04App developmentEveryday toolsTesting before submission
Nickelby, an allowance ledger for parents
A digital allowance ledger for parents on iPhone and Android: an animated jar for each child, a savings goal and a regular allowance, with no real money and no bank.
Before app store submission. Every iPhone test passed
The challenge
Before I planned a single screen I went through hundreds of reviews of the leading allowance apps. The same complaints kept coming back: crashes, a paywall that appears after the parent has already entered everything, mandatory accounts, and sync between two parents that doesn't work. On top of that, Apple is strict with apps that touch both children and money: you cannot market one as a kids app outside the Kids category, and managing real money is reserved for financial institutions.
What I did
- Framed the product as the parent's ledger, not a wallet. No real money, no bank details, nothing for the child to install. The parent shows the jar on their own phone. That one call settles the money question with Apple and keeps the app simple for the parent.
- Drew the free and paid line around the natural moment. One child, a jar, a goal, parent set interest and a birthday with a reminder are all free. Paying unlocks another child, more goals, chores, full history and sharing with a second parent. One purchase, once, for the whole family, no subscription.
- Built parent sharing that works across iPhone and Android, on my own server, with permissions that let each family see only its own data, invites by code or QR, and live sync. Server permissions are covered by negative tests, tests that actively try to break them.
- Fitted it to the Israeli market. Hebrew and shekels by default, Hebrew calendar holidays, and wording that follows the child's gender when the parent chooses to set it.
- Ran full test rounds on iPhone and Android, including two devices on the same family, fixing and retesting until a round came back clean. I also produced a promo film and a store video from real screen recordings of the app.
The decision that made the difference
Sign in on first launch, with the family saved on the server for free. The earlier version had two modes: local use with no account, and signed in and synced. When I tried it on my own phone it was clear the two modes were confusing. I dropped the split: you sign in with Apple, Google or an email code, the family lives in the account and comes back on a new phone, no recovery code needed. Sharing with a second parent stays paid. It made the product simpler, and it gave signing in real free value, which is exactly what Apple requires before it approves an app that asks for an account.
Outcome
- In the November 8, 2026 test round against the production server, every iPhone test passed. On Android everything tested passed functionally, with only small cosmetic findings. Six Android tests were not run in that round.
- Price set at 19.90 ILS, one time, for an Israel only launch.
- The promo film was approved and also runs on the app's opening screen.
- The domain nickelby.app has been bought.