Core concepts

The handful of ideas — the brief, pace, cadence, projection and simulations — that everything in Steer builds on.

2 min read

You don't need to learn much to get value from Steer. But a few ideas show up everywhere, and knowing them makes the whole app click.

#The Daily Brief

Your home screen. The Brief is a short, plain-language summary that pulls from all three pillars and answers one question: what should I pay attention to today? It's organised into on track, coming up, and needs attention.

#Pace

For goals, pace is how fast you're moving compared to how fast you need to move. Steer compares your progress to the time you have left and gives you a clear status:

Ahead — you're moving faster than you need to.
On track — keep going and you'll make it.
Behind — at this rate you'll finish late.
At risk — you're far enough behind that it needs attention now.

#Cadence (recurrence)

Cadence is how often something repeats. Almost everything in Steer can be a one-off or recur on a rhythm:

Once — a single thing with a deadline.
Recurring — daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly.

Goals, habits and finance items all share the same simple recurrence picker, so it works the same way everywhere.

#Projection

For your money, a projection is Steer drawing your finances forward in time — month by month — based on what you've told it: your income, your expenses, upcoming price changes, your loans and your investments. It's how you see your cash flow and net worth before they happen.

#Baseline and simulations

Your baseline is your real financial plan as it stands today. A simulation is a "what if" you lay on top of the baseline — a raise, a new car loan, a bigger rent — to see the effect.

Note

Simulations are non-destructive: they never change your real numbers. You can compare a scenario side by side with your baseline and only make it real if you choose to — with an undo option if you change your mind.

#Recipes

A recipe is a ready-made starting point — "Read 50 books", "Dentist twice a year", "Netflix subscription". Tap one and Steer adds it with sensible defaults already filled in, so you rarely start from a blank screen.

#Connections

A connection links Steer to another app — your calendar or a fitness tracker — so it can update itself. Connections are what turn Steer from something you maintain into something that maintains itself.

#Minimum typing

A design principle you'll feel rather than read about: Steer tries to never make you type. Wherever it can, it offers chips, steppers, sliders and pickers, and saves the keyboard for the rare custom title or specific amount.