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Car Manager Category: Finance. Language: English, French, Italian, German. Application for iPhone/iPad & Android devices.

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Lite version available

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Designed for anybody owning one or more vehicles (cars, motorcycles, etc.), the Car Manager application allows you to store everything related to them: administrative information, insurance, fuel or maintenance expenses, mileage of the next maintenance, date of the next technical inspections, as well as the information related to your favorite service providers (garages, assistance, specialized stores, etc.)

For each vehicle, input your fill-ups in a matter of seconds, to obtain an updated view of your expenditure, mileage and consumption. The application updates the overview and detailed statistics of your expenses: cost per spending category, cost per kilometer or daily cost. Non financial data, such as the change in mileage and average fuel consumption can also be calculated, and displayed in brief or in detail.

A carbon footprint can also be calculated, depending on the consumption of the vehicle, as well as the mass of carbon dioxide (CO2) it produces (total and average per day and per mile traveled).

Car Manager also allows all these data (costs, fill-ups, vehicle information) to be exported and sent by e-mail directly from your iPhone as a CSV file (comma separated values, which can be opened and processed by Excel or any other spreadsheet program), should you feel the need to create your own personalized statistics. The application also enables you to manage a directory containing all the information about the service providers for your vehicles: insurance companies, garages, stores, clubs, associations, etc. You can then easily locate them thanks to the Google Maps interface.

Car Manager also provides you with a Tools section, which allows you to geolocate your current position or your parking spot in a single click, so you can easily go back there later with the integrated GPS visual guiding function (or with Google Maps directions). This tools section can also help you find various services around your location: gas stations, garages, restaurants, hotels and others.

Car Manager also gives you the opportunity to stay tuned to car news: it comes with a number of RSS feeds (internet information channels) allowing you to be informed of anything related to cars and motorsports.You can of course add any RSS feed you want.

The application automatically adapts itself to the units of measurement effective in your country: kilometers or miles for distances, liters or gallons for fuel.

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Help & FAQ

How can I become familiar with the application?

During installation, the application creates some example data, one car with a few (fictitious but realistic) fill-ups.

You can then browse all the views of Car Manager, and change what you want.

You will quickly learn how to use the application and its possibilities.

Once you no longer need the sample car, you can delete it from the application.

Android : How can I restore an application I purchased?

If you lose your in-app purchase because the app was accidentally deleted (or install it on another device), or if you had to restore your device without a backup, the application won’t recognize your first in-app purchase but you are able to unlock it again for free.

• Android: select the About tab, tap the Purchase button, hit the “Restore in-app purchase” button

Important note: make sure that your device is connected to the Google Play account you used for the first in-app purchase.
Your in-app purchase will be restored, and you won't be charged again.

Can I use the application for a two-wheeler?

Yes: a two-wheeler generally has the same characteristics as a car in terms of budget and fuel consumption. Car Manager enables you to manage all motorized vehicles indistinctively: cars, motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, quads, etc.

How can I delete a vehicle?

iOS : select the Vehicles tab, hit the Edit button, then the red sign to the right of the vehicle you want to delete, and confirm the deletion.

Android : select the Vehicles tab, make a long-press gesture on the vehicle you want to delete, and confirm the deletion.

Note: Confirming the deletion of a vehicle will also delete all the fill-ups linked to that particular vehicle.

How can I delete a fill-up?

iOS : select the Vehicles tab, select the fill-ups button, hit the Edit button, then the red sign to the right of the vehicle you want to delete, and confirm the deletion.

Android : select the Vehicles tab, select the fill-ups button, make a long-press gesture on the fill-up you want to delete, and confirm the deletion.

How can I add a vehicle?

Hit the “+” button in the car list. You’ll be prompted to enter the vehicle name and its approximate mileage at the last fill-up.

Note: For instance, if your car displays 1000km, consumes approximately 10l/100km (or 25 MPG), has a tank of 50l and your tank is half full, then the mileage at your last fill-up was approximately 750km, because you used 25l and thus traveled 250km.

How can I link a picture to a vehicle?

Go to the vehicle’s description then hit the ”Edit” button in the navigation bar. Hit the camera icon and select whether you want to take a picture or use one from your library.

How can I add a fuel fill-up?

Important: fill-ups have to be entered in chronological order. Otherwise, the vehicle odometer value will not be updated automatically.

Select the vehicle in the main list, then hit the “Fuel” label, which will display the fill-up list. Hit the “+” button. Input the amount and volume of the fill-up, as well as the current mileage of the vehicle.

