Getting started
This guide shows you how to set up Mileage Tracker and log your first drive. Setup takes about a minute, and after that it works in the background — you just drive.
Set up in a minute
When the app launches on the App Store and Google Play, you’ll install it like any other app — no account, no sign-up, nothing to link. The first time you open it, it walks you through four quick steps:
- Tell us how you claim
Self-employed, an employee claiming mileage, or a company-car driver. This sets up the right kind of record so your export is ready for your situation — you can change it later.
Screenshot: the “How do you claim?” setup screen — arrives at launch - Add your vehicle
Car, van, motorbike or bicycle. The vehicle type sets the right HMRC rate automatically — including the higher band for the first 10,000 business miles each tax year, kept current for you. Add more than one if you drive more than one. (You can see the current figures any time with our mileage calculator.)
Screenshot: adding a vehicle — arrives at launch - Pick your country
The UK is ready at launch, using the official HMRC mileage rate, kept current each tax year. More countries follow, each with its own official rate.
- Allow it to see your drives
Mileage Tracker needs location set to “Always” so it can log a drive even when the app is closed, and motion & fitness so it knows when you’re driving versus walking. It only watches for driving — GPS sleeps while you’re parked. This step is the one that matters most; if a permission is missed, tracking can’t run.
Screenshot: the permissions step with the green ticks — arrives at launch
Log your first drive
Now just drive. You don’t need to open the app or press start — it notices you’ve set off, records the route, and tidies up the ends (it trims the walk to and from the car). When you arrive, the drive appears on your home screen.
Tap a drive to see the route on a map, the distance, and how the claim is worked out. Then mark it business or personal with one tap — or set “always business when a drive ends here” for a place like a client’s site, and it’ll do it for you next time.
The app is in development for iOS and Android — the illustrated, screenshot-by-screenshot version of this guide arrives with the app at launch.
Next steps
Still stuck? Ask us anything — we read every message.