AUTOMATIC TRACKING SETUP

Automatic tracking:
setup instructions

On Android, Budget AI records payments from your chosen bank and wallet notifications. On iPhone, connect Apple Pay, SMS or notifications through Shortcuts.

Watch the videos

ANDROID / BUDGET AI

Android: built-in automatic tracking

Choose your payment apps once. Budget AI reads their matching notifications, uses AI to recognize the payment and saves the transaction in the background.

  1. Open Automatic tracking

    In Budget AI settings, open Automatic tracking and tap Set up. Automatic tracking requires Premium. Review the AI processing terms and allow Budget AI notifications so you can see results and errors.

  2. Allow notification access

    Tap Open settings in the setup guide, enable Budget AI under Notification access, then return to the app.

  3. Choose your bank apps

    Add the bank or wallet apps that notify you about payments. For each source, set payment keywords, such as Purchase or Debit, and optionally an account. Use the notification title to narrow the source further; for a messaging app, enter the title of the bank conversation exactly as shown.

  4. Check the connection

    At Check the connection, tap Check. Budget AI sends itself a test notification and verifies that it can read it. Allow Budget AI to show notifications if requested.

  5. Allow background activity

    Open the battery settings from the guide and allow Budget AI to run in the background. Depending on your phone, select Unrestricted, enable autostart or remove the app from sleeping apps.

  6. Finish and check your first payment

    Tap Done. After your first payment, check the amount, category and account in Budget AI.

Works when the app is closed

Payments are processed in the background. Without a connection, they wait in the queue and processing retries when connectivity returns. Phone battery restrictions can delay background work.

You choose the sources

Only notifications matching your selected sources are processed. Keyword and title filters narrow the input; stop words help exclude sensitive messages before AI processing. Choose one source per payment to avoid duplicates.

Diagnostics in the app

Check notification access, the last source notification, the last captured payment and background-run status. Enable notifications about every run to see which payments were logged, skipped or failed.

Can I use notifications from my messaging app?

Add the messaging app as a notification source and specify the title of the conversation with your bank. Budget AI uses the notification text, not access to your SMS history. The message must actually appear in a notification with readable payment details.

Notification access is unavailable, or payments stopped arriving

If Android grays out the access switch, open Budget AI’s app info and check whether Allow restricted settings is available in the menu. Then return to notification access. If tracking stops later, check battery restrictions, background activity and autostart, and run the connection check again. Setting names vary by phone.

Custom workflows: Tasker, MacroDroid and links →

Before setting up iPhone

  1. Install and open Budget AI. Automatic tracking requires Premium.
  2. Open Automatic tracking in Budget AI settings.
  3. Allow notifications to see when a payment is processed or needs attention.
  4. Review and accept AI processing in the app. Without consent, payments wait in the queue.

01 / IPHONE

iOS 17–26

Create an automation manually in the Automation tab. Choose your payment source.

PAY

Apple Pay

  1. Open Shortcuts

    Go to the Automation tab and tap + or New Automation.

  2. Choose the trigger

    Choose Wallet (on iOS 17–18: Transaction), pick your cards, select Run Immediately and tap Next.

  3. Add the action

    Tap New Blank Automation → Add Action. Find Budget AI and choose Track Apple Pay.

  4. Connect the fields

    Tap Amount → Shortcut Input, then tap the variable again and choose Amount. Repeat for Merchant and Card.

Your next Apple Pay payment will appear in Budget AI.

Watch this setup ↘
SMS

Bank SMS

  1. Open Shortcuts

    Go to the Automation tab and tap + or New Automation.

  2. Choose your bank

    Choose Message. Pick your bank in Sender or enter a word from its payment texts in Message Contains, such as “Purchase”. Select Run Immediately and tap Next.

  3. Add the action

    Create a blank automation, find Budget AI and add Track Text or SMS.

  4. Pass the message

    In Text, choose Shortcut Input — this contains the bank’s message. Save your automation.

Payments from matching bank texts will be added to Budget AI.

