Quicken for Mac 2017 Gains Auto Backup and Other Features in New Update

[MacRumors]

Finance and budgeting software Quicken for Mac was updated to version 4.4 this week, adding a handful of useful new features ranging from auto backup to improvements to summary reports.

With Auto-Backup, Quicken will back up five files at a time to a user-set location whenever someone logs out of the app, preventing data from being accidentally lost. A new Transaction Sidebar indicator has been added, which highlights all accounts that have new transactions when connected accounts are refreshed.

Comparison and summary reports can be exported or copied to a spreadsheet for printing or data analysis, and there's a new Total column in the summary report. New report comparison customization options make it easier to compare the current period with previous periods on a quarterly or monthly basis.

First released in October, Quicken 2017 features a new interface, a range of custom report options, and Quicken Bill Pay for paying for bills directly within the app.

Quicken for Mac 2017 can be downloaded from the Quicken website or from the Mac App Store for $74.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Quicken for Mac 2017 Gains Auto Backup and Other Features in New Update

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Paid posting?

 

[Zoboomafoo]

Paid posting?

If it's a paid posting, then MacRumors is not doing it's job.

 

[3587]

This or iBank? I'm a pretty big fan of iBank after Quicken deserted us back in the day.

 

[rcooked]

Been a loyal ibank "banktivity" user for years. Personally, I don't think you can beat it. Plus, it's a giant pain to switch.

 

[LoadStar]

This or iBank? I'm a pretty big fan of iBank after Quicken deserted us back in the day.

I switched a family member from iBank (now "Banktivity") to Quicken recently. Quicken has a cleaner, more modern UI and better financial institution support.

 

[smcarter]

Seems like a pretty nice update. You can get it from Amazon for $47.51. Other places may have it even cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6USTSH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_URUwyb01HA0D6

 

[LoadStar]

Been a loyal ibank "banktivity" user for years. Personally, I don't think you can beat it. Plus, it's a giant pain to switch.

It's not as bad as you might think. I was able to export as a QIF out of Banktivity, then import that into Quicken. The export and import took minutes to complete.

I then chose to clean up the categories (and switch them over to Quicken's default categories), but that's optional. That's the only part that took quite a while, but that's also because the person that I was helping was lousy at categorizing stuff (and iBank/Banktivity didn't help in the least... it screwed up payee names and assigned stupid categories all over the place.)

 

[GIZBUG]

This or iBank? I'm a pretty big fan of iBank after Quicken deserted us back in the day.

Had quicken 2017, was junk, got a refund now with I bank

 

[veggiespam]

Cool. Quicken added that "five-file-backup" thing like my copy of Quicken '97 currently does. Awesome.

 

[rtrueman]

I stayed on Quicken for Windows for years, running Parallels. I decided to become a beta tester for Quicken 2016 for Mac and really started liking the new product (strictly volunteering my time - there's no compensation for beta testing, although I did "win" a copy of 2016). I can tell you, the (formerly) Intuit Mac team was VERY committed to the product and I started using 2016 Mac as my only version of Quicken. I've no regrets making the switch. Quicken 2017 for Mac is even better and I gladly paid for the upgrade. It may not be for everyone, but they do have a decent return policy that I've used after purchasing a previous version years back.

 

[audiowurks]

It's not as bad as you might think. I was able to export as a QIF out of Banktivity, then import that into Quicken. The export and import took minutes to complete.

I then chose to clean up the categories (and switch them over to Quicken's default categories), but that's optional. That's the only part that took quite a while, but that's also because the person that I was helping was lousy at categorizing stuff (and iBank/Banktivity didn't help in the least... it screwed up payee names and assigned stupid categories all over the place.)

I couldn't agree more. I tried Banktivity for 1.5 years. It just never worked right. I spent more time fighting it than using it, and their customer service was... well, lets just say they just were not a viable option. I switched to Quicken 17 a few months back -- it took all of 10 minutes to x-fer all info -- and it has been one of the best decisions. It is SOOOO much better to the point that I'm embarrassed I didn't do this sooner. I too, decided to clean up all the weird categories Banktivity generated (as previous poster noted, this is optional... for the "clean data" freaks out there like me). Took some time, but now all my reports and data from Quicken is clean, concise, and accurate. I can account for every penny that moves anywhere.

 

[JosephAW]

I wonder if it's like the windows version where it required internet always. At my work I have to keep turning on wifi on my laptop and connecting and logging in to quicken to use the software installed on the hard disk. Do not like that.

 

[blue22]

No thanks Quicken, I'll stick with Banktivity (formerly "iBank"), they've been doing great by me for years.

Sure, it's may not be "perfect" in every way (and what personal finance app truly is?) but unlike with Quicken for the Mac, I can at least trust Banktivity to not ditch the platform for a decade, then come back with some weak-sauce port of their PC version and claim like "all is good for Mac users" while charging a premium for a half-featured product. Sooooo, I'll pass...

 

[Audi.s.line]

I stayed on Quicken for Windows for years, running Parallels. I decided to become a beta tester for Quicken 2016 for Mac and really started liking the new product (strictly volunteering my time - there's no compensation for beta testing, although I did "win" a copy of 2016). I can tell you, the (formerly) Intuit Mac team was VERY committed to the product and I started using 2016 Mac as my only version of Quicken. I've no regrets making the switch. Quicken 2017 for Mac is even better and I gladly paid for the upgrade. It may not be for everyone, but they do have a decent return policy that I've used after purchasing a previous version years back.

