The iPad app is here.

It’s a free companion to the desktop app.

How to get the new app on your iPhone or iPad

Do nothing. That’s the future we live in now, people. For many of you, the autoupdate feature of your phone means you already received the latest version. You’ll know if it’s the latest when you pull it up on your iPad.

If the autoupdate hasn’t kicked in (or you’ve turned it off), from any iOS device that has YNAB installed, go to the App Store and tap the Updates tab at the bottom. You should see YNAB available there, ready to rock.

What’s new for the iPad App

It’s a “universal” app, meaning it’s the same install for your iPhone and your iPad. Same app, different UI and features for iPhone or iPad. The iPhone received a lot of nice little fixes, but since we’ve all been waiting for the iPad features, let’s spend the rest of this fine blog post talking about those.

You can budget

I just budgeted the entire month of August on the iPad app. It’s super-fast, super-slick, and super-nerdy for you to like it so much, but you will. Budget in landscape:

or portrait:

“But wait, won’t that just mean I have to tap a ton?”

No. You use those opposable thumbs, tap on a Budgeted cell for one of your categories and marvel as this fancy—let’s call it your Budget Drawer—pops up. Make heavy use of the NEXT button on the bottom-right.

Type in the amount, next, new amount, next…you get the idea.

OR

Use the Quick taps on the left

My favorite is to utilize the quick taps on the left of the Budget Drawer, so you aren’t typing anything. You’re presented with contextual information right at the moment of decision: “Let’s budget $500 for groceries again!”

“The fancy iPad app says here that our Average spent is $650…” “Nah. This time we’re extra serious!”

So no, the iPad app won’t force you to address reality, but it will at least present you with relevant information, which you can use to your advantage (or not). But do you see how powerful those opposable thumbs can be? You cycle through “budgeted last month” or “average spent for the last three months” with your left thumb, and the big fat NEXT button for your right thumb.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Tap. Tap. Smile. Tap. Bam. Smile. Smile. Tap.

Add transactions

Of course you can do this. But it’ll look really familiar, because it’ll be just like the workflow on your phone:

Travel back in time

Swipe right to move back a month. Swipe left to move forward again. With the added screen real estate of the iPad, this made a lot more sense.

See how weird this screenshot looks? That was me using my hands in a very contorted way to swipe halfway between months AND take a screenshot:

We’re just getting started…

Bounce around between multiple budgets

I run my rental properties through a separate budget in YNAB (here’s a podcast episode all about it, and I run YNAB (the business) through YNAB. To switch quickly between budgets, just tap the top-left little hamburger icon, get to the sidebar, tap the back arrow and you’re at our very cool Budget Picker screen that gives you thumbnail views of your budgets:

Quickly adjust budget amounts

What if I have some pesky overspending and I want to follow Rule Three and roll with the punches?

Tap the overspent balance amount and select which category should “fill up” the overspending:

Move money from one category to another

Or, if you’re sitting with what I call “vertical green,” where all of your categories are green and pretty, and you want to move some surplus to another category, just tap on the balance amount and you’ll be able to select the amount to move, and the destination category:

If you try and take too much…we make YNAB yell at you in red:

YNAB on your iPad does everything your phone does, but with a bigger screen AND all of the new features above. It has the Geosmart payees, the smart defaults, and the familiar, intuitive workflow you’ve grown to love.

Speaking of Love…

This took extraordinary effort from the iOS team, and I feel like they’ve really delivered a highly-polished product that is an absolute delight to use. Many of YNAB’s team members report that they prefer the iPad as their primary budgeting device.

Why is this a free app? Because 1) you already bought the desktop app, which the iPad app requires and 2) we love you.

AND because you’re going to help us spread the word about YNAB by leaving an awesome review on the App Store.

AND, I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank you already for all of the friends and family you’ve shared YNAB with up to this point. We are truly grateful for your business and confidence.

P.S. What about Android? We updated the UI to be much more Android-esque, and made many improvements. It’s in beta as I write this, and early beta feedback has been very, very positive. Android friends, you will like it. We have plenty more in store for Android.