During the last yr, I’ve jumped deep into the world of bank card rewards, maximizing redemption values, assortment factors and money again, and making the most of profitable welcome bonuses. One of many apps that I’ve used to be taught extra about all of that is CardPointers, a superb app from the indie developer Emmanuel Crouvisier.
I bought an opportunity to speak to Crouvisier about CardPointers, iOS 16, what it’s’ like being a full-time indie developer in 2022, and way more. Plus, an unique low cost and provide for 9to5Mac readers.
Palms-on: CardPointers may help maximize bank card rewards
The competitors within the bank card business has actually heated up during the last a number of years. Corporations together with American Specific, Chase, and Capital One have ramped up their affords with huge welcome bonuses, new redemption affords, profitable spending and rewards classes, and way more.
Talking from expertise, this may be overwhelming and complicated at first. It’s straightforward to make errors; particularly when card corporations entice you to redeem for low redemption values. CardPointers goals that can assist you navigate all of those conditions.
Whenever you open CardPointers for the primary time, you’ll be prompted to undergo the method of including the bank cards you have already got. Throughout this course of, you may add the date that you just had been accredited, alter the bonus classes if wanted, and look at the entire obtainable affords.
Inserting the date you had been accredited for a card is especially necessary if the cardboard has a welcome bonus or an annual charge. CardPointers may help you observe your progress in the direction of a welcome bonus and remind you when your annual charge is about to be charged.
The latter is particularly necessary if you wish to attain out to your card firm and see if there are any retention affords obtainable to assist offset the annual charge. (Trace: There normally are, you simply need to threaten to cancel/downgrade your card first.)
When you’ve added your current playing cards to CardPointers, you may faucet on the “Pointers” tab to see a breakdown of the very best playing cards to make use of for various classes of spending. These recommendations are primarily based purely on the playing cards you have already got. For example, if in case you have the Amex Gold Card, you’ll possible see that it’s the best choice for many restaurant and grocery retailer purchases.
The “Dashboard” tab within the CardPointers app breaks down further details about the playing cards you’ve got. This features a listing of your playing cards, the entire of your annual charges, your energetic affords, and extra particulars on the very best playing cards for various classes of spending.
Lastly, the “Dashboard” additionally features a roundup of the very best card affords for the month by way of welcome bonuses. If you happen to’re seeking to broaden your arsenal of bank cards, it is a very helpful device for seeing welcome bonuses for a few of the high playing cards on the market.
Safari Extension
Certainly one of my favourite features of CardPointers is the Safari Extension. The Safari Extension is out there on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It’s main function to inform you the very best bank card to make use of on a selected web site to maximise the money again or factors you’ll obtain for a purchase order. For instance, if you happen to’re reserving a lodge, the CardPointers extension will present you which of them of your playing cards affords the very best rewards for that buy.
One other wonderful perk of the CardPointers extension for Safari is that it helps the power to activate all your obtainable affords on the Chase and American Specific web sites.
Whenever you go to Chase or American Specific, you’ll see a CardPointers notification that shortly enables you to enroll in your affords. When you do, the affords will even sync to your CardPointers account and be factored into the entire recommendations and pointers.
CardPointers helps a variety of completely different system options of iOS, macOS, and iPadOS. This consists of issues like App Clips, Sign up with Apple, Residence Display widgets, Fast Word, Siri integrations, and extra. There’s additionally a devoted Apple Watch app in addition to apps for iPad and Mac.
You may get began with CardPointers via this hyperlink and get an unique 20% off for being a 9to5Mac reader.
iOS 16
I had the chance to talk with the developer of CardPointers, Emmanuel Crouvisier, this week. One factor I used to be particularly curious about was what he has deliberate for iOS 16 and Apple’s different new software program releases coming this fall. His reply? Mainly all the pieces.
Crouvisier: The primary day of WWDC I all the time assume I’ll have just a few little issues to include into my app to assist hold it feeling contemporary, however by the point I’m achieved watching the entire pertinent session movies, I’ve bought a to-do listing of 100+ gadgets. This yr is not any completely different.
- App Intents: These make creating new shortcuts *so* quick and simple for builders. I already had 5 shortcuts within the app, however with the power to have one robotically enabled upon app set up, it makes them a lot extra approachable for customers who wouldn’t usually enterprise into the Shortcuts app. I’ve made some huge updates to my “Which Card?” shortcut, and now a consumer can simply say the identify of a retailer, moderately than simply the kind of buy they’re making, and the app will immediately inform them which card to make use of there to maximise their factors or use an Amex or Chase provide that they’ve there. It even works totally with Siri, so if a consumer simply has their AirPods in, they can use Hey Siri and know which card to make use of in a second with out having to tug out their cellphone or verify the watch app.
