I hesitate to write this, because roadmaps change. There have been more and more questions over at the forums surrounding where we’re headed, what’s coming, why it’s quiet, etc…so I wanted to write up a bit of a roadmap. Inspired by a forum post I wrote last week.
Yes. I inspired myself. ;)
Where is YNAB Headed for the Next Five Years?
We’re headed to a place where the device you’re using doesn’t really matter, but the budget does. We’re headed to a place where you can check your budget, record your transactions, and make adjustments in any number of ways. Some of those ways haven’t yet been imagined by the team.
What’s Coming?
At this point it’s probably fairly obvious that we have been working on Cloud Sync for about 20 years. It has required a gutting of our data model. It’s something we’re extremely proud of, and we are way more anxious to get it out the door than you are to get it. Trust us.
Some of you may have deduced that we’re also working hard on the Android platform, having just hired a full-time developer (say hi to Dorian, if you get a chance).
Why is it so Quiet?
Because we’re devoting everything we can to this next release. We don’t want to release something half-baked or premature. It’s not quiet because we’re not developing. It’s quiet because we are developing. A lot.
Faster Faster Faster!
I’ll admit that I’m not the swashbuckling entrepreneur some might like me to be. I’m methodical and s-l-o-w. Hiring (fast) scares the heck out of me. I was at the park Saturday and ran into a guy that’s working for a startup here in the valley (not the Silicon kind, the Utah kind). He’s been with the company two months and they’ve gone from 30 to 50 employees. Wha?!
That type of growth would give me a panic attack. And here I thought we were growing fast.
There are three reasons hiring fast scares me:
- The person hired is now relying on YNAB for their livelihood. Yes, I know that’s capitalism and everyone can find other jobs…but it doesn’t make it any less scary for me.
- It could radically change our culture. This actually scares me more than the first.
- It usually requires funding. Funding scares me for a whole other slew of reasons. It’s a non-starter for me.
I’m getting better at going faster, so be patient in that regard :) Setting up YNAB in YNAB has actually helped me hire faster. As a result of doing that exercise, we hired two new full-time developers and we have plans for several more in the next few months. I talked about that in last week’s podcast quite a bit).
Wrap-Up
I do feel that we’re on the edge of something. I feel like there’s a lot of pent-up excitement that’s bottlenecked with our development. I’m hopeful you’ll like it.
Thanks for filling us in to the degree you’re able. I’m looking forward to the future of YNAB!
Thanks for your transparency. Honesty is so refreshing and helps me to trust you, Lee, and YNAB.
If you need help with editing or writing, I consult and am available at $45/hr. over the internet.
Eloise Morley
eloise@eloisemorley.com
Just wanted to say thanks and that I’m looking for that cloud-syncing. Besides that, if you need a translator to Hebrew – I’m your guy!
I think I’m your biggest promoter in Israel (3 by now… pushing for the fourth – he’ll break eventually…)
אני אעזור לך
(I’ll help you)
I’m very happy to hear that the reason for relatively few updates on the blog & forums is exciting new updates to YNAB itself. I’m definitely looking forward to cloud syncing & whatever other new things you guys have up your sleeves.
One question on that – if every device running YNAB syncs up, is the plan to be able to edit budgets on mobile devices too? I’ve run into a couple people I’m sure would use YNAB on their iPhones or Android phones, but aren’t too thrilled with the idea of a desktop budget app. I’m not sure how common that is.
Yes, Kenny, the eventual plan is to be able to have full functionality on the phones. We’ll start w/ being able to edit transactions, and go from there (editing the budget, adding/modifying categories, etc.).
Good to hear, Jesse! An iPad/tablet version would be pretty sweet as well!
Keep up the good work, YNAB! Thanks to you, I sleep better at night!
A.
I hope all this development is not going to leave behind people like me, who have absolutely no interest and in fact absolutely hate the idea of leaving behind the desktop and going to tablets, I-phones, or whatever.
I prefer to get my work done at home, then go out and enjoy the real world without taking all the digital clutter with me.
Hey Dan, I don’t know what changes we have to look forward to – I for one am excited! I’m just posting to you in case you haven’t had the chance to use the cloud. Based on all other programs I’ve used you typically get a choice where to store your database. If you leave it on your home desktop and choose not to sync with an electronic device, it will work just fine,just enjoy any updates they implement.
On the other hand, something that I’m way excited for and something that may Internet you is if there is a database capable of being stored in “the cloud” where there is the ability to sync real time – how cool is that? Scenario. You make the budget, you and your spouse are out and about. Your spouse sees an item that fits budget x, she doesn’t bother telling you at the moment cause it’s not that critical. She updates the budget…. You Come across an item that fits the same category, then go to the budget and bam it’s already been used…. Now you can be a little more educated on the purchase and it fitting your budget – awesome tool. Cloud syncing has helped my wife and I with scheduling using iCal tremendously. Don’t know how I’d function without it now. Anyways good luck to you :)
I’m with Dan. Just the laptop/desktop version please. (Whatsa cloud?)
Could you work on functionality instead? What I miss the most in MS Money is the account projection that allowed me to REALLY plan. My salary comes every 2 weeks but my bills are monthly, and my family situation means a tight squeeze when the mortgage is paid. The account projection made it a breeze to know when to transfer just enough out of savings for a short while.
I’m also disappointed in the reports. Can’t see a list of expenses by category? It’s hard to have family discussions without that.
I bought YNAB in February but I’m still struggling to find it useful. I may dig up my last Money CD and reinstall it after all.
Disappointed
May I make a suggestion? IMO, small, incremental changes are the most successful business model for a software company. The sooner you can get feedback from customers, the sooner the feature can be a success.
Big bang releases are hard for the customer to consume, harder to test backwards compatibility, and allows competition to steal customers because it took so long to get the next release out and fix that one annoying bug that the customer couldn’t stand.
I wish you success. But I also wish for quarterly software updates with cool new features.
Take care,
Doug
Hi Doug,
That’s true. We’ve thought a lot about how we might do releases going forward. We may make it much more incremental. We’re not sure yet. Our business model is built around the occasional large upgrade (2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5) but we’re always considering other approaches.
I’m curious — have you read “Rework” by the founders of 37signals? Or the online predecessor, “Getting Real”? If not, you should. :) Take it from a fellow developer.
I have. I liked it. It’s probably while you’ll never see us tracking stocks in YNAB ;)
Congratulations on a job well done to date, the next phase sounds exciting and I wish you the very best.
Ian
Please create a nice iPad client with retina graphics! I’d love to be able to use YNAB without having to boot up my Mac.
Best,
Steven
Please please please move away from that awful Air platform. I know it’s handy as it allows one dev for PC & Mac, but so does the browser/cloud
Navigating around YNAB is getting just too too clunky, and an HTML 5 environment (I’m no techie so already out of my comfort zone) would surely allow the device neutral nirvana that seems to be hinted at here.
