EEBA got a cute addition yesterday: a 4×1 widget. A widget is something that sits on your phone’s home screen and can provide some functionality without actually opening up the application.

In EEBA’s case, we thought that the thing that was most important was to allow you to quickly add common transactions–like the bus fare you frequently pay, or the morning cup of Starbucks that you sometimes treat yourself to (if your Spending budget is doing OK, of course).

EEBA’s widget lets you quickly enter your most common transactions in exactly 3 presses!

To install the widget, do the following:

• Make sure you’re at least on version 1.2.3 of the app
• Long-press on a home screen that has enough empty space for a 4×1 widget.
• Choose “Widget” and then find the “EEBA” widget.
• Click on the “Add Quick Transactions Widget” button

To make a transaction show up in the widget:

• When you’re at the location of one of your common expenses, enter the expense and check the “Add to Quick Transactions” checkbox while you’re entering it.
• EEBA saves the transaction, but also remembers the Payee, Amount, Envelope and Account (for Plus/Premium users) in your Quick Transactions together with the current location.

When you’re ready to enter a quick transaction, hit the “Quick Record” button on the widget, and EEBA’s widget will determine the Quick Transactions that are closest to you.

Note that EEBA uses what’s called “coarse” location, which is based on the nearest cell phone tower, rather than GPS, so your location may be off by a bit. But no worries, because you can cycle through the Quick Transactions in order of nearness until you find the right one.

Change the Amount if you would like and click Save. You’re done.

It’s literally 3 presses if you’re at the location and the amount is the same as last time: Quick Record, press the transaction, press Save.

If the amount isn’t the same you can correct before saving. If you’re paying from a different Account or want to record a split this time, press Save & Edit and the transaction will be saved, but you’ll be taken right into the Edit screen to make your changes.

The widget reports the amount left in the envelope you’re going to be taking from as well as the Account you’re going to be accessing to give you feedback before your purchase.

To manage saved Quick Transactions, visit the Settings. There you can delete Quick Transactions, edit their saved amounts, envelope and account.

Important note: Quick Transactions are device specific and are currently *not synced*. This means that if you logout of your account on your device (which you should rarely need to do), you will lose your Quick Transactions and have to set them up again. Of course, any transactions you actually posted are still saved.

Enjoy!