- Focus Filters: Apple lastly bought me to make use of Focus modes due to them, and I can’t think about working another approach now. I’ve adopted Apple’s lead right here on implementation, and I’ve been utilizing these throughout my Work focus to indicate solely my enterprise playing cards all through the app, and I created a customized focus mode referred to as Journey which I’ve set to filter out the entire playing cards with overseas alternate charges within the app so I don’t get shocked by a 3% added cost on my purchases when overseas. It’s a characteristic a variety of customers have requested for, and integrating this through focus filters was an ideal match.
- Lock Display Widgets: I’ve had issues within the Watch app since v1, and widgets since they had been obtainable, and now I’ve bought a brand new place to let customers put the knowledge that issues most to them. This might be an amazing spot so as to add a reminder a few particular class bonus and expiring affords, and I’ll be exploring a couple of new concepts as effectively.
- Swift Charts: That is essentially the most superb API I’ve seen come out of Apple. In only a few traces of code you will get actually lovely charts with nice accessibility options, but it could possibly do some actually advanced issues with a couple of extra traces; it’s an enormous addition to SwiftUI. There are various purposes for charts all through the app which I’ve been desirous to do for some time, however didn’t wish to construct my very own chart library. Drawback solved!
Going indie
At the start of this yr, Crouvisier made the choice to stop his full-time job at a startup and focus totally on CardPointers. With the broader context of latest App Retailer modifications, I requested him how his first six months of being full-time indie have gone.
Crouvisier: I believe that’s the very best resolution I’ve ever made for myself! I’ve been engaged on CardPointers since 2019, and practically all the time I’ve additionally been working at a startup, which meant ~16 hour work days, sacrificing sleep to have time to work, no evenings or weekends to loosen up, and I positively hit some unhealthy burnout durations, particularly late summer season making ready for iOS launch days every year.
Since I stop the startup job and have been in a position to focus solely on CardPointers, actually all the pieces in my life has improved: I’m sleeping effectively daily, I get to decompress (some) evenings and weekends (I’m nonetheless a little bit of a workaholic), and CardPointers is doing higher than ever — my first 2 months solely centered on the enterprise I tripled income in 2 months by specializing in advertising the app and extension and rising the enterprise, moderately than simply bettering the app.
Apple’s Small Enterprise Program has been nice to avoid wasting 15% on App Retailer gross sales, however I’ve discovered a variety of profit in leveraging internet checkout through Stripe and RevenueCat to avoid wasting much more, and likewise keep beneath the Small Enterprise most income restrict for longer. From a consumer perspective, nothing beats the convenience of an in-app buy, apart from a reduced worth through Apple Pay via an online checkout stream. The 2 collectively work fantastically effectively to cowl all sorts of customers.
Apple Card
Lastly, given his in-depth and unmatched information of the bank card business and rewards, I requested Emmanuel for his ideas on Apple Card. His recommendation? You’re most likely higher off with a unique card.
Crouvisier: There are such a lot of extra benefits to an excellent rewards card, like a Chase Freedom, Sapphire Most popular, Citi Premier, or Amex Gold card. With these playing cards you may earn transferable factors which you’ll switch to airways and accommodations to get much more worth out of the factors that you just earn — and their factors multipliers for many classes are a lot larger than the Apple Card, too.
With the Apple Card essentially the most you will get is 3% again in your buy, whereas with the playing cards I’ve talked about, you will get 5x again in factors on some classes like eating places, fuel stations, and so forth, and people factors are price much more as you may redeem them for issues like enterprise class seats to Europe.
If somebody spends $10,000 on their Apple Card in a yr they’ll get again at most $300, whereas the identical $10k spend on an excellent rewards card can earn them 50,000 factors, and people factors will be price 4c or extra with an excellent redemption, which means the true worth could be $2,000. Actually 7x extra worth out of utilizing an excellent rewards card, and that’s what CardPointers helps customers do — earn extra from each buy simply by paying with the proper card.
Even if you happen to simply wish to give attention to money again, different playing cards can earn the identical money again because the Apple Card on much more classes and retailers. I’d like to see the Apple Card additional enhance their earnings classes, and increasingly banks are doing offers immediately with particular retailers as a type of promoting, so I believe we’ll proceed to see extra of that throughout all playing cards as a brand new income for them.
Wrap up
CardPointers is out there as a free obtain, with an in-app subscription obtainable to unlock the CardPointers Professional options.
9to5Mac readers can save 20% on CardPointers Professional’s annual and lifelong plans. In actual fact, if you happen to improve to the Lifetime plan with this hyperlink, you’ll additionally get a $100 Financial savings Card that successfully makes the improve free.
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