MileBug alternative for iOS

iOS 26.2 broke MileBug at last; it hadn't been updated in years, the founder having apparently sold to Bending Spoons in 2018. Failing to find a simple mileage tracker in the App Store, I cobbled together a Shortcuts workflow which does the job.

Starting mileage is automatically populated by the previous ending mileage, though it can be quickly adjusted via the dashboard widget when necessary (as when switching vehicles or having driven untracked miles).

1. Setup

1. Create the Log Database

   • Open Notes.
   • Create a new note titled Mileage Log.
   • Add this header on the second line: Date,Vehicle,Start,End,Mileage.

2. Create the Storage Folder

   • Create a new folder in Notes named Mileage.

3. Create the Tracker Note

   • Inside the Mileage folder, create a new note titled Milebug.
   • Enter your current odometer reading on the second line (immediately under the title).

4. Configure a Dashboard Widget

   • Add a Notes widget to your Home Screen, swiping to select one of the Folder options (as opposed to "Note" or "Quick Note"), then tap Add Widget.
   • Tap the widget while it is still jiggling and change the Folder setting from the default Notes to Mileage.

5. Configure System Settings

   • Navigate to Settings → Apps → Shortcuts → Advanced.
   • Enable Allow Deleting Without Confirmation. (Ensures that the shortcut runs silently in the background without prompting you every time it updates the tracker).

2. Shortcuts workflow

Open the Shortcuts app and tap + to create a new shortcut.

2.1. Vehicle Selection

1. Add List.
   • Rename the default items (One, Two) to your vehicle names (e.g., FJ40, Fit).
2. Add Choose from List.
3. Add Set Variable.
   • Set Variable Name to Vehicle.

2.2. Get Start Mileage

1. Add Find Notes.
   • Add Filter → Name contains Milebug → Limit to 1 item.
2. Add Get Text from Input.
   • Should automatically connect to Note.
3. Add Split Text.
   • Should auto-fill New Lines.
4. Add Get Item from List.
   • Change First Item to Item at Index 2
5. Add Set Variable.
   • Change Variable Name to Start

2.3. Get End Mileage

1. Add Ask for Input.
   • Change Text to Number.
   • Change Prompt to End Mileage.
2. Add Set Variable.
   • Change Variable Name to End

2.4. Calculate Distance

1. Add Calculate.
   • Change + to -.
   • Tap Number and select Start from the list of options
2. Add Set Variable.
   • Change Variable Name to Distance.

2.5. Prepare Log Entry

1. Add Date. (Defaults to Current Date)
2. Add Text.
   • Tap inside the text box
   • Tap the following tokens in the popup menu, adding a comma between each one: Date, Vehicle, Start, End, and Distance.
   • Tap the [Date] token in the text box then set Date Format to Short and Time Format to None.

2.6. Save the Log

1. Add Append to Note.
   • Tap Text and select Text token with yellow icon
   • Tap Note and select Mileage Log

2.7. Update the Tracker

1. Add Find Notes.
   • Tap Appended Note then Clear Variable
   • Tap Add Filter → for Name contains, change anything to Milebug and limit to 1 item
2. Add Delete Notes.
3. Add Text.
   • Tap inside the text box and enter Milebug on the first line, press Return, then select the End variable from the popup menu
4. Add Create Note.
   • Change Contents to the Text token with yellow icon
   • Change Folder to Mileage

3. Wrap-up

• Tap the arrow next to the shortcut name at the top of the screen to access Rename, Choose Icon, and Add to Home Screen options.

• Screenshot of the complete workflow.

• To resolve access or permissions issues, tap the ⓘ button on the Shortcut and check Privacy settings.

Related

• Shortcuts Toolkit: "Comprehensive toolkit for generating Apple Shortcuts programmatically using reverse-engineered binary plist format."

• Shortcut Source Tool:

  "Copy and paste multiple actions, view/edit/compare/save/import/repair/web-review shortcuts. ... Web Review can also be converted to and viewed/saved as plain text.
  "

❧ 2026-01-30