Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look
First Look: Gas Cubby for iPhone
In August, TUAW provided you with a first look at an iPhone trip expense tracking app called Trip Cubby. Now developer David Barnard and his company App Cubby have released Gas Cubby (click opens iTunes).
Gas Cubby is an automobile maintenance manager. If you can't remember the last time you changed the oil, checked tire pressure, or performed other preventative maintenance, this may be the app for you.
Gas Cubby tracks gas mileage and vehicle maintenance, and creates charts of mileage, gas price, and gas and service expenses. All of the data can be emailed in Excel .csv (comma-delimited) text files for further analysis on your Mac or PC. You can set Gas Cubby to remind you to schedule service appointments based on mileage or date, and the app can track multiple vehicles.
If your car was stolen, would you know your VIN (vehicle identification number)? Probably not, so Gas Cubby can also store your VIN, license plate, and insurance policy info. Just don't leave your iPhone in the glove compartment.
The $4.99 app is full-featured, and App Cubby is getting a good reputation as a development firm that listens to customer needs. Check out the Gas Cubby website for more info and screenshots than you can shake a dipstick at.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
David said 3:18PM on 11-11-2008
Does this support km/L?
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David said 3:19PM on 11-11-2008
Nevermind, just confirmed no support for Canada.
David Barnard said 3:32PM on 11-11-2008
International support is on the way!
David
App Cubby
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Ben K. said 3:38PM on 11-11-2008
They weren't kidding about listening to customers. :)
Julian said 3:57PM on 11-11-2008
Will it be available in the German App Store as well?
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SpinThis! said 4:06PM on 11-11-2008
The vehicle tracking info seems interesting but I'm not sure I would store insurance or vin info there. The risk of someone stealing your iPhone is more likely than someone stealing your car.
While it sounds good in practice, the last thing you need is a thief who knows this kind of information. It could become a real identify theft nightmare later—posing as you, calling the police or your insurance. Your title already contains your VIN and you should have plates memorized or have that information stored somewhere else.
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Z said 4:24PM on 11-11-2008
Maybe password protect that screen?
Big John said 5:46PM on 11-11-2008
Or just don't enter that information if you're worried about it.
Pixelton said 4:32PM on 11-11-2008
Good ideas about the VIN. I just added in a new secure note in 1Password covering my car and house info just in case it might come in handy!
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Don Incognito said 4:49PM on 11-11-2008
A lot of your iPhone entries are showing up on the no-iPhone RSS feed. Please fix this.
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Big John said 5:48PM on 11-11-2008
This comment is most likely better served kicked toward TUAW's tip line. I sent a similar message once about the RSS feed being screwed up and the guy that oversees the RSS feeds for Weblogs, Inc. got in touch with me!
Big John said 5:50PM on 11-11-2008
I can't wait to check this out. I have a free Ownersite membership that I won from Autoblog a year ago that I have absolutely no plans of renewing -- way too expensive for what amounts to e-mail reminders. This is much better, especially since I'm on my iPhone all the time!
I hope this can eventually take advantage of the background reminders (once implemented, *please* don't start a flame war about that in this thread) so it can predict mileage (per month, etc.) and display alert badges when an event is coming near due!
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David Barnard said 4:54PM on 11-12-2008
I'm looking forward to Apple implementing notifications. We'll definitely do something with notifications, but I'm inclined to turn it off by default. Once Apple allows notifications, your iPhone could turn into a non-stop noise factory if a lot of apps use notifications!
David
App Cubby
bill said 8:15PM on 11-11-2008
I read 95% of the way through before realizing it wasn't called "Gas Chubby"
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Bill Bankson said 1:32PM on 11-12-2008
Would be really nice to be able to print out the documentation and also be able to send the data file to my desktop - Excel format?
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David Barnard said 4:49PM on 11-12-2008
I'm working on moving the manual to a non-iphone optimized version. Check the website tomorrow for that.
To export your data, just tap the search button, the add buttons will change to an export button. You can search and filter your reports and only send what's found, or just hit export and send everything. The vehicle selector and gas/service filter will also effect the export, so you can send it for each car individually, or "All Vehicles"
David
App Cubby
Kenji said 1:05AM on 11-13-2008
Does any know any os x desktop applications that does a similar thing?
TIA
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