Short answers to the questions people ask most about Recipe Cat. More about the app is on the Recipe Cat page.
Is Recipe Cat free? What does Pro add?
Yes. As many recipes as you like, a photo of each dish, chapters, search, cooking from a card, and printing or sharing any recipe as a PDF on a 4×6 card, Letter or A4 are all free. There are no ads and no account. Recipe Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds three extras: the Family cookbook (every recipe in one PDF, with a cover and contents, by chapter), Scan a handwritten card and Paste a whole recipe.
How do I add a recipe?
On an empty box, tap Add your first recipe. After that, tap Add recipe (the + at the top) and then Type a recipe. A name is enough to save. You can also fill in who it's from, serves, time, a chapter, the ingredients (one per line), the method (one step per line) and notes. Tap Add a photo of the dish to pick a photo. Then tap Add.
Can I paste in a recipe I already have, or scan a card?
Yes. For free, you can paste a whole list into the ingredients or the method: bullets and numbers are tidied away. With Pro, tap Add recipe, then Paste a whole recipe: the name on the first line, then the ingredients and the method. Lines under "Ingredients" and "Method" go to their places. With Pro you can also tap Scan a handwritten card, then Take a photo of the card or Choose a photo. The card is read with text recognition on your device. Handwriting can be hard to read, so you check the words before saving. The photo of the card stays with the recipe.
Can it scale a recipe or make a shopping list?
No. Recipe Cat keeps your recipe in your own words. Serves and time are kept as you typed them, and nothing is converted or scaled. There's no shopping list.
How do I find a recipe?
Your recipes are listed A to Z. Give a recipe a chapter, like Desserts, and the chapters show at the top of the list: tap one to see only those recipes, or All to see every one. Search finds words in the name, who it's from, the chapter, the ingredients, the method and the notes. Tap Add to favourites on a recipe to put a heart on it.
How do I cook from a recipe?
Open the recipe. Tap an ingredient to tick it off, and tap the step you're on to mark it. Tap Keep screen on so your screen doesn't go dark while you cook. Tap it again to turn it off.
How do I print or share a recipe?
Open the recipe and tap Print or share. Pick the paper: 4×6 card, Letter or A4. You see every card or page before you print. Text is never shrunk: a long recipe goes on over more cards or pages, each with the title. Tap Print to print, or Share to send the PDF. All three paper sizes are free.
Can I make a cookbook of all my recipes? (Pro)
With Recipe Cat Pro, tap Family cookbook on the home screen. Give it a name and a line under the name, and pick Letter or A4. You get every recipe in one PDF, with a cover and contents, by chapter. Recipes with no chapter come last, under "More recipes" if other recipes have one. Tap Print or Share.
Where are my recipes kept? Do I need an account?
There's no account. Your recipes and photos are kept on your phone, in Recipe Cat. A recipe is saved as soon as you tap Add or Save. To change a recipe, open it and tap More, then Edit. To remove one, tap More, then Delete: the recipe and its photo are removed from this phone.
Does it work offline?
Yes, for your recipes. Recipe Cat's own code makes no network request. So you can add, edit, search, scan and cook from your recipes, and make the PDF, without a connection. Printing goes through AirPrint, so your printer has to be reachable. Sharing by email or messages needs a connection. So does buying or restoring Pro, which goes through the App Store.
I bought Recipe Cat Pro. How do I get it on a new iPhone or iPad?
Open Recipe Cat and tap a Pro item: Family cookbook on the home screen (it shows once you have a recipe), or Add recipe and then Scan a handwritten card. The Pro screen opens. Tap Restore purchase. Use the same Apple Account you bought it with.
Something else?
Write to [email protected] from any email app.