FAQ

Is PocketVault Finance really free?

Yes. The free tier includes full financial tracking, on-device AI chat, natural language queries, multi-currency, import (bank SMS inbox scanning on Android, PDF, CSV, manual), custom categories, budget rollover, bill reminders, Your year in money, encryption, and encrypted backup & restore. P2P sync is on the way, free. Premium (Recurring charge detection, Money in & out, Insights, Where this is heading, Subscription review, Payoff scenarios, Spending forecast, Score history, Trends over time) is built into the app and included with a subscription or a one-time purchase; the pricing page shows the price in your region.

Where is my data stored?

On your device only. PocketVault Finance uses an encrypted SQLite database (SQLCipher, AES-256) stored locally. No data is sent to any server.

What happens if I lose my phone?

PocketVault Finance includes encrypted backup and restore. Go to Settings > Backup to create an AES-encrypted backup protected by a password you choose. Restore it on any device by importing the backup file and entering your password.

Does the AI need internet?

No. All AI features run on-device using Gemma models (via flutter_gemma). You need internet only to download the AI models initially. The default model (Gemma 4 E2B) is about 2.6GB, with a lightweight option (Qwen 0.6B, 586MB) available for devices with less storage. On supported iOS devices, Apple Foundation Models work with no download at all. Once downloaded, everything works fully offline.

Can I sync between devices?

P2P sync is rolling out after launch, free. It will sync devices directly over the same local WiFi network, with no cloud server involved. In the meantime you can move your data with encrypted backup and restore.

Which platforms are supported?

Android and iOS are the primary release targets. Web, Windows, macOS, and Linux are built from the same Flutter codebase, but native-only features such as SQLCipher, local AI, biometrics, and P2P sockets vary by platform and release status.

How do I import from other apps?

Bring your history in from a PDF bank statement (HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis and Bank of Baroda in India; Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, Discover and SoFi in the US), a CSV export from any bank, or bank SMS (India, Android), all parsed on your device with no bank login.

How accurate is the import?

We measure it and publish the result, including the weeks it gets worse: what our import gets wrong carries the current figures, how the sample was drawn, and what counts as a failure. Two things are measured separately — how often a message that arrived was read wrongly, and how often no message arrived at all — because only the first is something we can fix.

Nothing is written to your ledger unsupervised either way. Anything the app is unsure of goes to the review queue for you to confirm.

How do subscriptions work?

Premium is bought inside the app, through Google Play or the Apple App Store, three ways: yearly, monthly, or once with nothing to renew. All three buy the same capabilities, and the pricing page has the prices for your region. You can cancel a subscription anytime in your store account; your data stays on your device and the free features keep working either way. Buying Premium once does not cancel a subscription you already have, so cancel that separately.