Gastos

Product Introduction

1. Definition: Gastos is a localized, private expense management application built exclusively for the iOS ecosystem. Categorized as a "local-first" personal finance tool, it utilizes on-device machine learning and Apple’s native frameworks to provide automated spending tracking without the need for cloud-based data processing or external server synchronization.

2. Core Value Proposition: Gastos exists to bridge the gap between high-utility automated expense tracking and absolute user privacy. By eliminating the "account-first" model common in fintech, Gastos provides a zero-latency, private-by-default environment. It targets users seeking a secure spending tracker that offers advanced features like OCR receipt scanning and multi-currency travel support without exposing financial data to third-party servers or tracking SDKs.

Main Features

1. On-Device AI Input Parsing: Gastos utilizes three primary input vectors—natural language text, voice transcription, and optical character recognition (OCR). Using Apple’s Speech framework for voice-to-text and Vision OCR for receipt scanning, the app extracts merchant names, transaction dates, and total amounts directly on the iPhone's processor. The NLEmbedding (Natural Language Embedding) framework allows the app to perform semantic analysis, understanding intent so that a search for "caffeine" or "breakfast" correctly identifies "coffee" or "bagel" entries without manual tagging.

2. Intelligent Travel Mode: This feature automates multi-currency financial logging by leveraging system-level timezone detection. When a user crosses borders, Gastos triggers Travel Mode, enabling real-time conversion for over 150 currencies. It utilizes cached exchange rates to ensure functionality in offline environments (e.g., airplanes or remote areas). All foreign transactions are stored with both the original local amount and the home-currency equivalent, providing live trip analytics and cumulative spend summaries without requiring manual math or internet connectivity.

3. Local-First Privacy Architecture: Unlike traditional expense trackers that rely on Firebase or custom backends, Gastos is built on SwiftData, Apple’s persistent storage framework. This architecture ensures that 100% of the database resides on the user's hardware. The app contains no third-party tracking SDKs and does not require an email address or account creation. Data remains under the user's control, with native support for manual exports in JSON and CSV formats for external auditing or backup.

Problems Solved

1. Pain Point: Data Privacy and Financial Surveillance: Most financial apps monetize user data or require cloud storage, creating a permanent record of a user's habits on external servers. Gastos solves this by removing the cloud entirely, making it immune to server-side data breaches or corporate data harvesting.

2. Target Audience: The product is designed for privacy-conscious individuals, international frequent flyers, digital nomads, and iOS power users who prefer high-performance native apps over bloated web-view alternatives. It is particularly valuable for users who find traditional manual entry apps too time-consuming and cloud-based apps too invasive.

3. Use Cases:

• International Business Travel: Instantly converting a dinner bill in Tokyo (JPY) to a home currency (USD) for accurate daily budget tracking.
• On-the-Go Logging: Using voice commands to log a "twenty dollar lunch" while walking, avoiding the friction of manual form-filling.
• Tax Preparation: Scanning paper receipts throughout the year and exporting the compiled data into a CSV for an accountant, ensuring no physical records are lost.

Unique Advantages

1. Differentiation: Gastos differs from competitors like Mint or YNAB by operating entirely offline and forgoing the subscription-as-a-service (SaaS) model. While most competitors require a "linking" of bank accounts (via Plaid or similar), Gastos maintains an "air-gapped" approach to financial logging, prioritizing user input speed and data sovereignty over bank synchronization.

2. Key Innovation: The integration of Siri & Spotlight support combined with on-device semantic search. Because Gastos uses Apple's native AI frameworks, it can surface spending data through system-level searches and voice queries faster than apps that must fetch data from a remote API. Its "Zero-Form" UI philosophy—relying on AI to parse a single string of text or a photo—significantly reduces the "logging fatigue" that causes most users to abandon expense trackers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Is Gastos really free with no hidden subscriptions? Yes. Gastos is a completely free iPhone expense tracker. There are no in-app purchases, no monthly subscription fees, and no "pro" features locked behind a paywall. The full suite of AI tools, including receipt scanning and Travel Mode, is available to all users immediately upon download.

2. How does Gastos convert currencies without an internet connection? Gastos uses cached exchange rates for over 150 currencies. The app updates these rates periodically when an internet connection is available and stores them locally. This allows the Travel Mode to perform real-time conversions accurately even when the user is offline or using a local SIM card without a data plan.

3. Where is my spending data stored and is it backed up? Your data is stored exclusively on your iPhone’s internal storage using the SwiftData framework. Gastos does not have its own cloud. To backup your data, you can use standard iOS device backups (iCloud/iTunes) or use the "Export" feature within the app to save your history as a CSV or JSON file to your own secure storage, such as a private Drive or an external hard drive.

4. Does Gastos scan receipts using a third-party service? No. Gastos uses Apple's Vision framework to perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) locally on your device. This means the image of your receipt is processed by your iPhone's CPU/NPU and never leaves the device. No third-party AI services or cloud APIs ever see your receipts or financial information.