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Getting Started with QuickCatch

QuickCatch is an automated companion app for Android that instantly captures transaction notifications and matches/syncs them to your YNAB (You Need A Budget) accounts in real-time. By bridging the gap between card swipes and bank imports, QuickCatch ensures your budget categories are updated seconds after you spend money.

🛠️ Prerequisites

Before installing and setting up QuickCatch, ensure you meet the following requirements:

Android Device: Android 7.0 (API Level 24) or higher. Fully compatible with Google Play Store certified devices and uncertified, privacy-focused ROMs like GrapheneOS (features hardware feature overrides and billing manager resilience).
Active YNAB Account: A configured budget with at least one active checking, cash, or credit card account.
Notification Access: A device configured to show financial transaction alerts in the system tray (alerts from apps like Chase, Citi, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, etc.).
Gmail Integration (Optional): Access to the Google Account linked to your bank emails if you wish to run instant background parsing for email notifications.
YNAB OAuth Sign-In: Used to securely connect the app to the official YNAB API.

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Follow these steps to get QuickCatch fully configured and integrated on your Android device:

Step 1: Install & Onboarding

Download and install the QuickCatch package (com.trinhism.quickcatch) from the Google Play Store onto your Android device.
Upon launching the application for the first time, read and accept the Terms of Service (TOS).
You will be greeted by the Welcome Screen introducing you to the real-time syncing flow.
Follow the initial Getting Started Checklist that guides you through establishing permissions and connecting account integrations.

1. Terms of Service

2. Welcome Screen

3. Onboarding Checklist

Step 2: Grant Permissions & Notification Access

QuickCatch runs in the background to capture transaction alerts. For this, it requires two system-level configurations:

Setup Connectivity: View your connectivity status via the onboarding list and tap Grant Permissions.
Notification Listener Authorization: Follow the system settings redirection:
- Select QuickCatch from the Device & App Notifications list.
- Toggle Allow notification access to ON.
- Confirm the system prompt by tapping Allow to enable reading notification payloads.
Battery Optimization Bypass: Grant permission to run unrestricted in the background so Android does not put the listener service to sleep.

Connectivity Setup List

1. Settings List

2. Notification Settings

3. Scroll to QuickCatch

4. Toggle Access ON

5. Allow Permissions

Step 3: Connect to YNAB

QuickCatch secure-syncs transactions directly to the official YNAB API.

Navigate to Settings > YNAB Connection in the app.
Tap Authorize YNAB Account to open the secure authorization browser page.
Log in with your YNAB credentials and click Authorize. QuickCatch will automatically store the secure credentials and redirect back.
Select your Target Budget and map your local parsed bank alerts to their corresponding YNAB checking or card accounts.

YNAB Authorization Portal

Budget Account Mapping

Step 3b (Optional): Connect Gmail Parser

If you wish to capture transaction alerts sent directly via email:

Under settings, select Google Account Login.
Perform Google OAuth login to authorize read-only access to transaction emails.
The email parser will scan incoming mail from verified banks in real-time.

Gmail Account Integration

Step 4: Capture & Verify Your First Transaction

To test your setup:

Make a small purchase or trigger a notification from a payments app.
Tap the push notification generated by QuickCatch to review the transaction details in the list.
In the transaction list, you can edit the Payee name, adjust Category mapping, and select the Account before uploading to YNAB.
Tap upload to instantly sync the cleared entry into your budget ledger!

Pending Transactions List

Editing Payee Info

Selecting Budget Category

💡 Practical Example: Accurate Transaction Entry in a Single Click

To see the power of QuickCatch, consider this common everyday use case at a gas station pump:

Phase 1: The Temporary Pump Hold ($1.00)

The Swipe: You swipe your credit card at the pump to buy fuel.
The Hold: The gas station issues a temporary pre-authorization hold (typically $1.00 or $100.00), which triggers an instant email alert from your card provider.
The Interception: QuickCatch catches the email. It parses the merchant (e.g. Shell Oil) and the temporary amount of $1.00.
The User Choice: Since you know this is just a hold, you tap the Archive button directly on the push notification. This automatically archives the source email alert in your Gmail account, clearing your inbox without you ever having to open the Gmail app.

Phase 2: The Completed Transaction (One-Click YNAB Send)

The Final Settlement: After you finish fueling, the pump finishes and the final transaction (e.g. $34.50) settles, triggering a final notification or email confirmation.
The Auto-Fill Match: QuickCatch intercepts the final transaction. Instead of forcing you to type the details:
- Payee: Automatically cleaned from SHELL OIL #481729 to Shell.
- Account: Automatically routed to your mapped Credit Card account via your account rules.
- Category: Pre-filled to “Gas/Fuel” using Category Intelligence (based on your recent 3-month history).
The One-Click Send: A notification banner appears on your phone showing the pre-filled transaction parameters. You tap the Send to YNAB button directly on the push notification shade.

One-click… caught, verified, and sent. The transaction is logged in YNAB immediately, keeping your budget accurate without ever requiring you to open the QuickCatch app or manually type a single field.

[!TIP] To test the notification parser and simulate transaction alerts safely without real credentials, perform a Full App Reset in the maintenance tools panel, launch the app in Demo Mode, and tap the Simulate Bank Alert button.