Exp Planner

iPhone and the Apple Pay shortcut

Use Exp Planner on an iPhone today from the Home Screen, and let a Shortcut write down every Apple Pay purchase.

The iPhone app is on its way. Until it’s out, the web app works well on an iPhone.

Put it on the Home Screen

  1. Open the web app in Safari and sign in.
  2. Tap Share (the square with an arrow) → Add to Home Screen → Add.

It opens in its own window, without Safari’s bars, and tapping into a field doesn’t zoom the page. Notifications only work from the Home Screen app: turn them on there in Settings → Notifications.

Write down Apple Pay purchases with a Shortcut

The Shortcuts app on the iPhone can run an automation after every Apple Pay payment. It sends the amount, the shop and the card to Exp Planner, and the purchase appears in Transactions, marked to review. When you import that statement later, the bank’s line takes its place.

1. Make a token

In Exp Planner: Settings → Apple Pay shortcut → New token. Give it a name (to tell your devices apart) and the account to use when the card’s name doesn’t match any account. Copy the token and the address: the token is shown only once. If you lose it, make another.

A token can only add purchases. Nothing can be read with it. You can have up to five and revoke any of them in the same place.

2. Make the automation

In the Shortcuts app on the iPhone (iOS 17 or later):

  1. Automation → New Automation → Transaction. Pick the cards to follow, choose Run Immediately, then Next → New Blank Automation.
  2. Add the action Get Contents of URL and set the URL to the address you copied.
  3. Tap the arrow to show more, then set:
    • Method: POST
    • Headers: Authorization = Bearer, a space, then your token
    • Request Body: JSON, with three Text fields:
      • amount → Shortcut Input › Amount
      • merchant → Shortcut Input › Merchant
      • card → Shortcut Input › Card or Pass
  4. Optional: add Get Dictionary Value for message from Contents of URL, then Show Notification with it. You’ll see “€12.40 at Mercadona added to Card, to review.”

3. Try it

Pay with Apple Pay. The purchase shows up in Transactions within seconds, marked to review.

Good to know:

  • Which account: the one whose name is in the card’s name (“Revolut” for “Revolut Visa”), otherwise the one chosen for the token, otherwise your first account on budget.
  • Amounts are read as Wallet writes them in your phone’s region (“€12.40”, “12,40 €”, “1 234,50 zł”). A minus is a refund. Other currencies are converted at the day’s rate.
  • Limits: 30 purchases an hour and 200 a day per token.
  • Away from Wi-Fi, Shortcuts needs mobile data to send the purchase.