Note: It is important to enter the total mileage of the vehicle, not just the distance you traveled since the last fill-up. The application then calculates the distance you traveled since the last fill-up, the fuel price and your average consumption, which will help you check that the data you entered is correct.

The fill-up list also enables you to modify or delete previously entered data (in case you made a mistake).

When you input a new fill-up, the current mileage of the vehicle is automatically updated with the value you enter. You can nonetheless modify that parameter manually if you need to (if you forgot to register a fill-up for example).

It is possible to enter partial or complete fill-ups. For partial fill-ups, simply activate the Partial Fill-up switch.

How can I manually modify the mileage of a vehicle?

You input the mileage of a vehicle when you create it. It is then automatically updated every time you enter the data about a tank refill.

If you need to (for example if you made a mistake when first typing the mileage, or if you want to delete or recreate fill-ups, or if you lent your vehicle and someone else filled it up), you are able to manually modify the mileage by following these steps:

1. Select the vehicle, then hit the “Edit” button at the top right of the screen

2. Select the “current mileage” cell and enter the new value

Please note that the value you enter will be used as former mileage when you input the next fill-up.

How can I enter the fill-up history?

You have two options for inputting your fill-up history into the application:

1) Manually:

Fill-up data have to be entered chronologically, so it is important that no newer information is entered before you try to enter older data. If this is the case, you first have to delete these data.

Before entering the information about the first fill-up into the history, modify the current mileage of the vehicle so that it fits its mileage at the time of that particular refill (see previous question).

You can then enter all the history of your vehicle fill-ups, always making sure that this is done in chronological order.

2) Automatically (import of a CSV file):

Your CSV file can be of two types:

USA/UK CSV file:
the decimal separator is a period/full stop and the value separator is a comma

Non imperial countries CSV:
the decimal separator is a comma and the value separator is a semicolon

1. Create a “fuel.csv” file formatted as follows (one row for each fill-up):

• date, format YYYYMMDD

• amount paid

• gas amount

• current odometer value

• odometer value at previous fill-up

• partial fill-up (empty, or “yes”)

• comment (optional)

The file must not contain characters with accents or quotation marks.
Examples of valid CSV files for both types (2 fill-ups in May 2011):

20110501,61.25,42.5,1543,915,,comment
20110524,75.53,52.27,2207,1543,yes,

Or:

20110501;61,25;42,5;1543;915;;comment
20110524;75,53;52,27;2207;1543;yes;

iOS (iPhone, iPad):

2. Connect your device to your computer

3. In iTunes, select your target device (below Devices), and click on the “Apps” button.

4. Below File Sharing, in the list on the left, select Car Manager (or “MV01”)

5. Click on ‘Add’ in the list on the right

6. In the displayed window, select the “fuel.csv” file you created in step 1 (see above).

7. The file is transferred to your device.

8. On your target device, select About, Settings, Database Management

9. Select “Import Fuel CSV File”

10. Select the vehicle and confirm the import by clicking on the “import file” button

Android Devices:

2. copy your « fuel.csv » file in the /mnt/sdcard/data/CarManager folder of your Android device. The file is transferred to your device.

3. On your device, select the About tab, Database

4. Select “Import Fuel CSV File”

5. Select the vehicle and confirm the import by clicking on the “import file” button

How can I enter the costs history?

You have two options for inputting your costs history into the application:

1) Manually: you can then enter all the history of your vehicle costs into the app.

2) Automatically (import of a CSV file):

Your CSV file can be of two types:

USA/UK CSV file:
the decimal separator is a period/full stop and the value separator is a comma

Non imperial countries CSV:
the decimal separator is a comma and the value separator is a semicolon

1. Create a “costs.csv” file formatted as follows (one row for each cost):

• date, format YYYYMMDD

• category name

• amount paid

• comment (optional)

The file must not contain characters with accents or quotation marks.
Examples of valid CSV files for both types (2 costs in May and June 2011):

20110501,repairs,253.25,gearbox
20110624,tyres,175.53,

Or:

20110501;repairs;253,25;gearbox
20110624;tyres;175,53;

iOS (iPhone, iPad):

2. Connect your device to your computer

3. In iTunes, select your target device (below Devices), and click on the “Apps” button.

4. Below File Sharing, from the list on the left, select Car Manager (or “MV01”)

5. Click on ‘Add’ in the list on the right

6. In the displayed window, select the “costs.csv” file you created in step 1 (see above).

7. The file is transferred to your device.

8. On your target device, select About, Settings, Database Management

9. Select “Import Costs CSV File”

10. Select the vehicle and confirm the import by clicking on the “import file” button

Android Devices:

2. copy your « costs.csv » file in the /mnt/sdcard/data/CarManager folder of your Android device. The file is transferred to your device.