PS – Compared to some of the YNAB wannabes (and I fully admit that their approach and methodology is not even on a par with YNAB) YNAB looks like something from the mid 90s.
I’m sure this puts off those that get swayed in their purchasing decision by screenshots and demo videos.
Just a thought
I’m on a 34 day trial now. Changes scare me.
Right! Hate to be a dummy, but why not just leave a good product alone?
It’s not yet good enough Dan :)
I preferred that you come with something working good than nice… Even more when I’m talking about my budget. Your app is working perfectly and need to be that way. I prefer that your going slow but surly like the turtle.
Jesse, family and team,
Know that you are being PRAYED for. We have sensed from the beginning of your adventure things that you have done and said have set you apart from just another bunch of clever people. We believe that you are part of Gods anqwer to poverty relief in western culture.
So Jesse, be God inspired and at peace in your methodical, caring for others, and just grow without pushing.
We must be your biggest followers here in France, so its not only hebrew but french language that we could help with ;)
Bon courage a toute l’equipe.
Marc.
Hope you keep the possibility of using plain files in addition to the cloud sync.
I’ve been very pleased with how YNAB protects my privacy. I hope YNAB’s cloud sync will follow suit.
One way to do this would be to add cloud access functions to all device versions of the program, keep the processing on each device, encrypt transfers and permit encryption of stored data, and allow the user to choose where the data is stored — private server, Dropbox etc., networked Mac/PC. Omnifocus uses the cloud it this way.
One way not to do this is to centralize all customer data and/or all processing in a single set of cloud servers. This is the way Mint does it–and the way Facebook does it. It increases the temptation to mine customer data, destroys privacy, and erodes trust. Please don’t go that route.
Thanks!
Transfers will be over SSL, but data will be stored using dropbox, so it will not be stored encrypted, only transferred encrypted. And cloud sync will NOT be required. People can still store their data locally.
Jesse, the user’s Dropbox, or YNAB (the company)’s Dropbox? I’m fine with whichever (privacy’s not giant for me).
Thank you, thank you, for not requiring our data in the cloud! I want my data with me at all times. And nowhere else. I do use the iPhone app, but synching over wifi is fancy enough for me.
I actually keep my YNAB data file in my Dropbox now. I have YNAB running on two computers (one running windows, the other Ubuntu Linux) and it works like a charm. I can access and update from either machine and my data is always current no matter where I’m sitting. I also use the iPhone/iPod software to capture transactions on the go. It all works great!
Hi Jeff, it’ll work a little better with “real” cloud sync, where you don’t have a single file that could potentially clash with another.
If my data is not stored with encryption why would I want to use this?
Everyone has their own acceptable limit of data that is out there. It’s perfectly okay for you to not want your YNAB data in the cloud. The majority of YNABers are begging for this feature (I’m one of them.) A popular service like Gmail doesn’t store your emails encrypted, but they send/receive encrypted. We’re doing the same thing.
Jesse, I do not know the architecture you are building, but as a user of cloud services I want my data stored in a format that all the cloud provider sees is an encrypted file named something that is basically jibberish to the human eye. I want my data encrypted any time it is not on my personal devices. Just my quick thoughts. Mike.
Hey Mike, do you use gmail, or another cloud email provider? I’m curious how you’ve handle the encryption of email as its stored on servers. Something I’ve been wanting to look into for a bit actually.
Jesse,
I am using a product called mSecure by mSeven Software. They introduced cloud storage with their version 3 product, and I think it is a very good implementation. The actual file that you use is stored on the physical device. What is stored in the cloud (they use dropbox) is an encrypted copy of the physical file (uses a different file extension). On each device, you input the logon information for your dropbox account plus you enter an up to 32-byte key for use in encrypting the data file. When you press the “sync” button on your device the local physical file is compared to the encrytped file in dropbox and appropriate changes are made in each with the dropbox file retaining its encryption at the conclusion of the process. I would hope that YNAB would adopt a similar model.
What about Google Drive? I realize this wasnt out when you wrote this reply, but it seems to be very similiar to Dropbox, and I am a bigger fan of Google.
Google drive’s TOS kind of startled me a bit. Hopefully they clarify some of their wording.
Dear Jesse,
Ynab has made my life easier and calmer.
Thank you for that!
In Holland we have a saying something like: Speeders are killers, making haste is rarely good.
Ofcourse it doesn’t translate well, but you’ll get the drift.
Personally I prefer to work with things that have been tried and tested.
So keep the good work up and looking forward to another great YNAB product!
Kind regards Sylvia Knoop
Jesse,
I have followed you since the spreadsheet days and I have always been impressed with your steady pace and your integrity. You are a model to many. This product has changed not only my life but I have been able to leave a legacy to my kids of good money management. Keep up the good work. We are cheering for you.
jon
Take your time, there is no hurry.
Seems like you have a lot of supporters in Israel…
Do take your time and do things right.
Cloud sync sounds like precisely what stands between YNAB and perfection. But it would be utterly meaningless to rush it or undermine your team’s safety and culture in the process of making it faster.
The day YNAB cloud sync is launched will be a great day, no matter when it is. ;)
Waiting patiently! Have to ask if you will consider an iPad version sooner rather than later, as the magnified iPhone version of the app is a little annoying to pay for when it’s so clunky.
Thanks a lot!
Yeah, the iPhone version was never intended to be used on the iPad except in a pinch. It leaves…everything to be desired :) We want to get Cloud Sync out the door, and then we’ll be hopefully beefing up development for the iPad.
Great road map and hope that all plans come to real. Am confident that YNAB will change the culture which is the ultimate challenge for developers.
Will cloud syncing be an option or a requirement? The very reason I selected YNAB over Mint was that my financial information is not on a 3rd party server. I prefer syncing OTA from the desktop to all my devices (can’t wait for a Kindle Fire edition). I think you should have cloud sync option, for those who want it, but not for those who prefer the current way. Keep everyone happy!
It will be an option. While the vast majority of YNAB users want cloud sync, there is a minority that doesn’t want it at all, and we’ll make sure you can still do it the old-fashioned way ;)
Thank you so much for keeping the old fashioned version around for us old farts that really don’t want to tread out to cloudland!! Hopefully the next version will also allow us to print without jumping thru any hoops. I love YNAB.
Ted
Ohhh… 2nd on the Kindle Fire version!
Speaking of Kindle Fire version…
I cannot wait for cloud sync, and agreed – a HTML web based client would be better then software to download on your computer.
Thanks for the road map Jessie.
As a software developer I know the hesitation you speak of. I encourage all the YNAB devotees out there to understand that what Jessie has laid out is just like the road map you use when going on a road trip of your own. That means that sometimes things come up that cannot be anticipated nor avoided. So be understanding when (if) that happens.
Lastly, one more vote for a iPad specific version!
I 2nd that for an iPad version. Also, this should be free for those who have already purchased the iPhone app version.
