Set-up · about ten minutes, once
Six steps, with a picture of every button before you have to find it.
Tobsy runs from a copy of a spreadsheet in your own Google account, so there's a one-time set-up. The guide walks you through it on a computer or on a phone — the steps change to match — and the last step does the wiring for you.
Make a copy
Copy the Tobsy sheet into your Drive. The original stays empty. On a phone this happens in the Google Drive app; the guide shows where.
Open its script
Your copy carries a few plain lines of code. You open them once and won't read or change a thing.
Deploy it
Turn it on, once. Google gives your copy an address of its own.
Say yes, once
Google asks for one permission: this spreadsheet. Nothing else, ever. The consent screen is a plain one-line ask.
Paste the address
Into the guide. That's the last thing you type.
Tobsy does the rest
Makes the tabs in your sheet, tucks in your key, remembers the address on this device, and opens. Set up on a computer and a code appears at the end that your phone's camera reads — the phone is set up without typing anything.
What the guide looks like
The same page that does the set-up. Start there, and it walks you through — one picture of Google's own screens per step, so nothing has to be found by guessing.
The guide starts with "Try free": an email address, and your key is ready. It's the only thing that leaves your device.
Things worth knowing before you start
Do I need to know spreadsheets?
No. You never have to open the sheet — Tobsy writes to it and reads from it for you. It's there so your data is yours, in a form you can always open, not so you can work in it.
Why is there a set-up at all?
Because your data lives in your account, not ours. Any app with its own server skips this step by holding your data for you. Tobsy trades ten minutes, once, for never having your money on anyone's server.
Can I set up on my phone only?
Yes. Pick "On my phone" at the top of the guide and the steps change to match — the copy happens in the Google Drive app, and the deploy in the browser's desktop-site mode. It's a little fiddlier than a computer, and the guide shows every screen.
What if I get stuck?
Each step has a picture of exactly what you should be seeing. If yours looks different, write to [email protected] with the step number and a screenshot, and a person will get you through it.
Two of us — do we both set up?
One of you makes the copy and sets it up. The other scans the code at the end (or pastes the address) and is in. One sheet, one key, both phones.