PocketBudget

1. Title & One-Liner

PocketBudget — Your money, your device, your rules.

A local-first personal finance app for Android that lets you track income and expenses without an account, without cloud sync, and without giving your financial data to anyone.

2. Platform Target

• Android (primary) — Google Play Store
• iOS — future consideration after Android validation

3. The Problem

Most budgeting apps fall into two traps:

1. Over-engineered — They sync to the cloud, require accounts, and treat your financial data as a product to monetize.
2. Under-featured — Simple note-taking apps that don’t understand money (categories, balances, summaries).

The gap: a clean, fast, private app that just tracks your money. No account. No sync. No server. Just a ledger on your phone.

4. Target Audience

Primary Persona: The Privacy-Conscious Budgeter

• Wants to track spending but doesn’t trust cloud-based finance apps
• Doesn’t need bank sync or investment tracking — just a simple ledger
• Comfortable with Android, likely uses a mid-range device

Secondary Persona: The Minimalist

• Tried Mint, YNAB, or similar — found them overwhelming
• Wants something that opens fast and gets out of the way
• Values simplicity over features

5. Core User Loop

1. Open app — See current balance and recent transactions
2. Add transaction — Tap +, enter amount, pick category, add note
3. Review — Dashboard shows spending breakdown by category
4. Export (premium) — Download CSV for spreadsheet users

6. MVP Feature Set

Free Tier:

• Transaction entry (income / expense)
• Category management (preset + custom)
• Dashboard with balance and spending breakdown
• Transaction history with search/filter
• Ad-supported (Google AdMob)

Premium (IAP):

• Remove Ads — one-time purchase, disables AdMob
• Export Data — CSV export of transaction history

Explicitly Out of Scope for MVP:

• Bank sync / Open Banking
• Cloud backup / sync
• iOS version
• Recurring transactions
• Budget goals / alerts

7. Tech Stack

Layer	Choice	Rationale
Framework	React Native + Expo	Cross-platform foundation, fast iteration
Local DB	expo-sqlite (SQLite)	Proven, offline-first, no server needed
Ads	Google AdMob	Standard Android monetization
IAP	RevenueCat	Handles entitlements, receipts, restore
Auth	None	Removed Firebase — no accounts needed

8. Monetization Strategy

Model: Ad-supported freemium with one-time IAP

• Free tier: fully functional with banner/interstitial ads
• Remove Ads: one-time purchase (~$2–3)
• Export Data: one-time purchase (~$1–2)

Revenue paths:

1. AdMob impressions from free users
2. IAP conversions from users who want ad-free experience
3. IAP conversions from power users who want data export

Why not subscription? The app has no server costs. A subscription model would be dishonest for a local-only app. One-time purchases align with the value delivered.

9. Privacy Design

• All financial data stored in SQLite on-device
• No user accounts, no authentication
• No data transmitted to any server (except AdMob/RevenueCat SDKs per their own policies)
• Uninstall = complete data deletion
• Privacy policy hosted publicly at /projects/pocketbudget/privacy-policy

10. Launch Criteria

• App builds and runs on physical Android device
• Core transaction flow works end-to-end
• AdMob integration tested (test mode → production)
• RevenueCat IAP products configured and tested
• Privacy policy live at public URL
• Play Store listing complete with screenshots
• APK signed and uploaded to Play Console

11. Validation Metrics (Post-Launch)

• Installs — Target: 100 in first 30 days (organic only)
• DAU/MAU ratio — Target: >20% (indicates genuine daily use)
• IAP conversion — Target: >2% of active users
• AdMob eCPM — Baseline to establish within 30 days
• Rating — Target: >4.0 stars

12. Risks