Why should it be free? I don’t have an iPhone or iPad so maybe I’m missing something but it should only be free if it was the very same app. Aren’t you asking for YNAB to be developed for a specific platform? If so, that doesn’t make it the same app, does it? After all, the developers have to make something off it. Sure, we want a deal but let’s not be cheap. (Not speaking for YNAB here).
Because it’d be a delight to have the iPad version for free. Simple enough?
Also, it is the norm for apps that features on the iPhone to have a sister app available on the iPad, with users only paying once. I imagine the architecture behind both devices are similar enough for developers to be able to absorb the incremental costs (both are iOS).
It’s your choice to not have one or both of the devices, but I think you’re being a sour grape by gratuitous responding on behalf of YNAB. Do you have any specific requests to add instead of being negtaive?
Substitute last para with the para below :)
It’s your choice to not have one or both of the devices, but I think you’re being a sour grape by gratuitously responding on behalf of YNAB. Do you have any specific requests to add instead of being negative?
Yeah, but wouldn’t it be nice to have everything for free?
My simple point is if they go through the trouble of making an app for the iPhone then it’s reasonable to pay them for their efforts. If it’s the norm for companies to put out free iPad versions of their iPhone apps then that’s fine but companies need to make money too.
I, too, am anxiously awaiting an iPad specific version of the YNAB app. In fact, I’ve been awaiting it since, ohhhhh, say THREE iPAD’S AGO!!!! C’mon YNAB!!! Put us all out of our misery!!! ;-)
Oh, and Joel, it is an Apple App Store standard that the sister apps for iPad are available free of charge to users who already own the corresponding iPhone app. Come on and upgrade to the Apple iBandwagon, already!!! It’s crowded aboard but there’s plenty of room and it SUUUUURE is comfortable!!! ;-)
Jesse:
Frankly, I don’t need cloud sync, and you’re not supporting my windows phone yet. Not certain I’d use the phone for YNAB if you did develop the app.
Once a day I sit down with my credit union account open in one window on my desktop and YNAB in another. In a few minutes, everything’s up to date. I don’t need anything fancier. I hope I’ll still have this ability when you’ve made your changes.
Good luck. I know the gee-whiz factor sells software, but I’m happy with what you’ve got.
Jim
Jim, I like your workflow. Staying on top of things, however implemented, is the important bit!
I don’t need anything fancy either (when I really think about it, an excel spreadsheet can probably do the job just as well). However I am missing the Debt Planner of MS Money and the ability to see in one page/screen my top Payees and their historical transactions. *hint hint* :)
I too do the same with my credit union account…I love the simplicity of the system now and hope that it remains with the upgrades. I am all for progress and understand others have needs I don’t.
Just wanted to add a balancing comment against all the cheering for the cloud. I use YNAB because it’s an attractive looking, fully featured *desk-top* application. If it starts falling behind the mobile or web versions, I start looking for a replacement. If it goes web-only, I drop it immediately. Please don’t get seduced by the glitz and hype of the cloud and forget your core market.
I must have your original release of YNAB and it has been very helpful to me. I will never use it connected to the web, and I don’t need or want any iphone apps, etc. I don’t even know what the cloud is, and have no plans to learn. How about keeping a YNAB “Basic” version for people like me who just want to keep track of our budget on our PC at home?
I do have a question for you. I think I remember reading once that you have an updated version that carries over negatives from month to month in the category it was incurred in. That would be a great feature. How can I add that to my existing version? How much does it cost? I hope you see this and answer my question. Thanks.
Hi Karen, you can contact support@youneedabudget.com and they can help you with the upgrade process. I think you’ll like a lot of the other stuff we’ve added to YNAB 3 since the YNAB Pro version :)
We have no plans to leave the desktop app behind. There’s still much left to do on that platform. We just hired another full-time dev for the desktop a few weeks ago.
Now, I understand that some people don’t want change. And that’s what the people above were complaining about. But a web app (that is well done) provides so many good things: hackability (that is, extensibility), cross-platform-ness (Linux for free!), etc. The web might not be ready just yet, but it will soon, and “I don’t even know what the cloud is, and have no plans to learn.” is backwards-looking. “If it goes web-only, I drop it immediately.” is stubborn. But I could be wrong, and if so, please correct me, Michaela: how is a desktop solution absolutely better than a web solution for an app like YNAB? Karen, why not take a few hours to learn about the cloud?
Hi Jesse,
Glad to hear some news about YNAB. I can relate to your fear of going fast, I’m actually quite the same. I have an utmost need to ponder almost every detail of a given change. I’m hoping that you guys can work on improving the current basic reporting tools. YNAB is really a gem in personal finances, but I really wish it made it easier for me to have several different at-a-glance views of my family’s expenses over time. For instance (though not limited to) having the ability to create a few reporting templates with different charts, different expenses pre-selected, etc. Having some sort of forecast chart would also be very cool. I actually have some more ideas about improving YNAB’s reporting tools, without really overblowing its simplicity and ease of use. Maybe I should jot that down and send it.
All in all, thanks for the good work so far, and keep on improving a really amazing product. You actually made me forget my absolute only reason for lamenting not having Windows: Microsoft Money. ;-)
Cheers.
Pedro.
I use BlackBerry #9700 without a laptop. Will trial version work? Gus
Hi Gus. We don’t support Blackberry :(
Hi,
Crazy idea for the far flung future. Using An Android App called CamScanner. Than using the phone’s camera you scan your receipts, than some software with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) puts the right numbers from the receipt into the right fields in the YNAB Android App ready for syncing.
A person can dream.
Very futuristic. But until all receipts are standardised worldwide, an app with a worldwide audience cannot possibly have such a high level of automation… and I think the philosophy of YNAB is for its customers to be aware of their spending (and habits) so this would be a bit self-defeating. :)
Please get the cloud synch right. I came to YNAB from moneywell because their new cloud synch completely screwed up my data, which is flatly unacceptable with regards to my budget. I really like YNAB but will not accept anything that causes my data to get mixed up.
As far as features, the thing that is really needed is the ability to edit on the iPhone app…this is a real weakness when I can not add a category or edit them on the fly. Nice that the app allows me to record my transactions on the go (actually critical, as that is my primary use case), but would be so much more useful if I could edit.
Regardless….great app and program that currently synchs quite well….so don’t screw that up in your race to the cloud.
I like Kevin over at Moneywell, so I’m sad to hear they had data issues :( We are hoping to make it rock solid. It’s going through extensive testing, and the testing isn’t done yet.
Hi,
Thanks for your insights, plans and thoughts. I think I’d be the same kind of person;-) YNAB is very nice, except that I can’t understand what is so difficult in making different currency accounts. I recently relocated to the UK and making workarounds by workarounds… That is sg I’d program very easily.
Oooh, sounds good!
