aCar - Track your vehicles

[armond]

v2.0.1 is out!

It's a few days I've released version 2.0.x which is complete redesign of the entire user interface and a major update along with many enhancements and new features.

Complete Release Notes:
ZoneWalker.com » aCar - Release Notes

# See the [UPDATED] screen shots in the first post of this thread

I'm eagerly waiting for your feedback on this release...

 

[gprichardson1]

At first I didn't like the new design. I was so used to the old design that when I saw the new design I said "whoah, what the heck is all this?" I didn't care for the Status & Trends on the "main" page. It seemed like clutter to me.

But after using it a few more times I'm more used to it. It'd be nice if I could customize what's shown in the Status & Trends section. For example, I don't much care about cost/day or cost/mile, so I'd like to not have those shown.

If I go into Statistics, it's not clear which vehicle it's showing the stats for (I have more than one). I know in the main page it shows which car but as soon as I go into any sub-page from the main page it doesn't list which vehicle. I know I should remember which car I'm looking at but sometimes my short term memory doesn't kick in.

Also, when I go into browse records I'd like the ability to filter what I see. Sometimes I'd like to see just Service records, other times just Fuel records. Right now it appears they're all in one big list.

Otherwise, I now think the new design is a definite improvement. It's got a more professional look to it. Keep up the good work!

-Gary

EDIT/UPDATE: Looks like when I'm in the browse records page I can then use the search function to view what I want. I didn't think to look there. Maybe that button should be called "filter" instead of search, since it's not really a search function but rather a list of filtering options for the browse button.

 

[Taegost]

I love this app, it's great for tracking the information on my vehicle. I need to play with it some more before I can give you constructive feedback on it though, I had forgotten about it for a while and just started really using it recently.

 

[Tierlifer]

As a sales rep who runs close to 2500+ miles/month. This app is a godsend..I love it. It helps me track how much I spend per month on gas and maintenance in such a neat and well done format..thanks!

 

[armond]

At first I didn't like the new design. I was so used to the old design that when I saw the new design I said "whoah, what the heck is all this?" I didn't care for the Status & Trends on the "main" page. It seemed like clutter to me.

But after using it a few more times I'm more used to it. It'd be nice if I could customize what's shown in the Status & Trends section. For example, I don't much care about cost/day or cost/mile, so I'd like to not have those shown.

If I go into Statistics, it's not clear which vehicle it's showing the stats for (I have more than one). I know in the main page it shows which car but as soon as I go into any sub-page from the main page it doesn't list which vehicle. I know I should remember which car I'm looking at but sometimes my short term memory doesn't kick in.

Also, when I go into browse records I'd like the ability to filter what I see. Sometimes I'd like to see just Service records, other times just Fuel records. Right now it appears they're all in one big list.

Otherwise, I now think the new design is a definite improvement. It's got a more professional look to it. Keep up the good work!

-Gary

EDIT/UPDATE: Looks like when I'm in the browse records page I can then use the search function to view what I want. I didn't think to look there. Maybe that button should be called "filter" instead of search, since it's not really a search function but rather a list of filtering options for the browse button.

You've already noticed the "Search" tab and I have nothing more to add here. As for renaming it to "Filter", I myself was torn between "Search" and "Filter" or even "Search/Filter" and finally chose the "Search" term for the final release.

As for customizing the "Status & Trends" block, I was initially thinking to add this feature right in version 2.0.0. But later I thought that it might make the things a bit complex for average users and they might not like it. I was even thinking to put two LEFT and RIGHT arrow icons for "Status & Trends" block to easily switch between a couple of different modes.
I have other users complaining that they want to see "this year" or even "last year" column of data for comparison reasons in "Status & Trends"!! I might find a way to cover all these needs...

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

 

[armond]

As a sales rep who runs close to 2500+ miles/month. This app is a godsend..I love it. It helps me track how much I spend per month on gas and maintenance in such a neat and well done format..thanks!

Glad to see aCar has come handy to you

 

[Taegost]

I have to resist the urge to just drive around randomly and burn gas just so I can fill up again and put more data in this app
I have a feeling it's going to be one of the most useful apps I'll ever own, especially since I have a car that is 15 years old and has 196k miles on it...

 

[Reusable]

There are really two that are out there (of course, I forgot the name of the one that you have to pay for), but I have had a lot of success with Trip Master. It does a nice job tracking mileage for business. You can even plug in the current government rate of .50 cents per mile. You have a choice of using GPS to track your mileage, or manually plugging in the values, which is what I do (read on).

If you're like me, you make multiple stops during the day for business. If you use GPS, you'll have to start and stop each trip everytime you arrive at your destination. While this will work, you'll have hundreds of trips to account for. I usually just manually punch in my beginning mileage to start my day and enter my ending milage when I get home...not automated, but effective. I've written the developer and they're aware of similar requests, since they're working on a fix so you can make multiple stops during the day.

Lastly, you can easily export your reports (once a month for instance) via email, which shows up as an Excell spread sheet. So far this free app works just great.

Trip Master Mobile App

 

[armond]

Starting from v2.2.0, I've added trip/mileage tracking and expense tracking facilities! I would like to know your idea about them...

 

[chayes627]

ive used the new expense features and they work nicely

 

[SammyQ2]

How to fix corrupted data?

Hi Armond.
I started using aCar around the first of the year and it has really simplified record keeping. I back it up by e-mailing the csv to my gmail account after every trip. So far so good. I love it and I donated for the app.

A couple of months ago, all of a sudden, all of my mileage ratings have gone way up (doubled?). For instance my Camry gets around 29 mpg, but now it shows something like 58 mph on all the fill up records, and it did the same for both of our cars.

For instance, my very first fill-up for my Camry on January 5, 2011. If I look at the fill-up on my CSV back-up, which was created on 1/27/2011, I added 6.649 gallons and it showed 22.559 MPG.
However, if I look at that same entry in aCar on my Droid X right now, it says 6.65 gal, but 53.2 MPG!

Also, some of my data files have seemed to be corrupted. For instance, I recently from a trip and i inputted the start mileage as 209,357. When I looked at it later today it somehow changed to 338.654.8. Any ideas?
I also noticed that the fuel and currency units had mysteriously changed.
They went from gallons to liters.

So, when did this start? My April 1 backup seems to be fine. The next backup, created on April 29 had the corrupted information, so that narrows the time frame.

So, how can I fix this? If you like, I can send you the two CSV files.
Thanks Armond.
Sam

 

[armond]

Hi Armond.
I started using aCar around the first of the year and it has really simplified record keeping. I back it up by e-mailing the csv to my gmail account after every trip. So far so good. I love it and I donated for the app.

A couple of months ago, all of a sudden, all of my mileage ratings have gone way up (doubled?). For instance my Camry gets around 29 mpg, but now it shows something like 58 mph on all the fill up records, and it did the same for both of our cars.

For instance, my very first fill-up for my Camry on January 5, 2011. If I look at the fill-up on my CSV back-up, which was created on 1/27/2011, I added 6.649 gallons and it showed 22.559 MPG.
However, if I look at that same entry in aCar on my Droid X right now, it says 6.65 gal, but 53.2 MPG!

Also, some of my data files have seemed to be corrupted. For instance, I recently from a trip and i inputted the start mileage as 209,357. When I looked at it later today it somehow changed to 338.654.8. Any ideas?
I also noticed that the fuel and currency units had mysteriously changed.
They went from gallons to liters.

So, when did this start? My April 1 backup seems to be fine. The next backup, created on April 29 had the corrupted information, so that narrows the time frame.

So, how can I fix this? If you like, I can send you the two CSV files.
Thanks Armond.
Sam

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