YNAB You Need A Budget

[rsd22]

I have used a Blackberry for several years. Before my BB I had a Palm. (The youngsters say, "what's a Palm dad?").

In two months it's time to leave Blackberry for good. I don't believe BB10 will make up for my frustration with the platform. BB's are terrific for email, texting, and for keeping my travel nicely organized (and up to the minute with flight times). Plus YNAB doesn't support BB, and YNAB is important to me (Though I am still a YNAB3 user since I have no use for cloud sync). Some day soon I'd like the ability to enter YNAB transactions on my phone as they happen.

I have a late 2007 Macbook Pro and love it. So the logical choice seems to lean toward an iPhone since they might talk together better than an android talking to a MBP...? I have no idea...... My Mom died this year so her first generation iPad is now with me. Except for reading books on her iPad, an iPad seems incredibly redundant to my laptop. So I don't use it much. But I suppose if I did use the iPad, having a Mac Book, an iPad, and an iPhone seems to be good marriage to keep all 3 in harmony with one another..? Again, I just don't know.

I don't want a phone to play games on, or check Facebook or Twitter, or that serves mainly to entertain me. I need a phone that does email good, is easy to text with, and is solid with travel information -- though giving up a hard keyboard for a touch screen may be difficult after all these years.

I'd be interested to hear what people think ... iPhone or Android? Is one is better for a MAC user, or has technology gotten to a point where it no longer matters. Thanks...

[DeguelloTex]

I'd go look at the phones and see which ones you like better. I'd also do some research on signal strength of different providers where you plan to use the phone, if possible. The coolest phone in the world is going to get annoying quickly if you have to stand in your driveway to get a signal.

I don't think an iPhone is inherently better for a Mac user with the possible exception of iCloud, which can keep contacts, docs, etc. in sync but it sounds like that might not be much of a priority for you.

[litterbug]

I'm a long time Mac user (lurve my iMac!) but when YNAB drove me mercilessly to switch to a smart phone, I chose an Android Incredible 2. iOS has the Apple look but is a completely different animal from OSX; it seemed kind of rigid and boxed-in to me. In contrast, the Android OS was surprisingly intuitive, customizable, and flexible, and being able to change the UI to be more attractive and to set the home screen the way I wanted it (a huge clock face with address book, gmail, calendar, and notepad at the bottom) was a big deal. The form factor was what put me over the top: my DINC2 is slimmer with rounded edges and has a pleasant soft-but-not-rubbery surface, whereas the iPhone is bulky and frankly not nice to hold. And the DINC2's screen is by far the larger of the two.

Go to a wireless store, find a functioning iPhone, and play with it for a while to get a feel for whether it suits you. Then play with some Droids to see if you're even interested in them. Finally, be aware that YNAB's iPhone app has features we Android users don't have yet, like geosync and split transactions. I have faith that we'll have parity with the iPhone app soon, but I can't say how soon "soon" is. If it were me, and I had to sign up for a 2 year contract on a phone, I'd still go with Android based on my experience with the YNAB team's concern with getting the app up to speed before adding more features to the iPhone app.

[blackdiamond]

I don't think you can go wrong with an iPhone, but I'm currently a happy HTC Incredible (original) user. The Incredible is very similar to an iPhone in size. My wife has an iPhone and really loved the Incredible when it was her's. Try them both out, but I think I'd get an iPhone given the option.

I worked at a place where camera's are not allowed which is why my wife has the iPhone that I purchased (I couldn't bring myself to take the camera out of a brand new phone) and I'm using her old Incredible that was super easy to drill the camera out of. I have considered getting the Incredible 2 because the camera can be disabled externally, but may just get a second iPhone and take the camera out of the one my wife is currenly using since it's now been proven to work over a period of time so I don't have to worry about some odd factory issue that would crop up in the few weeks of use.

[Malisa]

I'm a Mac/iPad/iPhone user. I have had an iphone since a week after the release of the first one. I have to say that I've considered, very briefly, looking at an Android. Partly due to being someone who likes to figure new stuff out. But mostly because I'm finding the screen of the iPhone to be shrinking. (Between using the iPad more, getting used to a new prescription, and seeing how big the display is on some of the Android phones.)

But I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to upgrade my iphone to whatever the newest will be in the fall and be satisfied. It doesn't make sense to learn something new and have to re-purchase apps.

My way of saying, I bet whatever comes out in the fall will have a bigger screen. So if that's a factor for you, you may want to wait if you decide to go iphone (and can wait).

[rsd22]

My niece has an iPhone that she loves and my nephew has an EVO android phone that he loves. When they get together they debate over who has the better phone. I played with both of them and at first glance, both are far different from my tiny blackberry screen with a hard keyboard. Though my eyes are not what they used to be, the screen on the new iphone and android seem gigantic to me. But when I stop playing with their new phones and go to use my blackberry again, I realize just how darn tiny (and hard to read) my phone's screen is. So yes, a new larger screen, may be just what the doctor ordered.

Sort of like YNAB3 to YNAB4. I became so used to the small fonts in YNAB 3 that I never gave the tiny fonts a second thought. I could never read fonts that small in a book, but in YNAB it worked for me. Not sure why.....YNAB4 with the larger font, though some disagree, has to be very welcome addition to the large majority of folks like me who don't have young eyes.

