Shelf Scan

Shelf Scan reads the food in a photo of one spot, like a fridge shelf or a cupboard, and proposes changes to your pantry. Nothing changes until you tap Save.

Scan a shelf

1. On the Pantry, tap Add, then Scan a shelf.
2. Take a photo of the whole shelf, with no people or papers in it. Tap Add another photo for up to 3 photos of the same spot.
3. Wait a few seconds while it reads.

Owners and Editors can scan shelves. Viewers can't change the pantry, so they don't see it.

Check it, then save

At the top, Where is this? shows the zone the app guessed from the photo. Tap to change it. If some photos look like a different spot, it offers to Scan separately.

The list has two parts:

• New here: food it saw that isn't recorded in that zone yet.
• Already in the fridge, freezer or pantry: food you already have there.

Counts read "about", because a photo can miss things. A scan can raise what's recorded, but it never lowers it on its own. If it saw less than you have, the row says so and shows its own button, like Set 1 or Set low. Tap it to lower what's recorded, or tap Keep 2 to change your mind.

Tap any row to fix the food, change how many, or remove it from this scan.

Then tap Save. You can undo it from the message that follows. If nothing would change, the button reads Done instead, and there's nothing to undo.

What it doesn't do

It never marks food as gone just because it wasn't in the photo. Food can hide behind the milk. If something recorded there wasn't seen, the daily Check-in may ask about it later.

Couldn't tell

If it can't name something, like a foil packet or a jar with no label, it doesn't guess. It puts it under Couldn't tell. Tap Name it to say what it is. Anything you don't name isn't saved.

Under a photo you may see a tip, like "Tilt the phone to see the can labels and add a photo". Tips never stop you saving.

AI and limits

Shelf Scan uses AI, and asks first, the same as Receipt Scan. Receipt and shelf scans share one daily limit of 10 per kitchen, which starts again at midnight in your kitchen's time zone.

Scans are part of Plus. Free kitchens get 3 a month. See Plus and your subscription.