Flats and hostels are the two most conducive environment for great ideas. Facebook was started in a dorm room, Google was a class project and Apple in a garage. KnoDues is one such app, idea of which was conceived when the founders were sharing a flat in Gurgaon. Keeping track of expenses and who paid for what is something that flatmates face on a regular basis. Include the transactions involved in going out for a movie or eating outside with another bunch of friends and the calculations really get out of hand. When Sahil and Saket (founders) faced such problem they thought of an elegant solution for the problem. And two years later, they gave birth to it in form of an app.

KnoDues is a management app that keeps track of transactions and dues involved when you’re going out with your friends. The app starts with one time login where basic information about the user is asked. Home page has a very simple interface. The dues or receivables are mentioned below the user’s name and then there are two main tabs: My Dues and My Events. At the bottom of the page is a plus sign which launches the app into a screen where details about the expenses are to be filled such as amount paid by the user and the type of expense such as movie, drinks, food etc. There is an option to select the people with whom the user wants to share the expense. Friends are added from the phonebook. The next screen leads to a page where users can decide if they want to share the expense evenly or unevenly (done manually). The main screen then shows the amount user has to get or pay to the friends. If the added people are on the app then they are notified within app else they’re notified by text message sent by the KnoDues server. The app is built on a very clean and efficient algorithm. It houses all the expenses related to one contact under the same tab even if the transactions have occurred on different outings or with different groups.

The second tab, My events, is a feature which is basically for trips or long journeys. User can create a trip with friends and add expenses as they go. At the end of the trip an event summary is created indicating who owes whom and how much. The chat like interface of My Events section makes it very appealing. Users registered on the app can view all the transactions of the Event created anytime making the whole affair transparent as well.

The title bar has a menu where user settings such as notification, recent activity and others are listed. There’s also a feedback option named “Helped Us Improve” where users can send emails via third party apps installed on their phones. The interface is very appealing filled with bright shades of blue and dark colours along the edges.

Within a month, the app has garnered over one thousand users which are still increasing on a daily basis. The app is built with well-defined core functionalities which fulfil the purpose of the app very efficiently. This is one app that can avoid long he-paid-who-paid-when-paid conversations with friends over the awkward topic of money.

Platform: Android

The Good:

1. Navigation around the app is very straightforward making it easy for one to add and keeptrack of expenses incurred when hanging out with friends.

2. Simple and small app, loads smoothly without lags.

3. Even though it’s only available for android, users can still send due reminders via messages to their friends having non-android phones.

The Bad:

1. Not available for platforms other than android.

2. Internet Connectivity is always required so checking on expenses when on trips to remote areas will not be possible.

Kavach Chandra

[email protected]

Image credits: knowstartup.com