Docket Pocket support and FAQ
Answers to the questions we've been asked most often. If you don't see yours, email support@docket-pocket.com and a real human will reply.
What do I need to run Docket Pocket?
A Mac running macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later, and your travel photos in the Apple Photos app. iCloud Photos and local-library setups both work — Docket Pocket reads photos through the standard Photos framework, so whatever Photos shows you is what it can see.
What permissions does it need?
Two: Photos library access (so it can read your photos), and Location Services (so the reverse-geocoder can turn coordinates into readable place names). Both are prompted the first time you use them. If you dismissed a prompt by accident, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos (or Location Services) and grant access to Docket Pocket manually.
Does it work with iCloud Photos?
Yes. If a photo lives in the cloud rather than on your Mac, Docket Pocket asks Photos to download it. You'll see a one-time prompt asking whether it's OK to pull photos from iCloud during processing. Photos that don't need downloading are processed instantly.
How does receipt scanning work?
When you tick Scan photos for receipt data, each photo is run through Apple's on-device Vision text recognition. Docket Pocket looks for dollar amounts, merchant names, and GST lines in the extracted text. Australian GST is calculated the way the ATO expects it: if the receipt shows a GST amount, that value is used; if it doesn't, the 1/11 fallback is applied to the total. No text or images are sent anywhere — Vision runs entirely on your Mac.
How does trip detection decide what's travel?
Docket Pocket compares each photo's GPS location to the home address you configure in Preferences (and any other "regular" locations you add, like an office or a workshop). If the straight-line distance, multiplied by a circuity factor to approximate the real road distance, is greater than the exclusion radius for every configured location, the photo is treated as travel. Consecutive travel days are then grouped into named trips.
Photos that aren't mine are showing up. What's going on?
Shared iCloud Photo Libraries are the usual cause. If a partner or family member is contributing to a library you share, their photos are in your library and Docket Pocket will process them by default. The Camera filter option in Preferences narrows processing to photos taken with a device you own (Docket Pocket compares camera model metadata).
Where is my data stored?
Two files, both in ~/Library/Application Support/DocketPocket/:
receipts.json— your edits to each receipt (amount, category, comments).trips.json— the names you've given each trip.
Preferences (home address, other locations, exclusion radius, circuity
factor, and so on) are stored in the standard macOS UserDefaults
for the app. No photos are copied out of the Photos library — Docket Pocket
only ever reads them.
How do I reset preferences?
Quit Docket Pocket, then in Terminal run
defaults delete au.com.velvary.docket-pocket. On next launch
you'll be prompted to enter a home address again. Your receipt edits and
trip names are unaffected — those live in the files above.
How do I start over from scratch?
Quit the app, then delete the DocketPocket folder inside
~/Library/Application Support/ and run the
defaults delete command above. Everything Docket Pocket has
remembered will be gone. Your original photos in the Photos library are
untouched — the app has never copied them.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere. Docket Pocket has no account, no login, no analytics, no third-party servers. Everything — OCR, trip detection, reverse geocoding of coordinates to place names — runs on your Mac. See our privacy policy for the full statement.
Can Docket Pocket file my tax return?
No. Docket Pocket organises your travel records — it isn't tax software and doesn't give tax advice. Its job is to turn a year of photos into a tidy spreadsheet, journal, and map so your bookkeeper or accountant has clean inputs. For anything to do with what's deductible or how the ATO wants it reported, check the ATO website or talk to a registered tax agent — you can find one on the Tax Practitioners Board register.
Can Docket Pocket be used as an ATO vehicle logbook?
No. The logbook method for car expenses requires per-trip records that Docket Pocket doesn't capture — including odometer readings and the purpose of each trip. If you're using the logbook method, keep a dedicated logbook (paper, spreadsheet, or a purpose-built logbook app). Docket Pocket can complement a logbook as photographic evidence of where you travelled, but does not replace one.
Docket Pocket is useful for the simpler cents-per-kilometre method, which doesn't require a formal logbook — just reasonable evidence of your kilometres. GPS-tagged photos are strong evidence for that. Current rates, thresholds, and eligibility are on the ATO website.
How do I report a bug?
Email support@docket-pocket.com with as much of this as you can:
- What you were doing when the problem happened.
- Your macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac).
- Your Docket Pocket version (menu bar → Docket Pocket → About).
- A screenshot if the issue is visual.
Don't send us your photos or receipts — we don't need them, and we'd rather you not.
Contact
Email support@docket-pocket.com. Replies come from a person, usually within a few business days (Australian time). We don't have a support phone number.