3. On your device, select the About tab, Database

4. Select “Import Fuel CSV File”

5. Select the vehicle and confirm the import by clicking on the “import file” button

How can I add the first fill-up of a brand new or used car?

This fill-up is a little bit special because the driven mileage will probably not be realistic (for example, car bought with a current mileage of 5 miles and completely filled up after 10 miles driven) and is thus not relevant for the consumption calculation.

We therefore advise you to register that fill-up under the “Other Expenses” category, and not as a regular fill-up.

You can, for example, create a category dedicated to the vehicle purchase costs which will help you keep track of all expenses related to this acquisition: cost price, first fill-up, registration costs, etc.

How can I add an expense not related to fuel fill-ups (maintenance, toll, insurance, etc.)?

Select the vehicle in the main list, then hit the ‘Other expenses’ label, which will display the related list. Hit the “+” button, then select the “Category” button for the expense, input the amount and validate with “OK”.

This expense list also allows you to modify and delete previous entries.

iOS: How can I enter negative costs (credit)?

To be able to enter negative costs, you first have to modify the settings: go to About / Settings / Fill-up and cost categories, then select ‘Yes’ in the ‘Allow negative costs’ option’.

You will then are able to input negative values when creating or modifying a cost, by preceding it with the minus sign (-).

You can use negative values for existing costs (for example, refund after a repair). In that case, the sum will be deducted from the total amount of that category.

You can also input a negative cost under a new category which will be devoted to receiving payments (if you rent your vehicle for example). The total amount related to that category will thus be negative, if you only input negative costs.

How can I add an expense category?

The application comes with 7 cost categories among the most conventional ones (maintenance, toll, insurance, etc.). You can add your own categories to this list when you input an expense.

In the category list, hit the “+” button and type the name of the new category. It will then be available in the category list when entering an expense.

How is the carbon footprint calculated?

The mass of CO2 emitted by your vehicle is essentially linked to its fuel consumption (and therefore to fill-ups). The equivalence used in Car Manager is that a liter of consumed fuel equals the emission of 2.3 kg of CO2 (gasoline) and 2.7 kg of CO2 (fuel oil / diesel).

How can I choose an e-mail recipient for exported data?

Once the content of the e-mail is displayed, simply populate the “To” field: you can then enter an e-mail address with the keyboard or hit the “+” button to select a contact from your directory. You can add more than one recipient, and send the e-mails using copy or blind copy.

iOS: How can I add a new RSS feed?

Go to the RSS articles page then hit “Bookmarks” in the navigation bar. This will display the current list of active RSS feeds. Hit the “+” button, and type in the name of the feed and its complete URL address.

How can I use the Notes feature?

The Notes feature allows you to record all types of events in the life of the vehicle. For example, the previous repairs, the incidents/accidents, administrative actions and documents, and so on.

For each vehicle, you can enter an unlimited number of notes: select the "Notes" cell, and tap "+" to add a new note.

A note includes the following information:

• a date in the past or future

• a title

• a photo / image (optional)

• a text description (optional)

The list of notes is presented in reverse chronological order, i.e. from the newest to the oldest.

How can I define reminders and notifications for future events?

To ensure maintenance operations on your vehicles are effectively followed up, the application allows you to plan the following events:

• next service appointment (date and/or mileage)

• next oil change (date and/or mileage)

• next technical inspection

• insurance policy expiration date

When one of these dates (or mileages) is reached:

• iOS only: the application displays a red badge over its own icon showing the number of overdue events (you are able to disable the display of this badge in the application settings)

• In the main vehicle list, a red exclamation mark is displayed right next to the name of the corresponding vehicle

• on the vehicle card, the corresponding dates/mileages are displayed in red along with a “Late” label

Moreover, a local notification (alarm) is sent by the application one week before the set deadline.

For example, if you have planned the next service appointment for 15th July 2011, an alarm will be sent on 8th July 2011 at 9a.m. (you are also able to customize the notification time in the application settings).

If at least one of the scheduled appointments is less than 30 days away or the mileage limit will be reached in less than 500 km or miles:

• In the main vehicle list, an orange exclamation mark is displayed right next to the name of the corresponding vehicle

• on the vehicle card, the corresponding dates/mileages are displayed in orange along with the number of remaining days or miles

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iPhone & iPad devices: Saving and transferring data to another device:

How can I save the application data?

