Help & FAQ

Yes! FreshFolio starts all users with a 1-Month Free Trial of our Standard features. After the trial, you can continue with a paid subscription or use the app in a strict read-only mode. We believe in "Try Before You Buy" so you can see the value of a perfectly organized pantry first.

An internet connection is required for barcode scanning (to look up product information) and syncing data across devices. However, you can view your existing pantry items offline.

Our barcode scanner uses your device camera to read UPC/EAN barcodes. Product information is retrieved from OpenFoodFacts, a crowdsourced database. Accuracy depends on the database having information for that specific product. If a product isn't found, you can add it manually.

There are three ways to add items:

1. Pantry FAB (+): Tap the floating action button on the Pantry screen to start a new scan or manual entry.

2. Scan Barcode: From the "Put Away" screen, point your camera at the product barcode to look it up.

3. From Shopping List: Mark items as "Purchased" on your shopping list. They will move to your Purchased Queue, where you can "Put Away" everything in bulk when you get home.

FreshFolio uses a two-tier system inspired by inventory management:

• Pantry Item: The reusable product template (e.g., "Campbell's Tomato Soup"). This stores the product name, brand, category, and default shelf life.
• Lot: A specific purchase instance (e.g., "2 cans purchased on 2/6/2026, expires 12/31/2026"). Each time you buy the same product, you create a new Lot.

This approach prevents duplicate data entry and makes it easy to track multiple purchases of the same item.

When adding an item, you specify:

• Purchase Unit: How you buy it (e.g., Case, Box, Pack)
• Base Unit: The individual unit (e.g., Can, Bottle, Each)
• Units per Purchase: How many base units are in one purchase unit (e.g., 12 cans per case)

This allows accurate inventory tracking. For example, if you buy 2 cases of soup (12 cans each), FreshFolio tracks 24 cans in your pantry.

Yes! With FreshFolio Pro, you can invite family members to collaborate on a shared pantry. Everyone can add items, update quantities, and receive expiration alerts.

When adding an item, tap the camera icon next to the expiration date field. Point your camera at the "Best By" or "Exp" date on the package. Our OCR (Optical Character Recognition) will attempt to detect and parse the date.

If OCR fails to detect the date, you can:

1. Manually type the date in MM/DD/YYYY format

2. Use the date picker to select the date

3. Leave it blank and add it later

FreshFolio sends push notifications when items are approaching their expiration date:

• 7 days before: "Heads up" notification
• 3 days before: "Use soon" notification
• On expiration day: "Expires today" notification
• After expiration: Item is marked as expired

You can customize notification timing in Settings.

When creating a Pantry Item, you can set a low stock threshold (e.g., "Alert me when I have fewer than 3 cans"). FreshFolio will notify you when your total quantity drops below this level, helping you avoid running out.

Tap the "Shopping" tab. You can:

• Scan Barcode: Tap the scanner icon in the top right to quickly add products by UPC.
• Manual Add: Tap the FAB (+) to type an item name.
• Auto-Restock: Items below your "Low Stock Threshold" will appear here automatically.
• Restock: Swipe Left on any pantry item to add it to the list.

Yes! When viewing an item in your pantry list, swipe Left to add it to your shopping list, or tap the item to open Item Details to see individual lots, use them, or dispose of them.

Yes! Just type the name in the shopping list search bar. If it's not in the database, you can add it as a custom item. When you put it away later, FreshFolio will automatically create the product record for you without any extra setup.

Active items on your shopping list feature a Compact Stepper `[-] 1 [+]`. Tap the plus or minus buttons to adjust the amount you need to buy without opening a separate screen.

Checking an item marks it as Purchased and instantly moves it to the Purchased Items queue. Because FreshFolio uses a cloud-synced queue, one family member can be checking off items at the store while another sees them appear on the "Put Away" screen at home in real-time.

To add these items to your pantry inventory:

1. Go to the Pantry tab.

2. Tap the + button and select Purchased Items.

3. Review your list and tap "Put Away" for each item to confirm final details (expiration, location).

FreshFolio offers three ways to build your digital cookbook:

• Manual Add: Type in your own family recipes (Unlimited).
• Web Import: Paste a URL from your favorite recipe site (e.g., AllRecipes, NYT Cooking) to instantly extract the title, ingredients, and steps.
• AI Generation: Tap the "Magic" icon to have our AI generate new recipes based specifically on what’s currently in your pantry to minimize waste.

Yes. To ensure system stability and fair use, we apply daily limits to these automated features:

• Free Trial: 5 AI Generations and 5 Web Imports per day.
• Standard/Pro: 50 AI Generations and 50 Web Imports per day.

By default, FreshFolio groups your recipes by their primary category (Breakfast, Dinner, etc.). You can toggle this off or change the sort order (e.g., by Rating or Cook Time) using the Filter icon in the top right of the Recipes screen.

FreshFolio supports:

• UPC-A (standard US barcodes)
• UPC-E (compressed UPC)
• EAN-13 (international barcodes)
• EAN-8

If a barcode isn't found in the OpenFoodFacts database, you can:

1. Add the product manually

2. Contribute the product to OpenFoodFacts (helps other users!)

3. Use manual entry for that item

No, barcode scanning requires an internet connection to look up product information from the OpenFoodFacts API.

FreshFolio offers several organization methods:

• Categories: Group items by type (Dairy, Produce, Canned Goods, etc.)
• Locations: Track where items are stored (Fridge, Freezer, Pantry)
• Favorites: Mark frequently purchased items for quick access.

A Write-off is used when an item is missing or lost but not necessarily spoiled or expired. It allows you to remove the item from inventory while keeping an accurate record of the loss.

Yes! In Settings → Category Management, you can create, edit, and delete custom categories to match your organization style.

Yes! You can manage all your storage areas in Settings → Location Management.

FreshFolio uses "Smart Tags" from the global food database (Open Food Facts). Each category in your settings has a list of keywords associated with it. When you scan a product, the app looks at its tags and matches them to your categories.

If an item matches tags in two different categories (like "Frozen" and "Healthy"), it will be placed in the one that appears higher in your Category list. You can reorder your categories in Settings to change this priority.

Go to Settings → Category Management, select a category, and edit the "Smart Tags." Adding specific keywords like "sparkling" to your Beverages category ensures any bubbly water you scan is filed correctly in the future.

Yes. Your pantry data is private and only visible to you and any family members you explicitly invite to a shared pantry. We do not sell or share your data with third parties.

You can request account deletion via Settings → Delete Account, or visit our Account Deletion Page. Once requested, your account is deactivated immediately and permanently deleted after a 30-day grace period.

The reusable product template (e.g., "Campbell's Tomato Soup"). Stores brand, category, and default shelf life.

A specific purchase instance of an item, with its own unique expiration date and quantity.

The technology used to detect and read expiration dates from product packaging using your device camera.

We take data integrity and app stability seriously. All development for FreshFolio follows a strict set of internal development standards and technical blueprints. These rules ensure that every update adheres to our technical architecture, preserves your data, and maintains a "Server-as-Truth" model for security.

While some technical manuals are reserved for internal development, our architectural decisions are documented in `docs/decisions.md` to ensure our team is always aligned on providing you with a reliable, offline-first experience.