I always liked tracking my income and expenses. There was an app called Spendee that I used a lot. I liked it. But it felt too complicated for me, so like every self-respecting developer, I switched to Excel. Excel was fine, but it wasn't enough. Doing anything useful required too much effort. So I thought, why not build it myself?
Let me build something nice with Ruby on Rails.
The project was up and running very quickly. Tests were written. Deployment was done. Everything worked well. I started using the app in real life. It was doing exactly what I needed, and I could track my finances cleanly.
When I build a web project, I usually try to make it responsive and mobile-friendly. This is called mobile first. The reason I do this is purely personal — because I mostly use my phone. And for an app like this, where you're adding expenses on the go, responsive design makes more sense. Tailwind CSS helped a lot here, and I put together a responsive web app pretty quickly.
But responsive alone wasn't enough. I wanted more. I started looking into PWA (Progressive Web App) and actually designed the app as a PWA from the beginning. That way I could use it like a mobile app on my phone, and it worked well enough.
Now it was time to give the app a name. I asked my wife. I just said, "I'm building this thing, if it were an animal, what would it be?" She said fox right away. Then I asked an AI what would come out of combining "finance" and "fox." It suggested Foxance. You can start with it here. I liked it. My wife liked it too. She is basically the mother of the product's name.
So Foxance was running on web and as a PWA on mobile. The features were there: income and expense tracking, categories, reports, export and import. It was a cute little thing.
But at some point I thought, what if this had a real mobile app? I had been wanting to try Hotwire Native for a while, so I rolled up my sleeves and opened Xcode. Getting a native look isn't that hard in Rails when you know what to do. But I had very little experience and struggled a lot. After a while I was still using Foxance daily, but I wasn't satisfied.
I wanted something on the App Store. After trying a few more approaches, I eventually found a tool that let me ship without opening Xcode once. No Swift. Just some YAML files and a bit of HTML/CSS. I was surprised. Is it really this quick?
After getting a solid native look, it was time for the App Store submission. A small issue came up, I got help, and the app was in the store within two days. You can check it out here.
That's the story. And it's still going. I enjoy it. I use it every day and it helps me.
Let me go through the pros and cons of each approach I tried.
Responsive Design (web)
Pros: Zero extra infrastructure, no deployment headaches, single codebase.
Cons: Mobile experience never feels truly "native." Safari limitations are annoying.
PWA
Pros: You can get a native-like feel quickly on top of an existing web app. Can be added to iOS home screen.
Cons: Limited ecosystem support. Some features don't work properly. Still can't fully replicate the native feel.
Hotwire Native
Pros: A Rails developer can build a native app quickly with very little Swift knowledge. Single codebase.
Cons: The codebase fills up with if/else conditions. CSS classes become messy. You still need to understand at least a bit of Xcode and Swift.
Native Swift + JSON API
Pros: A real native app. Being part of the Apple ecosystem. More flexibility.
Cons: Learning a new language and environment. Managing two separate codebases.
Conclusion
First of all, I'm happy because I solved my own problem. There are dozens of personal finance apps out there and I know that. I didn't invent anything new. I just solved my own problem with tools I know, and I built something where the data stays with me.
On top of that, I'm no longer a zero when it comes to native development. I learned a lot. The app isn't 100% native and I know it. But this is where I am for now.
One last thing: do you have an idea? Do you have a problem you want to solve? Everything is here. Try things yourself. Ask questions. Research. Break stuff. The important thing is to say "let's see what happens" and actually go for it.
I'm curious what you think. If you have questions, I'm here to answer them.
I write about Ruby, Rails, and software development every Thursday. You can follow me at enderahmetyurt.com.