Not that I have any complains over the software as it is now (I love it), but new things are always (almost) good – it’s just like tabs; before IE got tabs I thought of them as bogus – now I cannot live without them and think everyone who still uses multiple windows are soooo old fashioned.
If anything, I just hope the new version comes out before September so I can get the free update (bought my license early this month) :P
As every one has said already, don’t rush, we love what you have created and are in no hurry for somthing we don’t wont.
How far away is “categories for income”??????
Can’t wait!!!
Given my disaster-preparedness nature, once the Cloud option launches please retain the ability to still synch between Android & PC via the current method. There are numerous situations where Internet connectivity is not available. Thanks also for the s-l-o-w changes (and caring about your human employees); I stopped using that “Q” program since it got too big for its britches and lost focus. Y’all are da’ bomb!
Yeah, those people with the “Q” program gave up on us Mac users years back. They lost my business.
Hi Robert, I also have a penchant to be preparedness-minded. The wi-fi sync will still be available.
I might be some sort of relic or dinosaur over here, but I don’t trust cloud computing. It just doesn’t make sense to me to trust my sensitive, private data to someone else’s servers that, no matter how secure, are more of a target to hackers than my tiny little hard drive. I appreciate Pat’s comment above and am glad to know that there are other, more secure ways to implement cloud sync. I second the request to keep the cloud sync version of YNAB as secure as possible. Please also consider retaining a non-cloud option for folks who don’t need or want that functionality.
Good luck and enjoy the ride!
Jesse, I appreciate your transparency and your authenticity. I love that you share what is going on with YNAB without apologizing! Norma
I prefer the S L O W approach also ! I would prefer a QUALITY product over a QUANTITY product ANYDAY ! Keep up the Good work !
We also came to your software because we did not want my sensitive financial data at the mercy of anyone other than myself (i.e hosted externally). I completely agree with Jennifer and Michaela.
As far as future releases, the biggest feature we would like to see is simple file locking so that my husband & I sharing via our network drive don’t accidentally overwrite our work. Reports for future forecasting and better understanding of which debt to pay off first (due to interest rates, compounding type, etc.) and which investments to grow first (maybe this is actually a new piece of coordinating software).
Slow and steady wins the race. You have done a great job at creating raving fans so keep up the good work. I believe your methods will also create raving team members. Looking forward to the future.
The journey is the joy.
Thanks!
I can’t wait!
Hi: Jesse:
Thanks for the update. I as well do not want the cloud. I prefer to have my budget the way it is. I have found the internet unreliable.
I second the votes for keeping the existing non-cloud functionality. I don’t want my financial data on the cloud.
Using the cloud will be an option :)
Keep up the slow but steady pace Jesse. I love the product because it’s reliable, not because it has fancy, colorful features. Looking forward to learning more about your cloud approach and other product developments the team is working on!
I must second the argument against cloud computing. I will not do that with my financial data. My husband works in data security and we are very careful with our information. Please be sure that future releases include a non-cloud option. Thanks.
I don’t want cloud syncing. I want to keep my financial data on my hard drive. Period. Not loose in the air to be pirated.
Thanks for the update, Jesse. Love the program as it is, but understand there is a need for some to expand to the cloud. Another vote to please keep a non-cloud option for those of us who prefer that our sensitive data remain on our own servers. Which is the main reason I considered this program over some others.
Great program, great customer service, great job! Thanks Jesse!
I, for one, am NOT excited about cloud development for personal and private info. I want my personal info stored locally and not on the web. This, for me, was a big selling point for YNAB as well as a big selling point AGAINST Mint.com.
Cloud storage is fine for music and docs and other things that are not privacy-sensitive AND that I have a choice to use. I hate to say it, but if YNAB goes to what I would term as “involuntary cloud storage” I will have to become a former customer. My privacy and security is more important than that.
Just my thoughts…
Cloud storage is an option Shawn. We recognize that a minority of you (though majority on this thread so far…) still want your data stored locally. That’s totally fine and will still be completely available :)
Part of the reasons many companies struggle (or worse!) is because they go too fast. SLOW is good!! I’m happy for you, happy for your changes, pleased with your methodical thoughtfulness. I love my YNAB program. It was exactly what I have been looking for, and I only wish I’d found it sooner!
“We’re headed to a place where the device you’re using doesn’t really matter, but the budget does.”
In the next 5 years? If a competing product emerges and is quicker to develop and evolve, market share could be lost.
After cloud sync (which should be an opt-in service), how long will we have to wait until full YNAB versions are on iOS and Android?
I understand the need for privacy, but i think many of you are over-reacting. Just stop and think about it for a moment. Unless you’re storing credit card details, bank routing numbers, social security numbers, etc in your actual YNAB file (not even sure how you would, let alone why you would) which may one day be synced, then what could possibly happen if someone does (by some very very small chance) stumble upon your synced file and learns that you have $4,326.98 in a savings account?
Just because someone learns how much you’re budgeting for groceries every month does not mean they have instant access to pillage your secured accounts, steal your money or kidnap your children.
I agree.
Privacy…. the easiest thing to give away… and the thing you don’t realise you have until you lose it….
Even if people did not put in their CC numbers etc. into YNAB there is still a huge amount of incredibly sensitive mineable information.
Hey Gavin, you’re absolutely right that it’s sensitive. It’s more sensitive to some than others :) We won’t require you to store your YNAB data online.
Thanks. I hope more Adobe Flash Air is not in your future. Trying to create one app that woks on every device only creates a watered down, crappy experience for everyone. Please create one data store in the cloud and unique clients for popular platforms that maximize what the platform offers, not what fits in some Adobe Air development box.
Written on one of tens of millions of iPads that will be sold this year alone.
I disagree. YNAB on my Windows machine works just fine. I’m thinking that some people need to add more RAM to their systems or buy it may be time to buy a newer system. Both mine and my wifes computer (which is seven years old!) works fine with YNAB.
Perhaps an HTML/browser based solution that can work with an offline HTML file?
Air is grim grim grim. I actually started looking at alternative software packages only this week as I was getting so fed up with the retarded way in which Air slows everything down. All it would take is Mint et al to allow the YNAB methodology to be applied and I’d be migrating – just because of Air and it’s ‘functional’ capabilities. Oh, that and the fact that I’m in the UK – which rules Mint out…
…on which can I please request that whatever you do with YNAB you make it as usable as it currently is outside of the US – perhaps allow the software to always switch to the right date format when importing QIF bank statement downloads (OFX is pretty scarce on these shores).
Thanks again,
I’d love to see a few changes as well moving forward.
1. The ability to attach scanned receipts either PDF or jpg from files on the desktop or picture from the mobile phone.
2. Native applications. I have to second the notion to get away from adobe air.
3. If these mobile phones start becoming NFC credit cards themselves, how will YNAB integrate?
4. Reminders. If I arrive at a geo-fenced store, say a department store, I’d like to have a notification pop up on my phone reminding me what my category balance is for clothing as to help me budget when I’m at my weakest.
