Spendrift updates.

What changed

• Opened the website's install flow to everyone, with Add to Chrome in navigation, public-testing information, and a support page.
• Added up to 12 reusable alternative sets, four categories, three goal-selection rules, and gentle, goal-focused, or practical reflection styles.
• Added dashboard connection checks, same-account sync requests, and a shortcut to extension settings. Authentication sessions remain separate.

What was fixed

• Serialized saving and stats updates so simultaneous tabs do not overwrite each other's increments. Manual goal contributions now count in decision totals, with Undo.
• Kept goal-saving controls open during updates and keyboard focus. Repeated hovers no longer inflate reviewed totals for the same price element.
• Skipped completed goals, guarded against stale goal edits, preserved custom alternative names when changing language, and converted hourly wages along with currency settings.
• Improved structured-price and decimal-comma handling, excluded crossed-out and navigation prices, and stopped unsupported currencies from producing false 1:1 comparisons.

What improved

• Added 7/30/90-day reviewed and saved views, period summaries, accessible daily tables, and private CSV export. The dashboard refreshes while visible.
• Added a five-minute background sync retry while Chrome is running, clearer sync timestamps and errors, and an explicit latest-device-only explanation.
• Updated community figures to 100+ users and $1,500 saved, confirmed September 2, 2026, and added a concrete post-release roadmap.

Release status

• The website update is separate from extension 1.2.0. The extension improvements listed above are prepared but still awaiting manual upload and Chrome Web Store release. Direct dashboard-to-extension controls require the updated extension.

What changed

• Upgraded the existing Spendrift extension and website without rebuilding the product or changing its core opportunity-cost shopping flow.
• Added Offline and Online privacy modes. Offline remains the default and keeps settings, goals, decision preferences, and stats in local extension storage.
• Added optional Online sync using the same Supabase account system as DecisionOS, while keeping browser sessions separate for security.
• Moved privacy-safe Spendrift totals into DecisionOS's canonical tool summary and connection records on the new healthy account project.
• Added Spendrift to the DecisionOS connected-tool dashboard with money reviewed and goal-transfer totals.
• Added a private website dashboard for money reviewed before spending, purchases intentionally skipped, amounts moved toward goals, pause-to-skip rate, and 30-day activity.
• Added account creation, login, password recovery, sign-out, dashboard refresh, and deletion of synced Spendrift data.

What was fixed

• Moved extension settings from Chrome sync storage to local storage with a one-time migration, so Offline mode more accurately means this device only.
• Stopped automatic account validation and token refresh while Offline mode is selected.
• Prevented simultaneous extension sync requests from creating duplicate dashboard snapshots. Overlapping requests now share one cloud write, while later syncs replace the existing aggregate snapshot.
• Separated a price being reviewed from a purchase being skipped. A skipped purchase is counted only after the user intentionally moves that amount toward a goal.
• Aligned daily activity with the user's local calendar date instead of UTC, reducing incorrect day placement near midnight.
• Fixed an account recovery race where Supabase's initial session event could replace the new-password form with the dashboard before the user finished resetting a password.

What improved

• Online sync uploads one replaceable aggregate snapshot, not a shopping history. URLs, product names, page titles, individual purchases, wage, goal details, and custom alternatives stay out of the payload.
• Added clearer connection states, sync timestamps, empty states, authentication errors, and privacy explanations across the extension and dashboard.
• Added a visual 30-day decision trail without inventing public totals or implying Spendrift can see bank transactions.
• Updated the privacy policy with an exact description of local data, optional account data, aggregate sync fields, third-party processors, retention, and user controls.

Why it mattered

This upgrade makes Spendrift useful across sessions without taking away the local-first experience. Users can stay fully Offline, or deliberately connect the same DecisionOS account to understand their decision patterns over time while keeping product-level shopping details private.

Extension changes

• Added a collapsible Money Perspective section in extension settings, with automatic saving for every new decision preference.
• Added optional work-time framing. A purchase can now be translated into minutes, hours, or workdays using the user's estimated take-home hourly wage.
• Added an optional future-value estimate using compound growth, a user-selected yearly rate, and a clear number of years. Results are labeled as educational estimates rather than promised returns or financial advice.
• Added individual controls for alternatives, saving-goal comparisons, work-time comparisons, future-value estimates, and reflection questions.
• Added Simple and Full display modes. Simple mode keeps the decision card focused, while Full mode shows every enabled perspective.
• Added manual price correction so users can repair a detected amount without leaving the shopping page.
• Added a clearer "I skipped it" action that moves the reviewed amount toward a selected saving goal and records an intentional decision not to buy.
• Added a goal-completion celebration when saved progress reaches a target.
• Added natural translated labels and decision messages for the new controls, including complete English and Chinese coverage, while keeping the existing supported languages functional.

