Budget AI — FAQ
A reference for users and for the in-app AI Coach on how the app works. Sections are organised by feature. English first, 繁體中文 follows.
Getting started
How do I sign up?
Open the app and enter your email or phone number. We send a one-time code; type it in and you're in. There's no password.
Do I need to verify my email?
Yes — every login uses the OTP code we email or SMS you. Codes expire after a few minutes.
What is the default name shown on my profile?
For email sign-ups, the name defaults to the local part of your address (e.g. abc@email.com → abc). You can change it any time in Settings.
Wallets
How many wallets can I have?
Unlimited. Create as many as you need (e.g. personal, joint, travel).
What are the wallet types?
- Personal — for your own income & expenses.
- Travel — temporary wallet for a trip; supports mixed-currency settle-up.
- Shared — invite other Budget AI users by email; everyone can log transactions, with optional split per entry.
How do I switch wallets?
Tap the wallet name at the top-left of the home screen. A picker opens.
How do I delete a wallet?
Go to Settings → Wallet → tap a wallet → Delete Wallet. This is permanent and removes all its transactions.
What happens after I delete my last wallet?
You'll see a friendly "create your first wallet" prompt.
Shared wallets
How do I invite someone?
Open the wallet → Members → Invite. Enter their email. They get a notification and an in-app banner.
What if they don't have the app?
They'll receive an email pointing them to download. Once they sign up with the invited email, the invitation appears automatically.
How are split expenses calculated?
When you log a transaction in a shared wallet, you can pick who's actually involved. The amount is split evenly across selected members. The server is the source of truth — rounding drift is absorbed by the last participant so the sum always matches.
What is settle-up?
The wallet breakdown shows each member's paid, owed, and net. Tap a transfer to record it as settled (in full or partially). Settlements can be edited if you make a mistake.
Can I settle in multiple currencies?
Yes. Mixed-currency trips settle each currency independently — no messy FX conversions.
Transactions
How do I add a transaction?
Tap the green + button on the wallet screen. Enter amount, category, note, date, and optionally a recurring schedule.
How do I edit or delete one?
Tap the transaction to edit. Long-press in the wallet breakdown to delete.
Can I record foreign-currency spends?
Yes. Tap the currency next to the amount to switch. The server fetches the FX rate, stores both the original and converted amount, and writes a system note like FX=[JPY 5000].
How does the recurring/subscription feature work?
Tag a transaction as recurring (daily / weekly / monthly / yearly / custom). It appears in Recurring Payments and the next due date is calculated automatically.
Can I filter by category or date?
Yes — the Activity screen has a date range picker and a category filter. Select all / deselect all / multi-select.
Goals
How do I create a goal?
Settings → Goals → Set Goal. Name it, set a target amount and a target date.
What happens when I hit the target?
The goal is marked completed. You can also mark it paused or inactive without deleting.
How does the AI Coach use my goals?
Active goals are included in the chat context so the coach can reference them when giving advice (e.g. "you're $1,200 away from your wedding fund").
AI Coach
What is the AI Coach?
A personal-finance assistant inside the app. It sees your recent transactions, goals, and subscriptions, and gives advice in your chosen tone and language.
Can I choose its personality?
Yes — three tones: Motivational & Encouraging, Strict & Disciplined, Roasted & Funny. Change it in Settings → AI Coach Tone.
What languages does it speak?
English and Traditional Chinese (Cantonese-flavoured). Set in Settings → Language.
What is the instant coach push?
After you log a transaction, the coach may send a short one-line comment ("Deliveroo again? You two practically dating 😂") as a push notification. Tap it to open the chat.
How often do instant coach pushes fire?
Capped at 3 per user per day to avoid spam.
Does the coach remember what I tell it?
By default yes — for up to 3 months. If you mention something durable (e.g. "I have an Audi", "I want to buy a Rolex"), the coach extracts that as a "fact" and uses it in future conversations. You can disable this in Settings → Budget AI Coach permissions → "Remember conversations and personal context".
What happens if I turn memory off?
Each conversation starts fresh. Existing memories stay in our database but are no longer used. Toggle back on to resume.
Can I delete a specific memory?
Not from the app today — only via the toggle which disables all memory. Per-memory delete is on the roadmap.
How long is a conversation kept?
3 days. After that, a new conversation starts automatically.
Why does the coach sometimes give a one-line reply?
For greetings, thanks, or yes/no questions it replies in a single sentence. Longer analyses are 1–4 short paragraphs.
Notifications
What notifications does Budget AI send?
- AI Coach — instant coach (after a transaction), weekly summary, monthly wrap-up.