5. More fully developed charting/graphing capabilities in general.
I am almost finished reading “Small Giants,” by Bo Burlingham. This is a book about companies that have chosen to control their growth in order to protect their “mojo” and be great at what they do. Your mention of a fear of changing your culture indicates (among several other things) that YNAB is probably a “small giant.” I for one, am perfectly willing to wait until you are ready to roll out your next release. I value quality over speed, and would expect nothing less than a long wait to improve on an already excellent product.
It sounds like “the cloud” is your future and you’ll move away from local data files. Please give us a choice of location on cloud sync (aka Dropbox or Skydrive) and don’t force us to use some web service. A service like that, where it is dedicated to financial information is a juicy target.
You guys make a great budget software, but I’m tired of having a separate service for every new “cloud” app that comes along. Right now, things are working okay using YNAB on my laptop and desktop with the file in my Dropbox. I am just careful to always close the app when I’m done with it, so two things don’t try to open the file at once. Iphone, Ipad and Android can all access Dropbox as well.
I’ve whittled it down to Skydrive (just for OneNote) and Dropbox, and that is still probably one service too many. I’ve been using YNAB for a year and love it, please don’t force me to find different software.
The problem with the Dropbox approach is that Dropbox is out of YNAB’s control; if Dropbox gets acquired, goes out of business, or changes its API, etc. etc. etc., the YNAB team has no control and MUST comply. Building your own cloud solution (hello, Amazon EC2) is the only way to go right now to maintain control of your costs, your back-end, and more importantly, the user experience.
That’s a bad business model.
Hi Michael,
Good points. We went with dropbox so we wouldn’t have to roll our own back end to start. The longer-term plan is to house the data ourselves so we can control 1) costs and 2) the user experience to a ‘t’.
The tough part about cloud stuff is making the data file transactional, so multiple things can poke it at once without risking consistency. Amazon (S3, at least) and Dropbox both are accessible through REST APIs. As are other potential cloud storage interfaces. Once an abstraction for one REST API based service is created, the additional cost of others is much lower.
From a user’s perspective, the nice thing about the “Dropbox” model is that it is a lot of different user accounts with different passwords, and the storage is user-centric. A given user may or may not have a YNAB file (or a file from any other service that might be interesting to an attacker).
The other model, where the service provider acquires/hosts the storage and then allocates to each user, is different. In that case, an attacker knows what kind of data is in the pool of service storage. That model is required for an HTML interface, but is also the least secure and most scary from a privacy standpoint.
Secure cloud file storage is hard, and when you take the storage out of the user’s hands, they no longer have the ability to add security mitigations as their own comfort level dictates. Strong, client-side encryption of the data (not SSL, I mean that the data stored is encrypted and the server doesn’t have the keys) is the only real mitigation there, but practically makes an HTML interface scenario unusable.
Sorry to disagree, but if online security was so terrible, we wouldn’t have online banking, online services like Mint.com, or online payment systems like Stripe.com.
Anyone who thinks an HTML interface is not viable is mistaken. Companies with higher security risks than some personal budget numbers do it all the time.
I love your product. One trivial idea for an “improvement” would be a button (or 2) on each of the budget and report pages that would open (expand) or close (hide sub-categories) all of the Master Categories with a single click.
This is the perfect “what we’re up to” post. Your comment about culture is right on — do NOT change your culture unless it is broken. Read a book, if you haven’t already, called Delivering Happiness. It’s by Zappos founder and CEO Tony Hsieh (“Shay”) and it’s brilliant. Culture is everything. YNAB’s great as it is, and I can’t wait for cloud sync to get here and be done right so it’s “magical” and not filled with “Error 42: Unknown”.
That’s not magical.
I think you guys are wonderful, and that it is a great program, and that you’ve got the best help desk I’ve ever come across, but – THIS IS NOT A ROAD MAP. This does not say what your email said it would. It does not discuss short-term or long-term goals with any specificity. It does not even mention some of the immediate work – like better reports – that your own help desk has told me about in emails.
If this is the level of detail at which you actually run your business, I worry about you. I suspect it is not, and that you have a lot more plans than you are telling. Which is fine. But if so, please don’t send out an email promising a road map with details of five months out and five years out if that’s not what we will find when we click on the link.
Hi Ann,
To give details 5 years out would be a complete guess. 5 months out, the details I provided is that we will have cloud sync. We also obviously don’t want to publicize things in a way that would provide competitors too much info. I was hoping that me saying we’re working on hard on cloud sync, and that’s why it’s been so quiet, would alleviate concerns that we weren’t developing. Sorry if the email raised your expectations. Those expectations are exactly what I’m trying to manage well!
It sounds like what you are working on would have to be web based with centralized data. Similar to mint, but with you 4 rules and methods integrated. I absolutely love YNAB, and it has changed my life since I started using it. I also love the simplicity of Mint.com it’s easy to get from anywhere, and easy to make changes from any device. The only, and I mean only, thing I don’t like about YNAB is that I have to use the desktop app. A lot of my friends have made this complaint when I show them my budget. As Apple has tried to push, we are moving into a post pc world. My wife and I fully support you, and YNAB helped us over our own hurdles at BYU-I. Good luck in the future!
~Thomas
Awesome! I’m looking forward for what you’ll bring to YNAB! :-)
A fully-functional iPad version would be awesome. After the work day, would be much nicer to reconcile personal accounts in an easy chair, rather than in another hard desk environment.
We happen to be PERFECTLY happy with your pace. It’s humane and healthy. How rare is that?!
Your productions are so well produced that each new development feels like a quietly given gift, rather than the filling of a desperate need.
I am the kind of person who cares a lot about how my expenditures impact other lives (and forms of life :-)
So knowing that YNAB interacts with other people as a form of lasting caring and true fair trade makes the whole thing better than ever!
Thank you.
Please add my voice to those who do not want or trust cloud computing. My financial data is very personal and private to me and I want to know where it is going. If I cannot transfer data encrypted and store it locally I will no longer be able to use this otherwise supurb product. Your talk of big changes scares me for my future work. I use YNAB on linux with AIR and hope that a legacy version will always be available for my use. In the surge toward newer and newer things please don’t break a product that already is near perfection.
I, too, agree with the slow approach. I’m hoping that the new interface will not be a drastic change. I came here from mVelopes (Finicity) after they ‘updated’ their interface. It was so horrid I looked elsewhere and fortunately found yours after reading in the mVelopes forum of someone else who switched to your app.
don’t apologize for working differently, the model my start-up is following is a company called 37signals many of the same things you’ve said here, great book by one of their founders called “re-work” that details a lot of this, also a good you-tube video out there that is a presentation by the same guy Jason Fried I believe is his name, they are very profitable, have been around for along time, work they way they know is right and have had nearly zero turnover in like 10 years.
Thanks for your post!
As a product development consultant and passionate YNAB fan, I just want to echo my support for the comment up above: long history of successes and failures in software product development show that small incremental releases beat large-scale ones every time.
