FAQ

General

Is Drivest free?

Yes. Drivest is free and open source under the MIT license.

Does Drivest require an internet connection?

No. The app works fully offline. An internet connection is only needed for:

• Fetching exchange rates from NBP.
• Syncing odometer data from a connected vehicle service.

Where is my data stored?

All data is stored locally on your device using Apple’s SwiftData framework. Nothing is sent to any external server. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Can I use Drivest on iPad?

Drivest is designed for iPhone and requires iOS 17.0 or later.

Fuel Tracking

Why is fuel efficiency not showing for some fill-ups?

Fuel efficiency can only be calculated between two consecutive full tank fill-ups. Make sure to toggle Full Tank on when you fill up completely. Partial fill-ups will not show an efficiency badge.

Can I track two fuel types for one vehicle?

Yes. When adding a vehicle, you can configure a second tank with a different fuel type. This is useful for vehicles that run on LPG + petrol, or plug-in hybrids (petrol + EV).

How does receipt scanning work?

The app uses on-device OCR (optical character recognition) to read fuel receipts through your camera. It extracts the price per unit, volume, and total cost. All processing happens locally — no images are sent anywhere.

Costs

Can I create my own cost categories?

Yes. Go to Settings > Categories and tap + to add a custom category with a name and icon of your choice.

Can I attach files to cost entries?

Yes. When adding a cost, you can attach both photos and document files (e.g. PDF invoices).

Reminders

How do distance-based reminders know when to trigger?

Distance-based reminders check the latest odometer reading each time you log a fill-up or when data is synced from a connected service. When the odometer approaches the target (within the lead distance), the reminder becomes “Due Soon”.

What happens when I mark a reminder as done?

The reminder advances by its recurrence interval. For date-based reminders, the due date moves forward by the specified number of days (default: 365). For distance-based reminders, the target odometer increases by the specified distance.

EV / Electricity Bills

Why didn’t the Odometer field prefill when I picked a date?

Prefill only happens when a connected-service snapshot exists for the exact calendar day you selected. If the nearest snapshot is from a different day, the field stays empty so you can enter the reading yourself. See EV Features → Odometer prefill.

Are Start and End odometers required?

No. They’re optional. If you fill both in, the app uses them directly to compute distance and kWh / 100 km. If you leave either empty, the bill falls back to automatic snapshot reconciliation against the previous bill.

Connected Services

Why can’t I see the odometer fetch button?

The fetch button only appears when:

1. Your vehicle’s Make matches a supported manufacturer.
2. A VIN is entered in the vehicle settings.
3. The integration is connected in Settings > Integrations.

Can I use Drivest without connecting to a vehicle service?

Absolutely. Connected services are entirely optional. You can enter all data manually.

What does a red “Failed” badge in Snapshot History mean?

It means a fetch attempt (from a Shortcut or background refresh) recorded a snapshot row but no new odometer reading was retrieved. The row’s subtitle carries the underlying reason — most often a rate limit or transient network/server error from the manufacturer’s API. The app retries automatically before marking a snapshot as failed, and the row preserves the previous known odometer so the entry isn’t blank. The next successful fetch records a fresh reading.

If you see “Keychain locked — device must be unlocked at least once after boot”, a scheduled fetch ran while the device was still locked from a reboot. Unlock the phone once and the next fetch will succeed; no action needed in the app. See Connected Services → Reliability for details.

Backup

How do I transfer data to a new phone?

1. Export each vehicle’s data from Settings > Manage Vehicles > [Vehicle] > Export Data.
2. Save the .drivestbackup files to iCloud Drive or send them to yourself.
3. On your new phone, open each file and import it into Drivest.

Can I import data from other fuel tracking apps?

Drivest only supports its own .drivestbackup format. You would need to convert data from other apps manually.

Troubleshooting

The app shows “Unable to sync” banner

This means the app has failed to fetch data from a connected service multiple times. Go to Settings > Integrations and reconnect the affected service.

Exchange rates are not updating

Tap Refresh Rates Now in Settings > Currency. If the error persists, check your internet connection. The NBP API may also be temporarily unavailable.

I deleted a fill-up or cost by accident

Unfortunately, there is no undo for deletions. This is why regular backups are recommended — see Backup & Restore.