How to Use

Coin · Last updated June 25, 2026

This guide covers the main Coin workflows: recording spendings, reviewing AI drafts, reading analytics, using widgets and shortcuts, and managing your local data.

Record Spendings

  • Tap the add button on Home to create a new spending.
  • Long-press the Home add button to speak a spending. Release when you are done, then review Coin's draft before adding or editing it.
  • Enter the amount with the keypad, then choose date, time, category, payment method, and currency.
  • On Home, swipe a recent spending left to right to duplicate it without confirmation, or right to left to delete it after confirming.
  • On Expenses, search, filter, sort, tap any row to edit, and use the same swipe duplicate and delete actions as Home.
  • Use Notes for optional details. Expense notes can grow vertically and show a note icon on spending cards.

Voice, Receipts, Screenshots, and AI

  • Sign in with Apple and turn on Use Coin AI in Settings to power voice expense, receipt scan, screenshot analysis, and custom Ask Insights questions without adding your own API key.
  • Start receipt analysis from Add Expense. Scan uses the camera and Upload uses the photo library.
  • For screenshot analysis, create a Shortcut that takes a screenshot and immediately passes it to Coin's Analyze Screenshot Expense action.
  • Receipt and screenshot OCR reads English and Chinese, and keeps titles and notes in the receipt's language without translating merchant or item names.
  • For voice, receipt, and screenshot analysis, Coin sends the transcribed or scanned text, your categories, payment methods, default payment method, and an example expense to Coin AI.
  • After analysis, review the title, amount, category, payment method, confidence, and notes before tapping Add or Edit.
  • When one receipt or screenshot holds several transactions, Coin shows a swipeable card for each draft so you can add or edit the ones you want and skip the rest.

Coin AI

  • Open Settings and tap the Coin AI card to sign in with Apple. Coin AI provides managed AI features and live currency rates.
  • Turn on Use Coin AI to route voice expense, receipt scan, screenshot analysis, custom Ask Insights questions, and live currency rates through Coin's managed service.
  • The Daily Limit row shows how many managed AI requests you have left today. Tap the value to switch between the total remaining count and provider-level split when available.
  • Add an optional nickname and Login Photo on the Coin AI screen. Both stay on this device and are never uploaded; a nickname replaces the title on the Settings card.
  • Your User ID appears under the avatar for support requests. Sign Out anytime to stop using Coin AI and managed rates.

Ask Insights and Analytics

  • Swipe or tap the side period labels on Expenses, Analytics, or Subs to change the selected period.
  • Long-press the period name at the top of Expenses, Analytics, or Subs to open a menu and pick Week, Month, Quarter, or Year. Triple-tap the centered label to jump back to the current period.
  • Swiping the picker moves through periods for the chosen scope. Analytics charts by day for week and month, and by month for quarter and year. The day-grid calendars appear in month view only.
  • Overview shows key metrics, spending by category, a Spending Calendar, and a Subscription Calendar.
  • Calendar markers use icons only: star = 1, moon = 3, sun = 8, and flame = 13 or more.
  • Smart Insights can appear after at least 15 spendings in the selected month so the summaries have enough data.
  • Preset Ask Insights chips use local or on-device answers. Custom spending, budget, category, subscription, pattern, and history questions can use managed Coin AI.
  • For custom Ask Insights questions, Coin AI calls on-device tools for the figures it needs, usually aggregates. If you ask about specific transactions, only the matching expenses leave the device.
  • If Ask Insights is visible but you are not signed in to Coin AI on this device, tapping it prompts you to sign in.
  • Older months load on demand. If a month is not already loaded, Coin shows a loading data overlay before switching.

Budget

  • Open Analytics, then Budget, to set or edit a monthly spending goal.
  • The Budget tab works in every period. You set the goal per month; Week, Quarter, and Year show it read-only with matching status and projection.
  • New months carry forward the most recent saved budget until you change it.
  • Budget totals use the display currency selected in Settings.

Subscriptions

  • Enable the Subs tab from Settings > Customization > Others when you want recurring payments in the main tab bar.
  • Use the Subs tab add button to create recurring payments.
  • Choose Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually. Coin creates the first expense and refreshes due renewals automatically.
  • Edit a subscription from the Subs page when the amount, frequency, payment method, or start date changes.
  • Swipe a Subs row left to right to duplicate a one-off copy dated now, or right to left to delete the recurring rule and selected record after confirming.

Customize

  • Use Settings > Customization to add, edit, hide, or reorder categories and payment methods.
  • Drag category or payment method cards to change their order in Settings and chooser sheets.
  • Use Settings > Customization > Others to choose Glass or Solid floating buttons, show or hide the Chatbot button, show or hide the Subscriptions page and whether subscriptions count in summary statistics, configure Spending Pace and Budget Overlay, and decide how negative values affect charts and totals.
  • When negative values are included in charts, supported charts can show negative amounts below zero.

Notifications

  • Open Settings > Customization > Others to turn on the Daily Reminder.
  • Choose a reminder time after notification permission is granted.
  • Coin sends the local reminder only when nothing has been logged for the day. Logging a spending cancels that day's reminder and keeps the next one scheduled.

Widgets

  • Add Analytics widgets to view total spending, spending pace, category and payment-method breakdowns, spending calendars, and subscription calendars from the Home Screen.
  • Use widget edit options to choose the visualization and switch the widget background between system, pure black, or pure white.
  • Use Settings > Customization > Widget to create Common Expenses with amount, currency, category, and payment method.
  • Reorder Common Expenses in Settings. Small and medium widgets show the first four, and tapping one adds that expense with a confirmation check.

Shortcuts

  • Open the Shortcuts app and add a Coin action when you want to record spendings from Siri, buttons, automations, or Apple Pay transaction triggers.
  • To OCR the current iPhone screen, create a Shortcut with Take Screenshot followed immediately by Coin's Analyze Screenshot Expense action, then assign that Shortcut to the Action Button.
  • Analyze Screenshot should use the Take Screenshot result for its Screenshot input. If Shortcuts asks for a file instead, delete and re-add the Coin action, or tap Screenshot and choose the Screenshot variable.
  • Use Add Expense (Detailed) when you need title, price, currency, category, payment method, date, and notes.
  • Use Add Expense (Standard) for title, price, currency, category, and payment method. Use Add Expense (Quick) for fast price, currency, category, and payment method entry.
  • Use Add Expense (Payment Text) for Apple Pay transaction automations. Map the transaction amount to Price, merchant or name to Title, card or pass to Payment Method, then choose the currency and category. Refunds or negative amounts return an unsupported negative amount error.
  • Coin saves shortcut expenses locally with your existing categories and payment methods. Create or edit those choices in Settings before using them in shortcuts.

Currency

  • Display Currency controls totals, analytics, budgets, and summaries.
  • Expense Currency controls the default currency for new spendings.
  • Coin fetches live exchange rates through Coin AI when you are signed in. Preview the latest values with Currency Rates on the Coin AI page.
  • When you add or edit a non-display-currency spending, Coin stores the converted amount for the display currency active at that time.

Data

  • Use Settings > Data to export a full backup with expenses, budgets, customizations, orders, and subscription rules.
  • Imports merge into existing data by stable identity instead of replacing everything.
  • Storage Check counts all stored Coin entries, including expenses, budgets, subscriptions, notes, customizations, order lists, and widget presets, then shows the storage file size.
  • Reset All Data removes local app data, so export first when you want a recoverable backup.
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