Extension fixes

• Fixed the hover popup closing when the pointer moved from a detected price into the popup, so its controls remain usable.
• Fixed popup positioning near screen edges by choosing the side with enough space and keeping the full card inside the viewport when possible.
• Fixed the save-toward-goal action being difficult to find or effectively unusable from the shopping-page popup.
• Fixed future-value settings using technical wording by replacing "time horizon" with a direct "years to save" explanation.
• Kept work-time and future-value sections hidden when their settings are disabled or invalid, preventing broken or misleading calculations in the popup.
• Improved light and dark theme contrast for the new settings and decision frames so their text remains readable in either mode.

What improved

• Decision cards now adapt to different priorities: everyday alternatives, time worked, saving goals, future value, or a short reflection prompt.
• Work-time and future-value comparisons update after manual price correction and stay hidden when their settings are disabled or invalid.
• The saving flow is more complete: compare a price, decide not to buy, move the amount toward a goal, and receive clear progress feedback.
• All new financial preference settings remain in Chrome's local storage and are excluded from automatic feedback data.

Website and release changes

• Published Spendrift as an unlisted Chrome Web Store alpha and updated the website to reflect the extension's current testing stage and decision features.
• Fixed the first-visit website decision prompt on smaller screens by removing the unnecessary Continue step.
• Added GitHub-to-Vercel deployment notes so future website releases can be reviewed before reaching production.

Why it mattered

V1.0.4 turns Spendrift from a single opportunity-cost comparison into a more personal decision tool. Users can choose the perspectives that matter to them, understand a purchase in plain language, and act on a decision to save without making the popup distracting or judgmental.

What changed

• Moved patch notes onto a dedicated updates page so the version history is easier to read.
• Updated homepage stats wording to make it clear Spendrift does not track private spending.
• Reworked the story section into a clearer founder note about opportunity cost and why Spendrift exists.

What was fixed

• Fixed extension screenshots that were not loading by serving them from the site root as well as the assets folder.
• Added clearer alt text to homepage screenshots so they describe the extension more accurately.

What improved

• Made the privacy policy more complete for Chrome Web Store review, especially around local storage, permissions, feedback, and diagnostic info.
• Improved the alpha application page so testers know who should apply, how long to test, and what kind of feedback helps most.

Why it mattered

This update made the website feel more trustworthy before showing Spendrift to testers and Chrome reviewers. The goal was to explain the product clearly without making it sound like it tracks private shopping behavior.

What changed

• Prepared Spendrift for a small private alpha test with around 10 to 30 testers.
• Added a Copy diagnostic info button that only includes non-sensitive settings and local alpha stats.
• Expanded currency support so Spendrift can handle more international price formats.

What was fixed

• Reduced the issue where the opportunity card could appear again after the user closed it.
• Improved hover placement and made automatic mode less likely to choose a bad or random price.

What improved

• Made feedback messages clearer so testers know whether their Formspree feedback was sent or failed.
• Rewrote the README so it feels like a real alpha product guide instead of a starter extension note.

Why it mattered

This update made Spendrift safer and easier to test before giving it to real users, while keeping the product simple with no accounts, analytics, cloud sync, or large backend system.

What changed

• Officially named the project Spendrift.
• Made hover activation the recommended default because it gives users more control than automatic mode.
• Changed settings so they save automatically after the user makes edits.

What was fixed

• Reduced popup jumping by anchoring hover cards closer to the price the user is actually pointing at.
• Improved currency detection for currencies that share symbols, like USD, CAD, AUD, CNY, and JPY.

What improved

• Added multiple saving goals and made major settings sections collapsible so the popup feels less crowded.
• Improved per-unit pricing so alternative items update with the selected currency.

Why it mattered

This update made Spendrift feel more like something people could actually use while browsing, instead of a prototype that needs constant manual saving and setup.

What changed

• Built the first usable private alpha of the Spendrift Chrome extension.
• Added the core pieces: price detection, opportunity-cost cards, hover mode, automatic mode, themes, languages, currencies, custom alternatives, saving goals, and local alpha stats.

What was fixed

• Added the first popup controls so users could close cards and manage the extension from settings.
• Connected Formspree feedback so testers have a simple way to report bugs and confusion.

What improved

• Set up the foundation for international shopping sites and personalized alternative items.

Why it mattered

This was the first version where the main idea started working: helping people pause before buying and see what else their money could do.