Mealcents

Support

Email: support@getmealcents.com — answered by Sourav Das, the developer.

To fix things fast, include: your iPhone model and iOS version (Settings › General › About), the Mealcents version (Settings › General › iPhone Storage › Mealcents), what you tapped, and what you expected. A screenshot helps. If you send a receipt photo, cover any card numbers.

Your plan

Change your budget or how many people you're feeding

  1. On the Week tab, tap Budget (top right) or the Feeding line under the total.
  2. Use − / + to set 1–8 people, and the keypad to set your weekly dinner budget ($15 or more).
  3. Tap Update my plan. Nothing changes until you do; the week is re-planned to fit.

Change cuisines, diet or allergies

  1. On the Week tab, tap the green line under the total (for example "Mexican, Thai · Vegetarian").
  2. Pick any cuisines you like (none = all 10), your diets and allergies. The count at the bottom shows how many dinners match.
  3. Tap Update my plan, or Clear to remove every choice.

Swap one dinner

Tap the dinner on the Week tab, then Swap. You get a different dinner that fits your diet, allergies and the money left in your budget.

"No dinners fit these filters yet"

Diets and allergies are never bent, so a strict combination (for example vegan + soy-free + gluten-free) can leave nothing that's safe. Tap Change tastes and remove one filter. If the week shows "a few repeats" or "from other cuisines" under the total, that's the planner telling you it had to repeat a dinner or use other cuisines to keep your diet and budget.

Receipts & prices

Where prices come from

Before you scan anything, each ingredient uses a typical 2026 US supermarket price, marked est. When you save a receipt, every ingredient whose name matches a line on it is repriced with what you paid (the most recent receipt wins), and your week's total, shopping list and widgets update. On a dinner, a repriced ingredient says "you paid $X at Store". A receipt price more than 4× away from the typical price is ignored as a likely misread.

Scan a receipt

  1. Tap Scan receipt at the bottom of the screen (or Scan in the Prices tab).
  2. Lay the receipt flat in good light, fit it in the frame, and tap the shutter. Or tap the photos button to Choose a photo.
  3. Check the lines it found. Edit any name or price right in the list, and use the remove button on lines that aren't food. Lines with an amber dot are the ones it was less sure about.
  4. If the store wasn't detected, pick it under Which store? (Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, Aldi, Target, Kroger, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Safeway, Publix, H-E-B, Lidl, or Other), then tap Save … prices.

Tips: one receipt per photo; crumpled, curled or faded thermal paper reads worst; very long receipts read best when the whole item list is in the frame.

Fix or delete a wrong price

Diets & allergies

Diet badges and the "Contains" line on every dinner are worked out from each ingredient, never typed in by hand. The checks include common hidden sources: fish sauce and shrimp paste in Thai curry pastes, wheat in soy sauce, animal rennet in parmesan, lard in some refried beans, egg in some gluten-free breads. "May contain" warnings count as contains. When a diet needs it, a dinner is adjusted with a safe swap (for example tamari for soy sauce) and shows Adjusted for your diet.

Important: brands and recipes vary. If you have a severe allergy, always read the label on what you buy — Mealcents can't see the exact product in your cart.

Sunday prep

The Prep tab turns your week into one Sunday session: cook the rice, portion and freeze the meat, chop vegetables. Tick tasks off as you go.

Pantry

Shopping list

Tap List at the bottom of the screen. Items are combined across the week, scaled to your household, and grouped by the store you last bought them at (from your receipts), then "Any store". Tap to tick items off. Shop mode on Lock Screen puts your progress and what's left to spend on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island while you shop. The share button sends the list as text.

Widgets & timers

Troubleshooting

The camera is black or won't open

Settings › Mealcents › Camera must be on. Until then, use Choose a photo.

Reminders don't arrive

Check that Remind me is on in the Prep tab, that Settings › Notifications › Mealcents › Allow Notifications is on, and that a Focus mode isn't silencing Mealcents. Thaw reminders only appear in weeks where some meat goes in the freezer.

A receipt line didn't reprice an ingredient

Matching uses the words on the receipt. Common store abbreviations like "KS BNLS CHKN THIGHS" are understood, but unusual names may not match. Fix the name on the line before saving (for example "Chicken thighs").

Something looks different after opening the app

Mealcents updates itself in the background when you open it; the update applies the next time you open the app. To get it now, swipe Mealcents away in the app switcher and open it again.

Your data