- Wallet invitations — when someone invites you to a shared wallet.
How do I turn notifications on/off?
Settings → Notifications. There are two rows:
- System permission — controlled by iOS / Android. If blocked, tap to jump to system settings.
- Allow notifications — Budget AI's own preference, synced to your account so it follows you across devices.
Why don't I get any notifications?
Most common causes:
- System permission denied — Settings → Notifications → tap "Open settings".
- The app-level toggle is off — turn it on in Settings → Notifications.
- Recently reinstalled or switched devices — open the home screen once so we can refresh the push token.
Why did I see the same banner inside the app?
Older builds showed both an in-app toast and a system banner. Fixed in v1.0.12 — the in-app toast is the only thing you'll see when the app is open.
Premium
What does Premium unlock?
- View past-month spending (free tier is capped to the current month)
- AI coach sees more transaction history (60 days vs 20 days) for sharper advice
- Future Premium-only features as they ship
How do I upgrade?
Tap any "Upgrade to Premium" CTA, or go to Settings → tap the Premium banner.
Where do I cancel?
Subscriptions are managed by Apple App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android). Cancel via your store's subscriptions screen.
Privacy & data
What data do you store?
- Your email / phone (for login)
- Your transactions, wallets, goals, and subscriptions
- Your AI chat history (3-day TTL)
- AI-extracted "facts" from your chats (3-month TTL, only if memory is enabled)
Do you read my messages?
The AI service (Google Gemini) processes your chat to generate replies and extract optional facts. We strip personal identifiers (email addresses, phone numbers, long digit runs) before logging anything to Sentry for diagnostics. We never sell your data.
How do I delete my account?
Open Settings → scroll to the bottom → Logout clears the device. For full account deletion, visit budgetai.ai/account-data or email support.
Can I export my data?
Export is on the roadmap. For now, contact support and we'll send your data manually.
Troubleshooting
My expense total flips between two values when I refresh.
Fixed in v1.0.11 (timezone configuration on the server). Force-close and reopen the app if you still see this — your client may be cached.
The AI Coach won't reply.
Most likely the monthly AI usage cap is reached. Free tier has a limit; Premium has a higher one. Check Settings → AI Usage.
Push notifications stopped working.
Open the home screen — the app re-uploads your push token automatically. If still broken, toggle the notification switch off then on.
A character looks the wrong size in the balance display.