If you aren’t using Agile Software Development already, I wouldn’t try to change anything in the middle of this release – afterwards, after you’ve been able to go away for a long weekend and lie on a beach to restore yourself, you might want to consider it for your next release.
I focus on lean product development myself, but as this is a software product, Agile is the leanest thing out there.
The book “Lean Start-Up” by Eric Ries is pretty good, too.
I’m looking forward to seeing how you guys develop the product. Thanks for the update. I will say though, that I’m one of those weirdos who actually prefers not to sync everything to the cloud if it’s financial/personal data, so I’m hoping any updates preserve the option to keep things offline only without touching the internet. For me, part of the attraction to YNAB is that it is distinctly offline as opposed to something like Mint.
I’m still on the trial version, although I’ve purchased the iPhone synching app. The vision I have for my YNAB in any new release are:
1. the accumulated data to date maintains its integrity;
2. the new versions are backward compatible with earlier versions (with the option of features swtiching on/off to suit the individual user’s preference;
3. the synching between the iphone app and the desktop app is at the least achievable over the air.
4. cloud synching is possible made possible through a third party medium (google docs, apple icloud) in addition to any YNAB server support.
Lastly, loads of user acceptance testing before any formal release. As a user, I would rather wait for a release than to discover and have my data compromised by errors.
Thanks for your openness and transparency, it engages me more and has pushed me over the line into purchasing the full version, knowing that there is a bigger vision and more exciting features in the pipeline.
Hi Jason, good points. We hope to have it rock solid before we release it, obviously :) Data integrity is paramount. We haven’t yet explored other cloud options (google docs, iCloud), but may do so in the future.
Glad to hear. Just to clarify, by “at the least [synching is achieved] over the air”, I was referring to desktop-iphone synching via wifi. By way of example, the eWallet app achieves this seamlessly.
I’m very excited for the optional Dropbox syncing. I’d love to have iPhone’s records be as up-to-date as my MacBook. It’s amazing to me that you’re still getting comments from customers threatening to leave if you “switch over” to cloud sync when you have stated in replies numerous time this is not the case. I am glad I’m not the one dealing with these people. I understand your approach to this project and the purpose of this post… I just wish everyone else knew that what you’re doing is a step in the right direction for a very large consumer group and that it’s not threatening to anyone who wishes to keep data off “the cloud.” Keep going guys, I trust your judgment and you have helped me (age 19) organize my spending and the copy I bought for my mom (45) for Christmas, has already made changed our lives and is helping our household get back on its feet before reaching financial ruin. Again, don’t get discouraged and I wish others to support your efforts and not misunderstand your development for the ability to sync to a file on the Internet. It will certainly be used by many.
Personally, I’d love to see an option where I could (if I choose, cause I know some are opposed to this) have my bank transactions download to YNAB automatically, or with a “get transactions” button.
I have time to check YNAB daily, but not always to input everything manually. And waiting for my monthly statements just isn’t current enough.
Maybe one of the new hires could look into that?
Jesse et al,
I’ve been a computer user, programmer, purchaser etc etc since 1982. I am 70 years old and have seen some mighty fine software programs come and go. I would advise you two things:
1) Don’t make your program too complicated, too large or too inclusive. You will lose. (to wit – Quicken)
2) Don’t try to innovate where there is no need. (dBase III to dBase IV – where is it now)
Your program works just fine and does everything it’s supposed to do, as is.
Invent a NEW program if you want but stop trying to continually earn a buck by over-doing YNAB.
Thanks for listening.
Hi Mike, what the heck is dBase? :)
I hope you don’t think we’re “over-doing” things with YNAB. We just see lots of room for improvement. Lots.
dBase was a very popular database and computer language in the 1980s.
I don’t think you are over doing it. :)
Jesse,
After reading through the comments, I do not envy you man. How any company could make all of these people happy is beyond me. I think I see where you’re going with the roadmap, and I think you’re spot-on.
If you believe that we’re entering a post-PC era, the idea of someone sitting at a desktop working on their budget just isn’t the reality for a lot of folks. They’re on the go, using Windows at work, Macs at home, tablets on the couch, smartphones while waiting in line. If you’re delivering software and want to make the biggest impact, you have to reach all those people and provide them with a full featured experience (regardless of device and platform).
The other element is choice. Some of us treat our financial data like it’s nuclear launch codes. Personally, I could care less if someone knows how much I spend on gas. Giving customers the choice between a siloed, 1 PC experience and the nirvana of a cloud-synching, multi-platform system is smart.
For what it’s worth, I think you’re on the right track. Godspeed!
I 100% agree with all of your comments! Great post.
Controlled growth…very wise. You are avoiding a number of the pitfalls cautioned by experts for unwittingly crashing a good company built around a good idea. Glad to hear it.
I like the idea of cloud sync, but I already have accounts with Microsoft SkyDrive and Box.Net. I’m not really interested in getting yet another account at Dropbox. Also, if the data is not encrypted, it’s not secure, so nobody should use it unless you’re happy to share your finances with the whole world. Web companies get hacked all the time. Encryption is the only safe option for data storage outside your own environment.
I know I’ve said this before but I would love a browser based version. That version would be completely MULTI platform. Native Client on Chrome would be a good way to do this.
Chris, native client would NOT be a good way to do this. You don’t need native performance for a Budgeting app, no matter how awesome it is. :)
Ok.. well I don’t really care about Native Client… I’m not a programmer (obviously)… but a web app of YNAN would be the ultimate multiplatform version.
I’m excited about the potential. I stopped using YNAB due to the lack of an online management/cloud syncing option. I need flexibility to manage from my PC at work, home, and from my phones on the go. With two full time working individuals in the house remembering to manually sync each day wasn’t working for us.
If YNAB implements a thorough online option and cloud based sync, I sure would be interested in coming back. Until then EEBA has my business.
Great product and I look forward to the future with YNAB’s development. I’ll probably rejoin the loyal masses when the features meet my needs better.
I don’t use the Iphone app very much since it’s a little to involved to use on the go and too small to use to manage budgets. It’s a mobile device and has to be used quickly. I would like it to show how much I have left in the budgeted amount and allow me to quickly put in a dollar amount quickly without anything else that a register usually details. I just need to know how much money I have left in the envelop for that budgeted item.
Stay true to yourself, it got you this far.
I love YNAB, it has changed my life. Thank you.
Glad to hear it. When one can operate the system from a smart phone, without wifi, I’ll be back. Until then I’ll have to settle for Mint.
I’m an OTR truck driver and my true computer time is limited. I always have my smart phone and usually have a data connection.
I hope you can advance to that soon. Until then, at least Mint gives me a little info and checks my bank accounts. Please don’t go too slow. I miss YNAB, but I’m getting used to doing without.
Cloud sync would be incredibly exciting, but slow and steady wins the race….
