Save the trip to have GPS continue tracking

A few users have written in concerned about the GPS stopping in the middle of tracking a trip. Turns out they hadn't saved the trip before driving away. We're working on devising a more intuitive UI, but wanted to help users understand the intended way to use MileBug to get the most out of it.

When you add a trip and turn on GPS, you actually need to return to the Add Trip screen and save the trip for the GPS to continue tracking. The incomplete/ongoing trip will appear in red in the Trips List while the GPS continues to track in the background. When you arrive at your destination, simply tap the red trip and stop the GPS tracking. The end odometer reading will be filled in automatically with the totals added to your mileage log.

Remember: Save the newly added trip to have the GPS continue tracking.

GPS Mileage Tracking with MileBug 2.1 - Published on 10/04/11

American Fork, Utah - The popular iPhone mileage log application, MileBug, has full path tracking with map display with the latest version 2.1.

When adding a new trip, select "GPS Tracking" under the odometer readings on the Add Trip screen. This will slide on a Map View and show your current location. Simply tap "Start Tracking" and MileBug will drop a pin every time you move more than 1/10 mile. You can return to Add Trip and fill in the rest of the information, save it, and even leave MileBug to open other apps. As long as MileBug is running in the background (which it does by default), it's tracking your trip.

At any time, you can open the Trip and return to GPS Tracking and see your path on the map. Your path is drawn on the map, with dragable pins every 1/10 mile. To edit your path, you can drag pins around, remove pins, even add new pins. If you happen to forget to turn off GPS tracking when you arrive at your destination, you can easily trim your path to the correct pin when you do remember.

Full Path GPS Tracking is in the full version only. MileBug Lite GPS is only "as the crow flies" and does not include map display.

Since the 2.0 version, Lite users may transfer their data the full version via iTunes File Sharing. Easy to follow instructions are included in the Backup tab inside the MileBug app.

Back in 2008, just 2 weeks after the iPhone SDK was announced, plans were started for the development of MileBug. It eventually went live in the App Store on August 25th, 2008 as one of only 2500 apps then available in the store.

Over the past 3 years, MileBug has enjoyed some recognition:
1) In January 2010, MileBug was highlighted in the What's Hot section of 57 App Stores worldwide.
2) Also in January 2010, MileBug rose to be the #1 Finance app in Ecuador and #2 Finance app in the United States.
3) Featured in the Apple's WorldWide Developers' Conference (WWDC) banners both in 2009 and 2010.
4) The MileBug logo appeared in the front window display of the Apple stores in San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

Popular on the iPhone and iPod touch, MileBug was released for the Android and Nokia/Symbian platforms in the summer of 2010, and Nokia/Qt in Spring 2011.

To make next year's taxes that much easier, and the tax returns that much larger, MileBug helps those driving their own vehicles for business, or other reasons receive their reimbursement and/or tax deduction. From small to big business, from realtors to direct sales consultants, MileBug continues to serve those needing a mileage tax break.

"I have used this now for a year and it has been a lifesaver." - customer review

"As a realtor, I am always going somewhere. This program makes it extremely easy to track my miles for tax purposes." - customer review

"Milebug saves you time and money; and is a MUST have for any business owner." - iReviewiPhoneApps

In the U.S., the IRS business rate for 2011 (July-Dec) is 55.5 cents/mile. MileBug for the iPhone/iPod touch helps people track their miles and provides emailed reports for easy submission to employers, accountants, and the IRS.

"MileBug is a mileage tracker for your iPhone or iPod touch that makes it super easy to ... track your mileage. This is great if you need to report your mileage to your boss ... the [IRS] ... or for any personal reasons." - AppStoreApps

"In my job, I need a way to track mileage for work trips around town. MileBug does a great job of providing a really simple (and IRS friendly) method of tracking my trip logs. I really like how I can export the reports to email for reimbursement and reporting." - The Apple Blog

Inside the MileBug app is an option to select kilometers instead of miles. From within the Presets, users can define custom rates for business, charity, medical, and other categories. If you get one rate from your employer for reimbursement, and another rate from the IRS for your side business, you simply create two different business rates.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone and iPod touch
* Requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later
* 1.0 MB

Pricing and Availability:
MileBug 2.1 for iOS is $2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Finance category.

MileBug 2.1 - GPS Full Path Tracking with Map Display

Last night MileBug 2.1 hit the App Store with the most exciting feature of the year - GPS Full Path tracking with Map Display. Ever since Apple allowed apps to run in the background, users have been requesting full GPS tracking. Now it's here - http://bit.ly/MileBug!

When adding a new trip, select "GPS Tracking" under the odometer readings on the Add Trip screen. This will slide on a Map View and show your current location. Simply tap "Start Tracking" and MileBug will drop a pin every time you move more than 1/10 mile. You can return to Add Trip and fill in the rest of the information, save it, and even leave MileBug to open other apps. As long as MileBug is running in the background (which it does by default), it's tracking your trip.

At any time, you can open the Trip and return to GPS Tracking and see your path on the map. Your path is drawn on the map, with dragable pins every 1/10 mile. To edit your path, you can drag pins around, remove pins, even add new pins. If you happen to forget to turn off GPS tracking when you arrive at your destination, you can easily trim your path to the correct pin when you do remember.

Full Path GPS Tracking is in the full version only. MileBug Lite GPS is only "as the crow flies" and does not include map display.

Please let us know in the comments below how it's working for you and suggestions on improvement, or even new features for our next release.

MileBug in the App Store - http://bit.ly/MileBug

iPhone GPS: Why NOT use it for mileage tracking?

When we first designed MileBug, our intent was to use the new GPS feature of the iPhone 3G to track mileage. It would require less effort and provide more accuracy in case of IRS audit. Unfortunately the iPhone will not allow 3rd party apps, like MileBug, to run in the background. 

So while we thought it would be great for a user to simply turn on MileBug at the start of a trip and have the whole trip mapped, we realized that if the user chose to do anything else with their phone (take a call, use maps, pass to passenger to play a game, etc) then the pathway during that activity would be lost! Why? Because in order to answer/place a call, get directions, or play a game, the mileage app would be shutdown. We could always pick back up once the user restarted the app after the other activity, but where would that leave the user...with a gap in the trip! And what if they forgot to restart? It's fairly easy to go back and fill in odometer readings, but a little more challenging to go back and fill in GPS coordinates.

We also considered having a simple GPS start point and end point and let Google Maps calculate the route. That may still be an option, but it serves the IRS more than the user. That is, Google Maps will calculate the shortest route, and thus the smallest deduction. What if you got lost and spent another 5 miles wandering? Or if you were given different directions, other than the shortest route? The start/stop GPS points would cheat you out of the deduction you truly deserved.

Please let us know how you feel about using GPS. Did we place too much importance on the concerns we came up with? Would it still be useful in some way? Just click the "comments" link below and let us know.  Thanks!