Watch this setup ↘

02 / IPHONE

iOS 27 and later

Add a ready-made shortcut with the trigger and Budget AI action already connected. Choose your bank and allow the first run.

iOS 27+

Apple Pay

After adding it, open the shortcut and turn on the Automation switch in the Wallet trigger at the top. Select your cards if needed.

Add shortcut ↗
iOS 27+

Bank SMS

In the trigger, choose your bank as the sender and enter a word from its payment texts in Message Contains.

Add shortcut ↗
iOS 27+

Bank notifications

In the trigger, select your bank’s app and add a filter for a word from payment notifications. Add another trigger for another bank.

Add shortcut ↗

Run the shortcut once

Open the added shortcut in Shortcuts and tap the run button. When iOS asks to run the Budget AI action, allow it.

Do not select Wallet or Messages in a notification automation. Apple Pay and SMS have their own setups; combining them can record a payment twice.

Set up iOS 27 manually

  1. Create a shortcut

    Tap + in Shortcuts. Under Add Action, open Automation and choose Wallet, Message or Notification.

  2. Configure the trigger

    For Wallet, choose your cards. For SMS, choose the bank sender or a payment keyword. For notifications, choose your bank’s app and a Message Contains filter.

  3. Add the Budget AI action

    Use Track Apple Pay, Track Text or SMS or Track Notification for your chosen source.

  4. Connect trigger variables

    For Apple Pay, use the Transaction variable’s amount, merchant and card properties. For SMS, pass the Message variable to Text. For notifications, fill Title, Message and App from the Notification variable; App is under the arrow next to the action.

Categories and filters

Category and account

For Apple Pay, leave these empty to use remembered choices or AI suggestions. Set them manually only if every payment should go to the same category or account.

Only relevant messages

SMS and notification actions offer additional keyword filters. Stop words in Budget AI help keep messages containing codes and passwords out of AI processing.

Check the result

Review the amount, category and account after your first payment. Enable remembering merchant categories and card accounts to reuse confirmed choices for future entries.

IOS / ADVANCED WORKFLOWS

iOS: save your AI results with Log Transaction

Recognize a receipt or message with your chosen AI, then pass the result to Budget AI using Log Transaction in Shortcuts.

  1. Recognize the data your way

    Receive text, a photo or a document in your workflow and process it with your chosen AI. Extract the amount, transaction type and other fields you want to save.

  2. Add Log Transaction

    In Shortcuts, tap Add Action, find Budget AI and choose Log Transaction. Pass the amount as a positive number and choose Expense or Income separately.

  3. Pass the fields as text

    Category, subcategory, account and currency accept text values directly from your AI response or shortcut variables. For example: category — “Food”, subcategory — “Coffee”, account — “Main card”, currency — “USD”. Use the names of your categories, subcategories and accounts in Budget AI. You can also pass a date and note.

  4. Save one transaction or a list

    Each call to Log Transaction adds one transaction. If your AI returns a list, use Repeat with Each and run the action for each item.

Save prepared transactions

Log Transaction saves prepared transactions without AI recognition and is available without Premium. Any external AI service has its own terms.

If omitted, the date defaults to now, the account to the one selected in the app, and the currency to the account’s currency.

ANDROID / TASKER / MACRODROID

Android: custom workflows with your own AI

Use Budget AI links to add transactions from Tasker, MacroDroid or your chosen AI.

  1. Copy a link from Budget AI

    Install and open Budget AI, then open Settings → Automation links. Tap the action you need to copy its link.

  2. Choose a trigger in your automation app

    In Tasker or MacroDroid, choose the event that should start the workflow, such as a bank SMS or notification. Give that tool the permissions it needs. Filter by sender or bank app and payment keywords.

  3. Prepare the data and open the link

    Pass the event text to recognize_text, or extract the fields with your own rules or AI and use add_transaction. Configure an action that opens the resulting URI in Budget AI. URL-encode parameter values before inserting them.

  4. Test one transaction

    Run the workflow once with sample data. Check the amount, type, account and category. Then test a real trigger on your phone, including while it is locked; background launches depend on Android and the automation tool.