I came to YNAB from another product which I loved, but which made too big a jump too quickly.
Nice work so far.
Aaron
And that was a shame too. I liked version 1 of that other app. But I still got in trouble with spending. For me it was to automated. I liked it, but didn’t pay that much attention on my spending. And it was to easy to move from one bucket to another.
YNAB is a manual process and for me it’s working. I have to pay attention to my spending if I go by the budget screen alone.
As for cloud sync, I would use it. It wouldn’t have to remember to sync before I left the house. It looks like Jesse is going to keep both options.
Great work and thanks for the map :-) I’m a financial planner and firmly believe that a sustainable budget is crucial to set in place before investing into the markets. I want to offer a paid licence of YNAB as part of my service package to my clients (a few have taken this offer of a licence up already) however I am having a few roadblocks:
- some clients only have a tablet computer / ipad at home
- some clients need to really get back to basics and we set up a weekly budget then track that for 52 weeks – YNAB only allows for a monthly budget. Some people can get into a lot of trouble in a month…
As for the comments on the looks of YNAB that others have made, I think it looks great at the moment. I would rather a very clean, plain functional program over a power hungry pretty one any day :-)
Enjoying this software, thank you.
A good book about fostering culture while expanding is “Small Giants” by Bo Burlingham.
Please add me to the list of those not petrified of a Net connection and the benefits a connected world brings.
Not being funny, but reading some of these anti cloud comments and fears reminds me of people not ‘trusting’ direct debits or online shopping.
The point made earlier about the security of online banking was a very valid one. Seriously, I’m sure those clever folk at YNAB put a pretty high value on security. Let them get on with it without hassling them without all this data doomsday stuff.
They’ve already said they’ll allow offline syncing for those who prefer everything contained in their house. Just hope you have a good back up – the best of which is both on site, but to protect against fire or theft, off site too… Oh no, that would mean a cloud based solution. Argh…
Wow…and all I’ve been hoping for was a way to make the font/box sizes larger! I really hope you guys/gals can integrate that into the program.
Glad to see you’re working on the cloud sync thing. I’m glad it will be an option as opposed to a requirement.
Jesse,
One of the reasons I purchased YNAB is because you’re not like other personal finance software companies. I hope that as you grow, that element that makes you unique isn’t lost. My sense is that you already get that but just wanted to reinforce it.
Thank you for the transparency. I really appreciate it, and wish you all the best!
I’m on board with not wanting to hire too quickly. My own company has grown a LOT in the last 3 months and I’m constantly reassessing whether we are ready to move forward further or not. I’ve built my company with no loans or capital, from the ground up. It’s tough, but at the end of the day I don’t have a loan payment to make and I apply the same rules to my business as I do to my personal life. Live off last month’s money. It works in business too, you just can’t move quite as fast. :-)
Thanks. The roadmap helps a lot. I just wanted to know that you guys were on top of the cloud development — after all, I’m a new user and really don’t to have another ‘Things’ experience (the ever promised and never appearing cloud sync — I think I waited nearly two years with Culture Code with nothing but promises.)
+1 for using Kiln for your source control!
I don’t have a problem with the desktop version switching to something browser based. Or staying like it is. But please, please, please don’t make the mobile version browser based. I just switched away from an envelope based budget system that was browser based because it was useless when I was in a store and actually needed to know how much was in an envelope. I would have to walk outside the store in order to get signal if I wanted to connect to my data. Not convenient. At all.
Thank you for the roadmap! As a software developer myself I appreciate that things get quiet when development is heaviest. I absolutely love YNAB and have found nothing that comes close to it for keeping on track. Although I am no fan of AIR, I use a Mac and appreciate the Mac client and understand that AIR allows you to develop one client for multiple platforms. I really hope to see an IPad client someday!
I’m just getting involved with cloud storage for a few things, but was leery of the idea of cleartext stuff being stored on someone else’s server…
Then I read about a couple of the alternatives to Dropbox called SpiderOak and Wuala. When you use one of these two, your data gets encrypted on your local machine and is then stored encrypted on the cloud servers. Someone looking at the cloud files cannot read them (not even the employees of the cloud service) and the encryption credentials are *not* stored in the cloud with the data.
I’m sure there are trade-offs, but it’s something to look into, especially for those who just want to store their YNAB file securely in one place, then access it from multiple places.
I personally think encryption at rest is as big, or a bigger issue than in flight. Dropbox itself has had several security issues which exposed user data already to both employees and third parties, and I don’t believe any of the known issues were due to someone intercepting communications. (search dropbox security breach for details). There are several password managers that use dropbox and encrypt the data both locally and remotely while synchronizing records between devices, so it is possible to do. A data breach in cloud storage is much more likely to happen to the data that is at rest than it is to happen to data in flight. There are also a few other programs that I have that sync data automatically whenever the software is running on the mobile device and desktop and both are on the same wi-fi network, as long as the device has been authorized once, which could be another approach / feature for those that don’t want to push data up to “The cloud”. Not to sound too tin-foil hatted, but these days everyone, from hackers to government is after as much profiling data as they can get, it is in the best interests of privacy to encrypt as much of that as possible.
Is there any sort of bill-reminder system in the works for YNAB? Budgeting for monthly bills is a crucial part of my weekly budgeting. (Obviously I’m not done living paycheck to paycheck yet!) I’m holding on to Quicken for that reason alone. I would love to completely cut the ties with that program for good! Please work on this!
Thank you for informing us about your plans, am excited for the cloud-sync i hope it’ll be great :)
if you ever needed an Arabic translator am your guy, trust me am one of your stronger promoters lol and it’ll be for free ;) no need to set up a budget for me hehe
Thanks again ;)
I just wanted to say that I’ve been using YNAB for a short time now and am very happy with it.
Although I do use cloud syncing, via various services, for a lot of things – tasks, contact lists, bookmarks etc. – there is one thing that I will *never* give up to the cloud – information about my personal finances and budget. That’s just too private and too tempting to admen and other nefarious characters.
Even if you don’t intend to sell that information, who knows what the next owner of your company will choose to do? As I don’t know that either, I’ll not put the information in the cloud. Full stop.
So, as others ask in these comments, please do not force me to use the cloud to sync YNAB unless you let me do that via my own private server (e.g. via FTP) with full end-to-end encryption.
An idea: let me choose which categories to make available cross-device and cross-account via cloud sync, so that (for example) I can share my family entertainment category budget with other members of my family but keep my mortgage payments and income secure on my local network.
Good luck!
Looks like some of the hubub has died down. Thanks for a great product Jesse and team! I appreciate your grace and tact in responding to “us”. To adapt an Abe Lincoln quote, “You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”
So many have had great ideas; can I drop one little thing in your suggestion box? I’m a former QB user…ok, I still use it for our small inventory-based business and YNAB for personal. Over the last 15 years, I’ve been conditioned to listen for a “beep” when recording a transaction – sort of like Pavlov’s dog. Any possibility you might add ‘sound’ to YNAB in the future?
