Best Implementation of Envelope Budgeting (and best support)
Mint doesn’t really hit this front and centre, and other services are a bit too cloud-centric. (MoneyWell leverages iCloud only for sync between devices, of which transport is strictly in Apple’s custody, not MoneyWell).
Goes without saying that the support team behind MoneyWell is outstanding.
Excited to see what comes next with MoneyWell, including full featured iOS/iPad app (so it’s less of a ‘companion’) and more features in investments / net worth management.
Updated review
Syncs well with iPhone
Tried to love it
Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case.
Sync: so many sync issues with the iOS app from the Mac app. Repeated contact with support had them ‘fix’ the issues…temporarily. I suspect there is a fundamental issue with how syncing is handled.
Scheduled Transactions: repeated issues with existing scheduled transactions not being able to be scheduled with a strange sync error. Support ‘resolved’ each time this happened. Now I have the problem again. Sigh.
Unselecting synced or local file yields some very odd behavior. It is almost as if these moneywell files are separate, but you can’t really tell from the UI. Oddly settings will revert to using a synced file on restart and balances will be all over the place (read: incorrect). Again, I suspect the sync function is fundamentally broken.
Lack of sync with major financial institutions. This was a regression from years past. I suspect syncing using direct connect was deprecated, but no new option is available now for years. I can’t download transactions from major institutions like Chase? What year is this?
Migrated to a recurring fee: while this is the trend for many companies this is hard to swallow for an underperforming app.
Bottom line: I can’t recommend this app. It just lacks basic functionality and is miles behind competitors.
Response from developer
Thanks for your detailed review. We appreciate the feedback. When you say repeated issues with "sync" it's not clear exactly what you're referring to. Sync is done via iCloud, so we have no access to your data or any ability to "fix" that—we can guide you through steps to resolves issues. We always attempt to resolve any issues. I can't find any reports with information about settings reverting as you describe in our support system so I'm not sure if this is an issue you reported previously. We've talked about the issues with direct connections with financial institutions on our blog in the past. It's an area we're working on but obviously not as quick as we'd like Thanks again for your review. M
Subscription based and yet no biometric support
Response from developer
Edit: In case you haven't seen, in iOS 18 it's now possible to lock individual apps behind touch/faceID at the system level, so you don't have to wait for us to add this feature. Original response: Thank you for your review. As I responded to your similar review on the Mac App, this is indeed just the beginning. This release was all about restoring sync—especially for our existing customers—some of whom have been waiting a while for this. Now we've taken over the app and got this version with syncing released we've got lots of improvements planned. Thanks also for your feedback on the icon. I'll advise our "designer" (also me) that it isn't going down well.
