The flat-share app for money, cleaning, shopping and plans

Why an app instead of notes and WhatsApp

A note cannot work out a balance, and in a group chat the question about the cleaning rota slips away between other messages. In ManaWG, amounts are calculated, tasks move on and events sit in the calendar. Everything stays traceable, so a new flatmate sees straight away how the flat is organised. That saves follow-up questions and arguments about who promised what. Which criteria matter when choosing an app is covered on Best flat-share app.

Room search or everyday life: what a flat-share app is

People who search for a “flat-share app” sometimes want a portal for rooms and flatmates, and sometimes an app for daily life in a flat they already share. ManaWG is the second kind: you split expenses, keep a cleaning rota and a shopping list, plan events and talk things through. ManaWG does not match rooms or flatmates. For the search, Find a flatmate and the WG-Casting questions help, and Start a flat share shows how to set one up.

Split expenses and settle up

Shared expenses can be split equally or with a custom amount per person, and each belongs to one of six categories, such as groceries or housing. The shares always add up to exactly the amount. ManaWG suggests settlements with as few transfers as possible. You mark them as paid, because the app does not move money itself. If you add an expense for someone else, your own share has to be more than €0.

Fixed costs and the monthly statement

You enter rent and internet once as fixed costs, repeating in whole months, and ManaWG books them automatically as expenses. The monthly statement shows the total, the expenses per category and the suggested transfers. It arrives by email at the start of the month, and each person can switch that off. Fixed costs can be paused, and with an equal split the odd cent moves on from one booking to the next.

Cleaning rota, shopping and supplies

The cleaning rota app repeats tasks every few days or months and picks who is next according to workload. Anyone who is away enters their dates and is skipped at the next assignment. On the shared shopping list you tick items off and can then record the shop as an expense. Supplies show what is running low and suggest what to buy. Reminders for due tasks arrive as push notifications.

Calendar, noticeboard and chat

The calendar handles repeating events and can be subscribed to from Apple Calendar or Google Calendar, in that direction only. ManaWG sends a push notification the day before an event. The noticeboard is for announcements, questions and decisions, and the chat for quick exchanges with replies, reactions and mentions. You switch push notifications on or off for each area.

Who ManaWG is for

Student flats, professional flat shares and a couple sharing with a flatmate: up to 20 active members fit in one flat. People join through an invite link, and invitations can also go out by email. You sign in with Google or with email and password. The app runs in the browser and can be added to your home screen. The interface is in English and German and follows the language of your device.

How your flat gets started

One person signs in with Google or email and password, creates the flat and shares the invite link. The others sign in too and join through the link. Start with one concrete everyday problem: record the first shared expense or add a repeating cleaning task. That way you use the app together straight away, rather than setting up every area first.

Installing ManaWG: iPhone, Android, desktop

• iPhone: in Safari, tap ≡, then Share, then Show More, choose “Add to Home Screen” and tap Add. Then open ManaWG from the home screen and sign in once.
• Android: in Chrome, tap the menu ⋮, choose “Install and create shortcut”, then “Install” and confirm.
• Desktop: click the “Install” icon on the right of the address bar, then “Install” in the dialog.

Working without a connection

If the network drops while you are out, ManaWG saves new entries on your device and sends them as soon as you are back online. That covers shopping entries, time away, new and completed cleaning tasks, expenses and fixed costs. Settings show how many actions are still waiting. After about seven days, actions that were left behind are no longer sent automatically but shown to you for review.

Taking your data and statements with you

Any member can download the flat’s data from Settings under Data: everything as JSON, or single areas as CSV, for example expenses, fixed costs, shopping, cleaning rota, supplies, events, noticeboard or chat. You can page through the monthly statement month by month and print it or save it as a PDF.