It seems like you can't go wrong with iPhone or android. I was mainly wondering if there was any advantage or disadvantage to someone who already had a MAC.

[litterbug]

My take is that there isn't either an advantage or disadvantage. The iPhone's appearance is more Mac-like, but I was surprised by how little else felt familiar. Of course, at that time it was impossible to get any kind of deal on an iPhone, and my carrier of choice requires an obscene data plan for them, so that probably skewed my perceptions.

[laurenlynn82]

if you're thinking about the iphone i'd wait until fall. most likely the new on will be released and you can get that one if you're interested or get the 4s at a reduced price like they always do. i'm thinking the new iphone will be released when the new ios is released in fall (probably october)

[caligulala]

I'm a die hard mac user but never really liked my husband's iphone. It just felt too huge and clunky to me. We just got new android phones tonight and - whoa. We are both totally in love. Suri could never understand my husband's accent, but the droid nailed it on the first try. Color us impressed.

[rsd22]

I'm a die hard mac user but never really liked my husband's iphone. It just felt too huge and clunky to me. We just got new android phones tonight

Yes, they are big -- especially when moving from a small Blackberry screen. I was looking at an iPhone Monday and the employee said the new iPhones will have an even bigger screen (though the phone itself will be thinner).

There are so many android models to look at my head started to hurt ....... What models did you guys get?

[DeguelloTex]

My potential iPhone alternative is the Samsung Galaxy S III. Coming from a Blackberry, the screen might look like a billboard, though.

[Patzer]

Finally, be aware that YNAB's iPhone app has features we Android users don't have yet, like geosync and split transactions. I have faith that we'll have parity with the iPhone app soon, but I can't say how soon "soon" is. If it were me, and I had to sign up for a 2 year contract on a phone, I'd still go with Android based on my experience with the YNAB team's concern with getting the app up to speed before adding more features to the iPhone app.

I haven't owned an Apple desktop computer since the days of the Apple ][+. I've had DOS computers, and Windows computers, and lately I've created a dual-boot Win XP/Ubuntu 12.04 LTS computer that seems to stay on the Linux side most of the time. (Yes, I have YNAB 4 working on Linux.)

Around last March, I got my first iPod. Part of the attraction was the YNAB app, part was playing games without paying a $30 per month data plan. The mobile app was kind of a toy at first, then came the YNAB 4 beta test.

Now, I'm contemplating a smart phone because the stuff I use on the iPod works better when I have internet connectivity, and WiFi is spotty. I'm 90% sure I'll go with an iPhone, even though I'm a Windows/Linux user on the laptop/desktop platform. The big deal is the stuff litterbug mentions. Most of my split transactions happen when I'm away from the desktop; not having splits in the mobile app would be a step backward. I'm becoming used to geotagging for payees; not having that in the Lite app feels clunky compared to the full YNAB app. Parity ought to be coming; but Joel has been griping about the lack of splits for the Droid for a long time.

Unlike litterbug, if I'm going to sign a 2 year contract I want to be sure that I have what I need out of it *right now*. I'll be waiting a bit to see what the iPhone looks like, and maybe longer than that for my current contract to expire so I can change carriers with a termination liability. But I need to hear that splits are working in the Droid app before I can consider going Droid instead of iPhone. Splits plus geotagging would be better.

Other considerations come into play as well, but the YNAB app is the biggest one. I think I could work with everything else, one way or the other.

Patzer

[GuyNGa]

I have always loved android since thy got their act together. I love my droid razr Maxx. It has a huge 3300 size battery which is 1/3 th size of any other phone and ven on 4G (which is a battery hog) I can unplug it of the morning and not have to charge it till late that evening and I am a heavy phone user. My old phone the droid X barely made it to three hours without me having to charge it. Now I love thee new samsung Galaxy III, but Im gonna stick with my razr for now because of the battery.

As far as typing on a touch screen, once you learn, it is so much easier. Android also has a native typing called swype which you can turn on and never have to take your finger off the keyboard. It has tutorials. It also learns from your use. If you want a big easy to see screen, you can go with the note which has a huge screen and a stylus input, but it is a little too big for me.

[litterbug]

There are so many android models to look at my head started to hurt ....... What models did you guys get?

I have a Droid Incredible 2. I'm on Verizon, which is the most reliable carrier in my area (although I haven't actually tried others in 4-5 years, so other carriers might now be better than I remember), and was able to compare the iPhone and a few Droids. The DINC2 just felt great in my hand, is basically all screen, fit in my jeans pocket and (snugly) in my purse's cell phone pocket, and Costco had it for $79, about half what it would have cost directly from Verizon. It was a new phone last year, so it's probably less now.

I don't know what to tell you about how to choose, but once I found out that I liked the OS, it was just a matter of finding the one that would be both easy on my eyes and fit where I needed it to. I took a lot of time on the former in comparing it with the iPhone, but the latter didn't take long at all. It helps if the places you shop don't have all the possible choices.

[YYC27]

I've used both iOS (iPod Touch) and Android (LG Shine Plus, Samsung Nexus S), and would never go back to iOS. The OS is, in my opinion, so far superior that it's a joke how much more Apple wants you to pay for their brick of a phone.