once any changes have been made you can return to the Accounts page using the Done button.
The Settings page has the following features:
- Synchronisation
- iCloud Status shows where or not WWYS can successfully synchronise data to iCloud. For this functionality to work correctly your Apple Watch must be logged into an iCloud account and access enabled in the iCloud system settings on your iPhone at:
Settings > Apple ID > iCloud
- If Status is shown as disabled then the Apple Watch is not logged into an iCloud account or sync for WWYS has been disabled on the iPhone. In this case the Apple Watch will use a local database.
- Synchronisation will resume whenever the Apple Watch is logged into a valid iCloud account.
- To synchronise with the iPhone Companion App then both devices must be signed into the same iCloud account.
- Currency Settings
- Foreign Currency
Turning on foreign currency, adds an additional page during Expense creation, which allows handling of foreign currency expense.
You can set the default foreign currency to be used, although this can be modified on a per Expense basis.
- Summary Screen Settings
- First Day Of The Week
Select which day of the week will be the starting day for calculating the weeks total spend on the Summary screen.
- First Day Of The Month
Select which day of the month is considered the start for calculating the monthly total on the Summary screen.
- Export Settings
- HTTP Address
The HTTP File Server address to upload a CSV export for Expense data.
This needs to be the address of an HTTP Server configured for file uploads without requiring any authentication. A good example of a suitable app that can serve this purpose that runs on iOS isWiFi HD. Install this App and turn on WiFi Sharing. The http address to use with WWYS is then shown at the top of the screen.
- Clear Summary On Export
If switched on the Day/Week/Month totals shown on the Summary screen are cleared after an export.
- Payee List on Expense Creation Settings
The list of your most frequently shown Payees is presented when you create a new Expense. You can chose the length of this list and also whether to order it by the frequency of use or alphabetically.
- Database Settings
- Reset Expenses
Clears the database of all expenses.
- Reset Payees
Clears list of previous Payees. Payees would normally be
Expense Pages
Once an account is selected, two pages are available: the Account Summary and the List of Expenses for this Account. You can swipe between these two pages, or return to the main Accounts page using the return arrow at the top left.The Expense of the App uses a set of three top level pages.
The last used Account Summary page is the opening page for the App, which shows the total Expense spend for today and for the current week or month (the starting day of the week or month is configurable in settings). You can tap the arrows to choose whether Week or Month is shown on the summary. There is a single Button to allow you to record a new Expense.
To the left is a page that lists of all the Expenses currently recorded.
The background shows an animated profile of your last 7 days of spending in the colour you selected for this Account..
The List of Expenses page shows the list of current Expenses stored in the WWYS local database and synchronised to your iCloud account. The current filters being applied are indicated in the top row of icons (see Filter & Export below)
Swiping left on an Expense allows it to be deleted.
The two buttons on the top row are used to filter and export data from this list.
- Filter allows you to control which Expenses are displayed in the list (the status line indicates current filters)
- Export creates a CSV file that reflects the data selected by the filter and sends it to the HTTP file server configured in Settings.
Filter & Export
- Date range
- Payee (to select expenses that have an unspecified Payee name just turn on the filter and leave the search string blank)
- Amount range
- Show Exported Expenses. This shows previously exported Expenses which by default are hidden.
Creating an Expense
You can swipe between all three pages at any time until either cancelling the new Expense with the Cancel button, or selecting OK on the confirmation page to actually create the Expense.
The Payee screen allows the standard Apple Watch text entry mechanisms to enter the Payee name for the Expense (max 30 Characters). The most frequently used payees are listed beneath the test entry box for quick selection; to avoid the rather tedious text entry that Apple Watch provides!
NB: If you wish you can leave Payee blank (for those really quick Expense entries) and the Payee will be recorded as "Unspecified".
The Amount page lets you enter the amount with a simple number keypad that scrolls digit to the right as you add them in the manor of a calculator. The "00" key is provided to speed up entry of numbers like £10.00, requiring you to press the "1", "0" followed by the "00" keys.
The delete key removes the last entered digit and the number scrolls to the right.
The final Confirmation page allows you to check that everything is as expected and confirm the Expense entry with the OK button. The default expense is a debit, but credit can be selected using the arrow. The pop up pages then disappear returning you to the top level Summary page.
Foreign Currency Expense
Foreign Currency is an option in Settings page that you must turn on to be able to create Expenses in a different Currency to your home currency (selected when first starting the WWYS). When enabled, an additional Page is provided during Expense creation.
This will present the Amount entered and allow you to select the Foreign Currency (to speed up entry, the initial currency will be the one you selected as your default foreign currency in Settings). The exchange rate for your selected currency will be obtained from the European Central Bank's web service, to give an estimate of the Expenses value in your home currency. This will be used to calculate Daily and Weekly spend. When viewing Expenses in the Expensepage, values in both home and the foreign currency will be shown.
The concept is that this allows you to keep track of foreign currency spending on a day to day basis. The value in both currencies is recorded and provided in the CSV file export so that when you import the data in your main account tracking software you will have enough information to match the Expense when reconciling using the bank statements that show the actual exchange rate that was used.
The exchange rate will only be an estimate as individual banks will use variations of the rate and may also have additional charges. You can enter your own rate if it is known by tapping theExchange Rate and entering it manually.
NB: Should network conditions mean that exchange rate data is unavailable, then it will default to a value of 1 and be highlighted in RED, to indicate that you should enter it manually.
WWYS Workflow Map
