iOS Shortcut Setup
Set up automatic expense tracking on your iPhone. Answer two quick questions and we'll show you exactly the steps you need.
Let us figure out where you are in the setup process.
Have you completed your Tab.it account setup (signed up and finished onboarding)?
About automatic SMS expense tracking on iPhone
On Android, Tab.it reads bank and UPI alert messages directly. iOS does not let apps read SMS in the background, so on iPhone Tab.it works as an SMS expense tracker through a personal automation in Apple's Shortcuts app. Once it is running, every bank, card and UPI alert becomes a categorised expense — an automatic expense tracker rather than one more form to fill in.
An expense tracker app using SMS captures the transactions you would otherwise have forgotten, so Tab.it doubles as a daily expense tracker and a personal expense tracker. Setup takes about five minutes and needs three things: the app, your iOS SMS Token, and the Shortcuts app that ships with iOS.
The guide above asks two short questions first, because the right steps depend on where you already are:
- Setting up for the first time — creating the automation and connecting your SMS Token.
- Automation already created — checking it runs immediately and points at the right shortcut input.
- Tracking stopped working — troubleshooting an expense tracker from SMS that has stopped recording.
Tab.it behaves the same way as a UPI expense tracker: any UPI alert that clears your keyword filters becomes an expense, filtered on your device first. See how the automatic expense tracker works on both platforms, or download the Tab.it expense tracker app.