Help & Guide

Getting Started

When you first open KeptMiles you'll see a short onboarding flow:

1. Welcome screen — tap Get Started.
2. Sign in with Google — sign in to enable cloud backups and activate any premium benefits. You can skip this and sign in later from Settings.
3. Allow permissions — KeptMiles needs Location (always) and Activity Recognition to auto-detect journeys. You'll also be asked for notification permission to alert you about unclassified journeys.

Once permissions are granted, KeptMiles starts monitoring for driving activity in the background. There's nothing else to set up — just drive.

Location permission step during onboarding

Dashboard

The dashboard is your home screen. It gives you an at-a-glance view of your current tax year:

• Business Miles — total business miles tracked this tax year.
• Claim Total — your running HMRC mileage allowance claim in pounds.
• 10,000-Mile Progress — a visual bar showing how close you are to the threshold where the rate drops from 45p to 25p.
• Unclassified Journeys — a count of journeys that still need classifying as business, personal, or commute.
• Recent Journeys — your most recent trips with distance, route, and classification status.

Dashboard showing tax year summary and recent journeys

Tap any journey on the dashboard to jump straight to its detail screen.

Journey Tracking

KeptMiles tracks journeys automatically using your phone's Activity Recognition and GPS:

1. Driving detected — Activity Recognition notices you're in a vehicle and wakes the GPS.
2. Route recorded — GPS logs your position at regular intervals as you drive.
3. Journey ends — when you stop for more than 3 minutes, the journey is saved automatically.

You don't need to open the app or tap anything. Journeys appear on your dashboard and in the Journeys list ready to classify.

Battery Management

KeptMiles adapts GPS accuracy based on your battery level and charging state:

• Plugged in — maximum GPS accuracy. Ideal for work vans and vehicles with chargers.
• Battery OK — balanced accuracy that preserves battery without losing route detail.
• Low battery — reduced GPS frequency to conserve power. Routes may be slightly less detailed.

Activity Recognition itself uses negligible battery when you're not driving.

Live tracking screen showing route in progress

Classifying Journeys

Every journey needs classifying so KeptMiles knows which miles to include in your HMRC claim:

• Business — visiting clients, suppliers, job sites, or travelling between workplaces. These miles count towards your claim.
• Personal — shopping, social trips, errands. Not claimable.
• Commute — your regular home-to-workplace journey. Not claimable.

Single Journey

Tap any journey to open its detail screen, then tap Business, Personal, or Commute.

Quick Swipe

On the Journeys list, swipe right on a journey to mark it as Business, or swipe left to mark as Personal.

Swipe right for Business, left for Personal

Batch Classification

Long-press a journey to enter selection mode. Select multiple journeys, then tap Business or Personal in the toolbar to classify them all at once.

Saved Locations

Saved locations let you automate journey classification. When a journey ends near a saved location, it's automatically classified based on the rule you set.

1. Add a location — open a journey detail screen and tap the destination address, or go to Settings > Saved Locations > Add.
2. Name it — give it a meaningful name like "Workshop", "Client — ABC Ltd", or "Home".
3. Set the rule — choose what classification to apply when a journey ends here (Business, Personal, or Commute).

Locations use a radius to match arrivals, so you don't need to park in the exact same spot every time.

Saved locations with auto-classification rules

HMRC Mileage Rates

KeptMiles uses HMRC's Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) to calculate your claim:

• Cars and vans: 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p per mile after that.
• Motorcycles: 24p per mile (all miles).
• Bicycles: 20p per mile (all miles).

These rates have been unchanged since 2011.

The 10,000-Mile Threshold

For cars and vans, the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year are claimed at 45p. Any business miles above 10,000 are claimed at 25p. The threshold resets each tax year (6 April).

KeptMiles tracks this automatically. If a single journey crosses the 10,000-mile threshold, the app correctly splits it — part at 45p, part at 25p. Most competing apps apply a flat rate and get this wrong.

Journey crossing the 10,000-mile threshold — correctly split between 45p and 25p

What Counts as Business Mileage?

Any journey made for work purposes: visiting clients, suppliers, job sites, or travelling between workplaces. Your daily commute from home to a regular workplace is not business mileage. However, journeys between workplaces are claimable.

Reports & Export

KeptMiles generates professional, HMRC-ready reports you can send to your accountant or import into tax software.

PDF Report

A formatted mileage report containing:

• Summary page — totals, rates applied, total claim amount.
• Journey log — date, from, to, purpose, miles, rate, and claim for each business journey.

CSV Export

A spreadsheet-friendly export with all journey data. Compatible with Excel, Google Sheets, Xero, FreeAgent, and QuickBooks.

Generate HMRC-ready PDF or CSV reports by tax year

To generate a report, go to Reports and select the tax year or date range you want to export.

Backup & Restore

KeptMiles can back up your data to Google Drive so it's safe if you lose or change your phone.

• Enable backup — sign in with Google, then go to Settings > Backup and enable it.
• Automatic backups — backups run automatically when significant changes are detected.
• Manual backup — tap "Back up now" in Settings > Backup at any time.
• Restore — when you sign in on a new device, you'll be offered the option to restore from your most recent backup.

Backup data is stored in your personal Google Drive in a hidden app folder. Only KeptMiles can access it.

Settings

Access settings from the bottom navigation bar. Key options include:

• Google Sign-In — sign in or out, view your account status.
• Backup — enable/disable automatic backups, trigger a manual backup, or restore.
• Vehicle Type — set your default vehicle (car/van, motorcycle, or bicycle) to ensure the correct HMRC rate is applied.
• Saved Locations — manage your saved places and auto-classification rules.
• Notifications — control reminders for unclassified journeys.

Settings screen

Beta Programme

KeptMiles is currently in closed beta. We're looking for sole traders, tradespeople, and small business owners to help us test.

• How to join — visit our beta page to register your interest. We'll add you when spaces are available.
• What you get — beta testers get all Premium features unlocked for the duration of the testing period, completely free.
• What we ask — use the app for your real mileage tracking and let us know if anything doesn't work as expected.

FAQ

Contact

Need help? Email support@keptmiles.app and we'll get back to you.