[doublepost=1482359620][/doublepost]Can you pay bills directly from Quicken. I use Banktivity and the pill pay feature.

 

[GIZBUG]

Make sure your banks work with quicken before buying. My mortgage company wasn't in their list, and quicken told me "If the bank does not pay us to be included in the list of supported banks, nothing we can do about it." Can really do a budget if I can't include my mortgage company (Nationstar).

 

[YMark]

This or iBank? I'm a pretty big fan of iBank after Quicken deserted us back in the day.

I was in the same boat, but switched to Quicken 2017 a few months ago. I'm quite happy with it, as I got real tired of IBank. A real POS that lacks support.

I switched a family member from iBank (now "Banktivity") to Quicken recently. Quicken has a cleaner, more modern UI and better financial institution support.

Agree with the above.
[doublepost=1482361372][/doublepost]

No thanks Quicken, I'll stick with Banktivity (formerly "iBank"), they've been doing great by me for years.

Sure, it's may not be "perfect" in every way (and what personal finance app truly is?) but unlike with Quicken for the Mac, I can at least trust Banktivity to not ditch the platform for a decade, then come back with some weak-sauce port of their PC version and claim like "all is good for Mac users" while charging a premium for a half-featured product. Sooooo, I'll pass...

You're exaggerating and writing half truths. And believe me, Intuit pissed me off for years. You don't know that Banktivity won't ditch you, and their updates are usually FULL charge. Their support is non-existant and the UI is old school and non intuitive.

Your Quicken comments above are from the old Intuit way of doing things. No longer this way.

 

[rcooked]

Didn't Intuit sell off quicken? I thought I remembered reading this a year or so back. Seems like development for the Mac and iOS improved since then.

Maybe it is worth a peek.

 

[blue22]

You're exaggerating and writing half truths. And believe me, Intuit pissed me off for years. You don't know that Banktivity won't ditch you, and their updates are usually FULL charge. Their support is non-existant and the UI is old school and non intuitive.

Your Quicken comments above are from the old Intuit way of doing things. No longer this way.

Nope. My comments stem from years of waiting for Quicken to finally release/update their product for the Mac platform worthy of their asking price but they kept letting me (and plenty of others) down since 2006 with limited feature sets relative to it's PC counterpart.

As for iBank/Banktivity's so-called "old school" way, well, I guess it doesn't bug me as much as it does yourself; plus I don't ever have a need to contact their support staff for being able to use their product so that's a non-issue for me, personally.

Honestly, I did look into giving Quicken another go last year and I felt even then they were still not making the best product they could potentially make for Mac users and thus I stayed away. Maybe they have turned things around with the 2017 version, but after years of holding baited breath for them to get their act together forgive me if I still remain skeptical.

 

[YMark]

Nope. My comments stem from years of waiting for Quicken to finally release/update their product for the Mac platform worthy of their asking price but they keep letting me (and plenty of others) down since 2006 with a limited feature set relative to it's PC counterpart.

You made my point with the bold. I'm not disagreeing with you "from years" ago. I'm disagreeing that it is that way now. And IMO, iBank is a terrible product for Mac users, but for a time it was the best home banking Mac product offered. Certainly not the case any longer.

 

[IbisDoc]

Is Quicken for Mac able to fully import a Quicken for Windows backup yet? That has been the biggest epic fail of the Mac version. Nobody wants to lose all of their years of data. Or input historical items manually.

 

[LoadStar]

...then come back with some weak-sauce port of their PC version...

The Mac version isn't in any way a port of the Windows version, as far as I know.

 

[stillone]

I finally broke down and ordered Quicken for MAC 2017 a couple of weeks ago when Quicken was offering its for $30 off. I loaded it on my new MacBook Pro but am waiting for the New Year to start using it.

Not being sure whether I would like the new version I am keeping Mac 2007 on my MacBook Air just in case.

 

[johncarync]

Didn't Intuit sell off quicken? I thought I remembered reading this a year or so back. Seems like development for the Mac and iOS improved since then.

Maybe it is worth a peek.

Yes, Intuit let Quicken go and now Quicken is a separate company. They have made some notable improvements to their applications since then. I also have the impression that the employees of Quicken are sincerely trying to improve the product. The fact that they put pictures of ALL their employees on their website under the About Us section in a way says to me that they stand behind their product.

I had many negative experiences with Intuit--no support for years for Macs with Intel chips, dropping Mac support for Quicken, adding it back as the horrible Quicken Essentials, making a major goof with changing TurboTax so you had to upgrade to the more expensive version (which they later recanted and made multiple attempts to say they were sorry for trying to gouge us). I will never buy another Intuit product.

I'm hopeful that Quicken will continue to improve their products.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I stayed on Quicken for Windows for years, running Parallels. I decided to become a beta tester for Quicken 2016 for Mac and really started liking the new product (strictly volunteering my time - there's no compensation for beta testing, although I did "win" a copy of 2016). I can tell you, the (formerly) Intuit Mac team was VERY committed to the product and I started using 2016 Mac as my only version of Quicken. I've no regrets making the switch. Quicken 2017 for Mac is even better and I gladly paid for the upgrade. It may not be for everyone, but they do have a decent return policy that I've used after purchasing a previous version years back.

I've been clinging to Quicken 2007 for a long time, because the interim versions were basically downgrades. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, but I am wondering if my old data is fully compatible with the current version. I also need to print checks, which was one of the functions they removed from the post-2007 editions. Has anyone made that transition successfully?