Application data backup is a built-in feature of your iPhone-iPad and iTunes, as long as you regularly synchronize your device with iTunes on your PC or Mac.

At the beginning of the syncing process, iTunes saves the following data from your device:

• Contacts and Contact favorites

• App Store Application data

• Application settings, preferences and data

• Music, videos, photos, etc.

When you change your device, or even with your current device, you are able to restore that backup with iTunes. You will thus be able to retrieve all the data and content saved during the last syncing.

For more information about backup saving and restoring, please visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766?viewlocale=us_US

You can also use the “iTunes Database export” feature (see below) to run an individual backup of your application data. Be careful to properly save the “Database_Export.db” file on your PC or Mac.

How do I transfer my data from the Lite version to the Full (paid) version?

Simply use the iTunes Database Export/Import feature (the procedure is described in the following chapter), i.e. export the database from your Lite version, and import this database in the Full version

iTunes: How can I transfer my database to another device?

This process will allow you to export your application database to another device.

A) From your source device (device A):

1. select About, Settings, Database Management

2. select “Export Database”

3. connect your source device to your computer

4. in iTunes, select the device (below Devices), and click on the “Apps” button.

5. below “File Sharing” from the list on the left, select the application

6. from the list on the right, select the “Database_Export.db” file and click on “Save to”.

7. in the window that appears, select the destination where you want to save the file, and click Choose.

B) From your target device (device B):

1. connect your device to your computer

2. in iTunes, back up your device.

3. in iTunes, select your target device (below Devices), and click the “Apps” button.

4. Below File Sharing, in the list on the left, select the application

5. Click on ‘Add’ in the list on the right

6. in the window that appears, select the the “Database_Export.db” file you saved in step A.6 (see above).

7. the file is transferred to your device.

8. on your target device, select About, Settings, Database Management

9. select “Import Database”

10. Just confirm the import by clicking on “Yes” in order to replace the former database by the one just transferred.

Once finished, device B contains exactly the same data as device A.

Note 1: the Export feature can be used to back up your app database: in this case, select the ‘Database_Export.db’ file in iTunes, and click on ‘Save to’ to back it up on the chosen support (hard disk, USB storage, etc.).

Note 2: another way to back up your device is to Sync it with iTunes.

Note 3: you can use this feature to transfer your data from the Lite version (export) to the Full version (import)

iCloud: How can I transfer my application database to another device?

Running iOS 5 with a valid iCloud account, you can export your application database from your device to another device (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch) using the same iCloud account.

A) From your source device (device A):

• select About, Settings, Database Management, Import Export

• select “iCloud - Export Database”

B) From your target device (device B):

• select About, Settings, Database Management, Import Export

• select “iCloud - Import Database”. Check that the date and time correspond to the file you exported from device A.

• just confirm the import by clicking on “Yes” in order to replace the former database of device B by the one just transferred from device A.

Once finished, device B contains exactly the same app data as device A.

Note 1: iCloud sync may take several minutes to complete, especially when data size is large and Internet connection, slow.

Note 2: if you have just installed and launched the app on device B, you are advised to wait a few minutes for the app to sync with iCloud, before exporting your data from device A.

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Android devices: Saving and transferring data to another device:

Android : How can I save the application data?

You can use the “Database export” feature (see below) to run an individual backup of your application data. Be careful to properly save the “Database_Export.db” file on your PC or Mac.

Android : How can I transfer my database to another device?

This process will allow you to export your application database to another device.

A) From your source device (device A):

1. select About tab, Database

2. select “Export Database”

3. connect your device A to your computer

4. in the /mnt/sdcard/data/CarManager folder (device A), select the « Database_Export.db » file and copy it to your computer (or any other device, USB Key, etc)

B) From your target device (device B):

1. connect your device (device B) to your computer

2. select the the “Database_Export.db” file you saved in step A.4 (see above), copy this file to the /mnt/sdcard/data/CarManager folder (device B)

3. the file is transferred to your device B.

4. on your device B, select About tab, Database

5. select “Import Database”

6. Just confirm the import by clicking on “Yes” in order to replace the former database by the one just transferred.

Once finished, device B contains exactly the same data as device A.

Note 1: the Export feature can be used to back up your app database: in this case, select the ‘Database_Export.db’ file in iTunes, and click on ‘Save to’ to back it up on the chosen support (hard disk, USB storage, etc.).