Fixed in v1.0.13 (tabular-nums digit width). Force-reload.
繁體中文
開始使用
點樣註冊？
打開 App，輸入 email 或電話。我哋會 send 一個一次性驗證碼，輸入後就可以登入。無密碼。
需要驗證 email 嗎？
每次登入都用 OTP 驗證碼。驗證碼幾分鐘後就會過期。
預設用戶名係咩？
用 email 註冊嘅話，名稱預設係 email 嘅前半段（例如 abc@email.com → abc）。可以隨時喺設定改。
錢包
可以開幾多個錢包？
無限制。可以分開個人、家庭、旅行等。
錢包類型有咩？
- Personal — 個人收支
- Travel — 旅程用，支援多幣種結算
- Shared — 共享錢包，可邀請其他用戶共同記帳
點樣切換錢包？
喺主畫面左上角點錢包名，揀過另一個。
點樣刪除錢包？
設定 → Wallet → 選錢包 → 刪除錢包。永久刪除，連同所有交易紀錄。
共享錢包
點樣邀請其他人？
打開錢包 → Members → Invite，輸入對方 email。
對方未裝 App 點算？
佢會收到 email 邀請。註冊後邀請會自動出現喺佢嘅 App。
分帳點計？
記交易時可揀邊啲成員參與。系統會平均分擔，最後一個人吸收小數誤差，確保總和準確。
Settle-up 點用？
錢包總結會顯示每個成員嘅「已付」、「應付」、「結餘」。點轉帳記錄為已結算（可全額或部分）。記錯可隨時編輯。
可以多幣種結算嗎？
可以。旅程多幣種會分開結算，避免換算誤差。
交易
點樣加交易？
喺主畫面點綠色 + 按鈕。輸入金額、分類、備註、日期，亦可設為定期付款。
點樣編輯或刪除？
點交易即可編輯。喺錢包總結長按可刪除。
可以記外幣嗎？
可以。喺金額旁邊揀貨幣。系統會抓 FX rate，同時儲存原幣同折算後金額。
定期付款點用？
將交易標為 recurring（每日／每週／每月／每年／自訂）。會喺「定期付款」頁面顯示下次到期日。
可以按分類或日期篩選嗎？
可以。Activity 頁面有日期選擇器同分類篩選。
目標
點樣設定目標？
設定 → Goals → Set Goal，輸入名稱、目標金額、目標日期。
達標後會點？
標記為完成。亦可標為暫停或非活躍但唔刪除。
AI 教練會點用我嘅目標？
活躍中嘅目標會放入對話 context，教練可以引用（例如「你距離婚禮基金仲差 $1,200」）。
AI 教練
AI 教練係咩？
App 內嘅理財助手。佢會睇你最近嘅交易、目標、訂閱，再用你揀嘅語氣同語言俾建議。
可以揀語氣嗎？
有三種：鼓勵型、嚴格紀律型、抽水搞笑型。設定 → AI Coach Tone。
支援咩語言？
英文同繁體中文（廣東話）。設定 → Language。
Instant Coach 推送係咩？
你記完交易後，教練可能 send 一句短評（例如「Deliveroo 又黎？你同佢拍拖咋 😂」）。點開即跳入對話。
一日有幾多次 Instant Coach？
最多 3 次，避免騷擾。
教練會記住我講過嘅嘢嗎？
預設會 — 最多記 3 個月。如果你提到耐用嘅事（例如「我有架 Audi」、「我想買 Rolex」），教練會將呢啲抽取為「fact」，下次對話會用到。可以喺設定 → Budget AI 教練權限 → 「記住對話內容與個人資料」關閉。
關咗記憶會點？
每次對話都係全新一次。已有嘅 fact 唔會刪除，只係唔再使用。重新開啟就會繼續用。
可以刪除某個記憶嗎？
而家只有總開關，無法逐項刪除。逐項刪除功能將會加入。
對話會保存幾耐？
3 日。之後自動開新對話。
點解教練有時答得好短？
打招呼、多謝、yes/no 問題會用一句答；需要分析嘅問題先會用 1–4 段。
通知
Budget AI 會 send 咩通知？
- AI 教練 — Instant Coach、每週總結、每月回顧
- 共享錢包邀請 — 有人邀請你加入共享錢包
點樣開／關通知？
設定 → Notifications，有兩行：
- 系統權限 — iOS／Android 控制。如果封鎖咗，點一下會跳去系統設定。
- 允許通知 — Budget AI 自己嘅偏好，跟住你嘅帳戶跨裝置同步。
點解收唔到通知？
常見原因：
- 系統權限被封鎖 — 設定 → Notifications → 點「前往設定」。
- App 層級開關關咗 — 設定 → Notifications 開返。
- 啱啱重灌或換機 — 打開主畫面一次，App 會自動更新 push token。
點解 App 內見過重複通知？
舊版本同時有應用內提示同系統通知。v1.0.12 已修復 — App 開啟時只會見應用內提示。
高級版 (Premium)
Premium 解鎖咩？
- 查看過往月份支出（免費版只限本月）
- AI 教練看到更長嘅交易歷史（60 日 vs 20 日），建議更精準
- 將來陸續加入嘅 Premium 功能
點樣升級？
點任何「Upgrade to Premium」CTA，或者設定 → 點 Premium 橫額。
點樣取消？
訂閱由 Apple App Store（iOS）或 Google Play（Android）管理。喺對應商店嘅「訂閱」頁面取消。
私隱與資料
你哋儲存咩資料？
- 你嘅 email／電話（用作登入）
- 你嘅交易、錢包、目標、訂閱
- AI 對話歷史（3 日後自動刪除）
- AI 抽取嘅「fact」（3 個月後過期，僅當記憶功能開啟）
你哋會睇我嘅訊息嗎？
AI 服務（Google Gemini）會處理你嘅對話以生成回覆。我哋會喺記錄到 Sentry 之前移除個人識別資料（email、電話、長串數字）。我哋唔會出售你嘅資料。
點樣刪除帳戶？
設定 → 滾到底 → 登出 會清除呢部裝置。完整刪除帳戶請去 budgetai.ai/account-data 或 email 客服。
可以匯出資料嗎？
匯出功能計劃中。暫時可聯絡客服手動匯出。
疑難排解
我嘅支出總額刷新時會喺兩個數字之間切換。
v1.0.11 已修復（伺服器時區設定）。如果仲見到，強制關閉再開 App 即可。
AI 教練無回應。
最常見係本月 AI 用量到頂。免費版有限額，Premium 額度較高。睇設定 → AI Usage。
Push 通知突然失效。
打開主畫面 — App 會自動重新上傳 push token。仲唔得就喺設定 toggle 通知關再開。
結餘顯示嘅某個數字大細唔對。
v1.0.13 已修復（tabular-nums 等寬數字）。強制重載即可。