Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Quicken for Mac 2015

Finally, Quicken has released an update for Mac users! This is meant to be a full version to replace Quicken for Mac 2007, with more functionality than Quicken Essentials for Mac. Unfortunately, it sounds like Intuit has failed once again to keep Mac users happy. The new software is getting pretty terrible reviews on Amazon. And it's not cheap! $74.95! Even against my better judgment, I was curious to try it because it will sync with a new Quicken iphone app, but I'd be resigning myself to more manual data entry because the Quicken for Mac 2015 doesn't allow import of QIF files, which is all that some of my accounts offer for downloading transactions.

As long-time readers of this site may remember, being able to enter transactions in a PDA or smartphone and sync with a desktop app has always been a big priority for me. It's a big part of how I track my finances, and I think tracking my finances down to the last penny is a big part of how I stay on track with my savings goals. I used to use a few different Palm apps, including Pocket Quicken. When I moved to the iPhone, I started using PocketMoney, which was the only app I could find that would "sync" with Quicken. I say that in quotation marks because the process is not a one-click sync, it's a rather complicated back and forth process, where you transfer a QIF file of recent transactions from iPhone to desktop, and then transfer a full restore of your updated accounts, transactions and balances back to the iPhone via another QIF file. But even if a bit time-consuming, it worked quite well... until now.

I finally upgraded my iPhone OS to iOS7. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming, because I preferred the look of iOS6 and was afraid a new OS would slow down my phone, but eventually, so many of my apps started to be incompatible that I figured I might as well do it. Fortunately my phone is working fine, but PocketMoney is now much more prone to crashing and has some weird issues, such as the keyboard covering fields where you'd want to read what you're typing. It still functions, though it's somewhat annoying to have to scroll to where you can see what you're entering. And the crashes make me worry that I'll lose data. Unfortunately the original developer of PocketMoney died a while ago, and his successors at the company don't seem to be keeping the software up to date. It's a shame, as there still doesn't seem to be any real alternative for my situation!

It's a shame-- I was all excited about a new version of Quicken, and then so disappointed when I saw the scathing reviews. Check it out on Amazon.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

would the quicken iphone app work to replace Pocket Quicken?

Anonymous said...

I use Quicken 2014 version for Windows, running it on my iMac through Parallels, and it's adequate at best. I find it to bug-ridden, won't connect correctly to credit union accounts, etc., and there is no customer service to speak of. For those of you with relatively few accounts, Mint.com is superior in all respects to any version of Quicken.

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain on Quicken. When I became a Mac user in 2008 as I had been on Windows Quicken since 1998. So Parallels, which I needed to use for work from home situations, shielded me from leaving Quicken. Eventually I retired and the only reason I used Parallels was for Quicken. So I faced up to my actual addiction to a piece of that software and view of my finances. I loved all the rest of the Mac software I was now using. So I researched to death and chose Moneydance in 2011. It's a beauty and actually gave me new insights as the info is presented differently. The only thing I miss, and to this day, is that you can't easily do a period to period spending analysis -- i.e. spending in Dec/13 compared to Dec/14 in two tidy columns. Have to do do some exporting to Excel for that. Sorry for the ramble on - the zeal of a reformed addict coupled with a new fanaticism. Maybe this has been helpful.