Using Favorite/Frequent Trips

We often go to the same places with the same purpose, and so it makes sense to capture these for quick reuse later. That way we don't have to enter all the information over and over again each time we make one of the frequent or favorite trips.

Add to Favorite Trips
To do this in MileBug, simply scroll to the bottom of the Add Trip or Edit Trip screen and you'll see the "Add to Favorite Trips" button. The screenshots shown here are for iPhone, but the buttons are in the same places on both Android and Windows Phone.

Use a Favorite Trip
The next time you add a trip, you can now choose the "Favorite/Frequent Trips" button at the top of the Add Trip and Edit Trip screens. This will bring up a list of the favorite trips you've saved. Just tap the one you want, and the data all fills in. The end odometer reading of your last trip with this vehicle is used as the start odometer for this new trip, and the end odometer is simply the miles/km recorded in the favorite trip added to that new start odometer.

Enjoy using Favorite/Frequent Trips!

Start the New Year right by tracking your trips!

Welcome to 2012! Even though it's potentially a few months before you start putting together your taxes for 2011, right now is the time to start your 2012 taxes the right way by tracking ALL your business miles, charity miles, and medical miles. And MileBug is here for you to do just that.

How does $1000 tax deduction sound?
The IRS left the very nice tax deduction rate for business miles at $0.555/mile. That's $5.55 for every 10 miles you drive your personal vehicle for business purposes. If you average 10 miles per trip, and 2 trips per week, that's over 1000 miles on the year for a very respectable tax deduction of over $550! If you drive more than a couple trips per week and they average more than 20-30 miles or more, then you're looking at well over a $1000 deduction. And who couldn't use that?

"Favorite Trips" make logging the short trips easy and thus profitable, too!
What about the little trips? The short trips to the supply store, or to the post office? Too much hassle? Not with MileBug. And the little trips add up, too. Set up a Favorite Trip for each of these common outings, and it's a quick few taps to log the trip. Two to three miles here, 3-4 miles there...and you have another hundred or more on your tax deduction.

MileBug on iOS (iPhone), Android, and very soon Windows Phone 7
Apple and Google have emerged as the giants in the mobile app world with iPhone apps and Android apps. MileBug is available for both. Microsoft is making great efforts to join the party with the new Windows Phone 7, and MileBug is almost there, too. It's been submitted...just awaits approval and release from the Microsoft powers that be. We're upgrading both iPhone and Android versions, too. So keep the feature requests coming!

Happy New Year everyone! Let's make it great!

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.

Using Kilometers: Accessing your iPhone Settings

Basically, Apple has designated the iPhone/iPod Touch General Settings as the place to make "set once" choices that affect the behavior of an application. This is where the kilometers/miles setting can be found.

On the home screen, there is an icon labeled "Settings" that is gray and looks like a gear. Open "Settings" and scroll to the bottom of the screen. There you will see a selection for each application you have installed that has "set once" choices. MileBug will be listed, and by selecting it, you will find the following options:

1) Open To: (Trips List or Add Trip)
2) Measurement: (Kilometers or Miles)

So to use kilometers, simply select kilometers for the Measurement setting and return to MileBug.