Budget AI recognizes the text

The recognize_text link uses the same recognition flow as text and voice input. One result opens for review; multiple results open together for confirmation. Internet access and the app’s AI usage limits apply.

Your rules or your AI

Use add_transaction for one prepared transaction or add_transactions for a list. These actions save fields without Budget AI recognition or the entry form. Your chosen AI service has its own terms and costs.

Quick access to input

Use voice to start voice input, scan to open the scanner, or transaction_form to open a new transaction form. Copy the corresponding links from settings.

Link formats and transaction fields

Replace the sample values with your data. Use category and account names from Budget AI.

Recognize text and review

budgetai://recognize_text?text=Coffee%206.50%20and%20taxi%2012

Save one prepared transaction

budgetai://add_transaction?amount=6.50&type=expense&currency=USD&note=Coffee

Save a list: URL-encoded JSON in items

budgetai://add_transactions?items=%5B%7B%22amount%22%3A6.5%2C%22type%22%3A%22expense%22%7D%2C%7B%22amount%22%3A500%2C%22type%22%3A%22income%22%7D%5D

Open voice input, the scanner or the form

budgetai://voice
budgetai://scan
budgetai://transaction_form
Parameters for add_transaction and objects in items
FieldValue
amountRequired positive number, such as 6.50. Use type for expense or income.
typeexpense or income. If omitted, the category type is used; otherwise it defaults to expense.
category / subcategoryAn existing name or ID; names are matched without case sensitivity. A subcategory belongs to the supplied category. Omit category to save an uncategorized transaction.
accountExisting account name or ID. If omitted, the selected account is used, otherwise the first account.
currencyCurrency code such as USD or EUR. Defaults to the account’s currency, or the app default when there is no account.
date / noteOptional ISO 8601 date and note. The date defaults to now.

Encode each parameter value, not the entire URL. Spaces can be %20 or +; a literal + must be %2B and & must be %26. For add_transactions, encode the JSON array as the items value. Unknown names or currency codes produce an error. A batch can be partly saved: check the result before repeating it to avoid duplicates.

Choose what your workflow forwards

Filter out codes, passwords and unrelated messages in Tasker or MacroDroid before passing data to Budget AI or another AI. Built-in auto-tracking stop words do not filter your external workflow before it sends data. Choose a single trigger per payment to avoid processing both its SMS and notification.

These custom links can open Budget AI; their launch behavior depends on Android and the automation tool.

Recognition rules and diagnostics

Rules and remembered names

Automatic tracking has separate AI category rules. Edit remembered merchant-to-category and card-to-account mappings, including subcategories, to keep future transactions consistent.

Queue and diagnostics

Check the automation queue when a payment is waiting for connectivity, access or AI consent. Android retries automatically after connectivity returns; on iPhone, open the app to resume processing. Diagnostics show what to check and can notify you about every run.

Two kinds of stop words

Regular stop words match inside words; exact stop words match whole words. Customize both lists for your bank’s messages and review which filters fired. They reduce unwanted processing but are not a guarantee that all sensitive text is blocked.

Need a hand?

I can’t find Budget AI actions in Shortcuts

Make sure Budget AI is installed and has been opened. Search for Track Apple Pay, Track Text or SMS, or Track Notification. Bank notification tracking requires iOS 27 or later.

The automation asks for confirmation

On iOS 17–26, check Run Immediately. On iOS 27, run the added shortcut manually once and allow the Budget AI action.

A payment hasn’t appeared

Check the selected cards, sender or bank app and text filters. In Budget AI, check Premium access, AI processing consent and the automatic tracking queue.

A purchase was recorded twice

Check for multiple automations handling the same source. Do not select Wallet or Messages in the bank notification trigger.

IOS SETUP

Video walkthroughs

Apple Pay and SMS setup on iOS 17–26. The videos show the Russian interface.

iOS 17–26

Apple Pay

1 min 04 sec
Open video separately ↗
iOS 17–26

Bank SMS

42 sec
Open video separately ↗
More questions? Talk to us ↗