Installing on a phone, and updates
An icon
On the phone's home screen
No app store involved
Offline mode
Opens at once, even with no signal
Turned on in settings
By itself
How updates arrive
Restart if something sticks
Installing
Caudal is a web app; no app store is involved.
- Android, Chrome: browser menu → Install app.
- iPhone, Safari: Share → Add to Home Screen.
Once installed it opens from an icon, full screen, with no address bar.
Offline mode
Turned on in Settings → Offline mode, separately on each phone. With it the app opens at once: it shows the last saved data and quietly swaps in fresh figures as soon as they arrive. With no signal it still opens, and a line at the bottom says what time the figures are from.
An expense recorded offline is kept on the phone — "Waiting to send: 1" shows at the bottom — and is sent by itself once the signal is back. It cannot be sent twice: each entry has its own number and the server accepts it once. If the server refuses one (its account was deleted meanwhile, say), it stays listed so you can enter it again.
Without offline mode, losing the signal shows "No connection — changes will not be saved right now".
Updates
The app updates itself. If a screen has been open for a long time, coming back to it offers a reload; accept it, or an old version may disagree with a new server.
If something sticks
- Close the app and open it again.
- Pull the page down to reload.
- If that did not help, write to us from settings, the Support button. A screenshot or a screen recording makes it much faster to work out.
Why it is not in an app store
Caudal is a website that installs onto a phone as an app. An icon on the home screen, its own launch without an address bar — all the same, except updates arrive at once rather than waiting for a store review, and nothing needs downloading again with each version.
On Android the "Install" button appears by itself after a while of use. If it is not showing, open the browser menu and choose "Install app". On iPhone: the "Share" button at the bottom → "Add to Home Screen".
If you paid without a signal
Markets and underpasses often have no signal, and the entry is needed at the moment of paying — reconstructing at night loses a third to a half of the small items. With offline mode, record the expense as usual: it is kept on the phone and sent by itself. Without it, keep the amount in a phone note and add it once you are back online; the entry date can be set to the real day of the purchase.
Reminders
Separate from installing, in settings. The daily one: if no expense was recorded all day, the app reminds you before midnight. Plus reminders about debt payments, credit card payments and category limits.
You can switch off individually what you do not want. The app does say plainly that some are worth keeping: a missed card payment costs money.
How it looks
A light and a dark theme, and eight soft background tints. Cards stay white and icons stay bright — the background changes the mood of the screen without getting in the way of the figures. The home screen is configurable too: blocks can be turned on, off and reordered.
If something sticks
Close the app and open it again; the update comes down by itself. If that does not help, open the site in a browser — the latest version is always there.
What to look at when choosing an expense tracker at all — how to choose an expense tracker.