Do you have any plans for releasing a Kindle Fire app? If so any idea when?
We were hoping we could release our android version to run on the Kindle but amazon rejected it. They said there were a few quirks… now we’re trying to get it to run on my Kindle fire and we’ve hit some snags. Our hope was to do it… it’s just taking longer than we had wanted.
Some comments on multi-platform / cloud sync / mobile budgeting:
I currently do access my YNAB files from several locations, both with Windows and Ubuntu desktops/laptops, my budget files are stored in “Ubuntu One” cloud storage (offered by Ubuntu distributor Canonical; for those who wonder, pretty much like a personal DropBox account, but 5 GB for free). As mentioned, not that full-fledged cloud solution you are currently working on, but working well enough for me.
I use my smartphone regularly for a dozen things, but I don’t see a need to “budget” on the go. Since I’ve started using YNAB, I have a much better grip on my spendings, and the “shopping beast” in me seems to be like a ghost fading in the past :) Thank you Jesse for that!!
Think of rule number one: Give every dollar a job (ok, it’s EUR and CHF for me…:) …so why change the “job allocation” on the go?
And does it really matter to enter spendings immediately or the next day/weekend at the Desktop, banking account in one window and YNAB in another?? Certainly it will make a difference for many users, but not for me.
Of course, tablet clients will be VERY welcome!
I too hope you will move away from AIR. Since Adobe dropped AIR Linux support, I am not very confident about YNAB/AIR being a long term solution for my Linux clients. But please don’t abandon Linux desktop support!!
And I second the opinion of many here: Keep the pace slow, take your time. YNAB is fine now. We will appreciate improvements, but I see no urge here.
I think it would be great if YNAB is available in Spanish, if that´s the case, I can help. I´m a native spanish speaker and have a vast experience translating from english to spanish. I´m a lawyer, but just for fun I will help you guys in my free time.
Love what you’re doing with YNAB. Is there a page where we can submit feature requests? I’d like to be able to password protect a budget file. I’m about to start a separate budget file for my 14 yr old to start learning to manage his money, but I don’t want him getting into our family budget file by mistake and screwing anything up. :)
Jesse, I am concerned that you have made no mention of adding new reporting features and better reconciliation. Certainly you can’t run your business with YNAB’s current report features. I had a difficult time getting my data collection done for my accountant in order to prepare tax returns. This was my first tax season using YNAB, after coming from Quicken 2007 on Mac. I had to switch because Lion would not support Quicken, and there are some things I really like about YNAB, but reporting is not one of them. Reconciliation is another area that is amateurish. I know about the work arounds, but this seems like a very basic feature that Quicken did way better.
Could you please let YNAB users know there is hope these two items will be addressed in the near future.
Hi David. These will be addressed in the near future.
Hello,
very first, many thanks for your road map ! That’s great to know that you are developing the software further.
Sometimes we users wonder what’s happen with the software, so it’s nice to get some status information.
If update your software, please try to implement language files, so that it’s easier to change (and possible) to change the language.
A lot of other software developers use this and with this solution, you can also offer the users the possibility to help to translate the program.
That’s specially helpful because some english phrases used in the program can’t be just translated, they use special english phrases used in financial terms.
Many thanks, best regards Wolfgang
I have used the 34 day trial version of YNAB 3 and I’m completely hooked. Now I’m thinking of purchasing the full version which costs $60 (and I am a student!). After reading this post I get that a new version is in the works.
So if I purchase YNAB 3 now and a new version comes out, would I be upgraded for free?
Or in other words, is the new version coming out within 6 months? (My timing couldn’t have been worse I just purchased this yesterday” guarantee.)
Hi, I purchased this three weeks ago, and that was my concern also. I was told I would be eligible for the upgrade. @funsky
Hi there,
I have been using the demo software the past few weeks and have been giving serious thought to purchasing the full PC version, and possibly the Android version in the future. I am glad to see that making the ability to take your budget on the road with you into the spending environment is going to be improved.
One top feature request I have, and perhaps the thing that is giving me slight hesitation on my purchase, is improvement of the reports and forecasting tools. I’d very much like to see debt tools strengthened/added (like making your own amortization tables with different payment options to see how your cash flows change by how much you pay on your loans/CC each month, and having a spot to see what are your top outstanding debts and how money/budget alignment will bring them down faster/cheaper).
I’d also like to see a feature that lays out personal saving goals in a separate screen. These would be large targets, and be around 6 months out perhaps. I envision this tool being handy for trying to plan on saving for a house/car/college/etc. by being able to plug in you estimated cost, how long you have to save, interest rates, etc. so you can plan for these big projects and see how you are doing meeting them (if you are behind or not and need to increase saving).
Thanks for your hard work and reading this post.
-Brendan
I LOVE ynab,and am so impressed by you.
Jesse
Love YNAB and love this roadmap. This is rapidly becoming the “killer feature” for me. I must admit, I don’t budget much any more because….I don’t ever sit down at a computer any more. I stand in line and pull out my android, or sit on the couch with my ipad……cloudsync is the way of the future for sure. The problem is, the future is here. Can you give away any hints of when you plan to release this? I’m dying to use this and desperately hoping its coming soon!!!
Full Disclosure; I just bounced my checkbook and so I really am desperate for this. I fully accept responsibility for that as the current YNAB is great and would have prevented this. But let’s face it. I’m lazy by nature and since I got an ipad, I barely touch my computer. In fact, currently I have two uses for it. Printing, and updating my budget. Seriously, that’s the only time I touch it anymore.
So please, any hint on the release date? I’ll settle for the targeted date, and I won’t hold you to it.
Ditto Jesse. Since the iPad, my desktop is really only used as a print server and for YNAB. This is the post PC era, and we need a post PC version of YNAB. Great app, but i hate being tied to the desktop to use it.
lol Did you actually call it the “post PC era”? lol
Hi! We really appreciate and enjoy the wealth of information on the WYAB site. Recently we downloaded a trial version and have one question that we hope someone can help clarify. Thank you in advance for your help!
We use online services like yodlee, Mint, and piggymojo to automatic sync our actual credit card expenses instead of manually tracking all of our expenses on paper or spreadsheets. We like many others enjoy the efficiency online tracking allows users. So when we eagerly downloaded YNAB we must admit we were disappointed we could not locate any feature on WYAB allowing an automatic sync to a bank account or credit card account(s) to track transactions. Are we missing this feature? Perhaps we did not locate it on the tool? Can someone point us in the right direction? Thank you.
Alternatively if YNAB does not offer an automatic sync/linkage to online bank and credit cards to accurately track expenses, what are the plans to implement this feature sooner than later?
We feel manually entering in each of our expenses doesn’t seem efficient when banks and other online resources can automatically track, sync, and feed this information into exportable databases.
Kindly let us know your thoughts. Thank you!