Aisle Intelligence

Help center

Aisle Intelligence Support

Learn how to scan and review receipts, export spreadsheet-ready data, manage budgets and store profiles, protect your backups, and resolve common issues.

Need help with something not covered here?

Email support@aisleintelligence.app. Include your iPhone model, iOS version, app version, and the steps that produced the issue—but do not send sensitive grocery or loyalty data.

Start here

Getting started

Aisle Intelligence 1.0 is an iPhone app for iOS 17 or later. It does not require an Aisle Intelligence account, subscription, retailer login, or internet connection for its core features.

Overview

See monthly spending, budget pace, category totals, recent trips, price changes, and the Receipt to Spreadsheet shortcut.

Activity

Search and filter grocery trips, inspect receipt details, edit saved records, share a summary, or delete a receipt.

Budget

Set the monthly grocery plan, review weekly pace, and create optional plans for individual grocery categories.

Accounts

Manage store profiles, loyalty cards, reminders, CSV and JSON exports, restore, privacy information, and local-data deletion.

Add your first receipt

  1. Open receipt entry. Use the add button on Overview or Activity, or open Receipt to Spreadsheet from Overview.
  2. Choose a source. Scan with the camera, choose a photo, import a PDF or image file, or enter the trip manually.
  3. Review the draft. Correct the store, date, total, savings, fees, tax, items, quantities, and categories. Recognition is a starting point, not a final record.
  4. Save. The reviewed receipt becomes part of Activity, budget totals, category insights, search, and export.

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Capture and review

Receipts and text recognition

Scan with camera

Use a physical iPhone to capture one or more receipt pages. Camera scanning is unavailable in the iOS Simulator.

Choose a photo

Select a clear receipt image from Photos. Aisle Intelligence receives only the item you choose through Apple’s picker.

Import a file

Import a PDF, PNG, JPEG, or HEIC receipt from Files. Imports can be up to 25 MB and contain up to five pages.

Enter manually

Add the merchant, date, total, savings, fulfillment method, notes, and optional items without storing a receipt image.

Improve recognition results

  • Flatten curled receipts and use even, bright lighting without glare or deep shadows.
  • Keep the merchant, date, item lines, discounts, tax, and final total visible and in focus.
  • Capture the receipt straight on and avoid including unrelated documents in the frame.
  • For long receipts, use a multi-page camera scan rather than one distant, unreadable image.
  • Always compare the draft with the original receipt before saving. Apple Vision recognition can misread text or amounts.

If the camera or import does not work

  • Camera permission: open iOS Settings, locate Aisle Intelligence, and enable Camera. You can also review access under Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera.
  • Unsupported or oversized file: use a normally sized PDF, PNG, JPEG, or HEIC file no larger than 25 MB and no more than five pages.
  • Recognition cannot finish: try a sharper image, split a long receipt into several pages, or use manual entry.
  • Possible duplicate: Aisle Intelligence warns when the same merchant, date, and total already exist. Check Activity before saving another copy.

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Move your data

CSV export, JSON backup, and restore

Create a spreadsheet CSV

  1. Open Overview > Receipt to Spreadsheet for the guided workflow, or open Accounts > Export or restore.
  2. Choose CSV and prepare the export.
  3. Use the iOS share sheet to save or send the file to Numbers, Excel, Google Sheets, Files, or another destination you trust.

CSV includes one row per item. A receipt without itemized lines receives a single receipt-total row. Quantity and unit-price columns are filled when those details were recognized or entered.

Avoid double-counting totals. purchase_total and saved repeat on each item row. Use receipt_total_once and saved_once when summing receipt-level totals; those values appear only on the first row of each receipt.

Create a restorable backup

  1. Open Accounts > Export or restore.
  2. Select JSON, then choose Prepare JSON export.
  3. Share the file to a secure location you control.

The JSON file is the complete Aisle Intelligence backup format. It can include purchases, budgets, preferences, store profiles, loyalty or member IDs, and receipt images stored by the app. Text recognition can read every accepted page of a multi-page scan or PDF, but the saved receipt and its backup retain a processed JPEG of the first page only. Protect the backup as you would protect the original receipts.

Restore a JSON backup

  1. Export a current JSON backup first if you may want to return to the data already on the iPhone.
  2. Open Accounts > Export or restore and choose Choose Aisle Intelligence JSON backup.
  3. Select the backup and confirm the replacement.

Restore replaces the current local Aisle Intelligence data. A CSV cannot be restored. Backups larger than 100 MB, altered or damaged files, and unsupported backup versions are rejected.

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Understand spending

Budgets, activity, and price insights

Set the monthly budget

Open Budget and tap Edit. Enter the monthly grocery total, then save. Overview shows spending, remaining amount, forecast, and pace; Budget shows spending, remaining amount, and weekly pace.

Plan categories

Open a category from Budget and choose Edit plan. Category reporting is most useful when saved receipts contain reviewed itemized lines.

Find a trip

Activity can search store and item names and filter by store or fulfillment method. Open a trip to edit, share, or delete it.

Compare prices

Price intelligence appears after the same item name is present on at least two itemized receipts. Consistent item names produce better comparisons.

Deleting or editing a receipt updates the app’s spending totals and insights. Deleting a receipt cannot be undone unless the earlier record exists in a JSON backup.

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Loyalty details

Store profiles, loyalty cards, and reminders

The Accounts tab opens the Stores & data screen. Store profiles are records you maintain manually; they are not connected retailer accounts.

Add a store profile

  1. Open Accounts and choose Add under Store profiles.
  2. Enter the retailer and loyalty-program details you want to keep locally.
  3. Optionally add a member ID, benefit or reward balance, notes, and a reward expiration date.
  4. Save the profile. If the member ID can be represented safely, the profile can display a Code 128 loyalty card.

Compare any generated barcode with the code issued by the retailer before presenting it at checkout. Aisle Intelligence does not verify balances, download purchase history, or update store profiles automatically.

Turn on reminders

  1. Open Accounts > Reminders and enable the reminder types you want.
  2. Allow notifications when iOS asks.
  3. For reward reminders, add a future reward-expiration date to the corresponding store profile.

Reminders are scheduled locally. Budget alerts are evaluated after you save a receipt, reward reminders use dates in store profiles, and the weekly review uses the app’s local schedule. No notification server is involved.

If reminders do not arrive, confirm both the in-app switches and iOS Settings > Notifications > Aisle Intelligence. Focus modes, notification summaries, and system notification settings can affect delivery.

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Stay in control

Local data, privacy, and deletion

  • Receipt recognition uses Apple Vision on the iPhone. Aisle Intelligence does not upload receipts for recognition.
  • Purchases, receipt images, budgets, preferences, and store profiles are stored in the app’s protected local storage.
  • This release has no Aisle Intelligence account, cloud sync, advertising SDK, analytics SDK, or required backend connection.
  • An export leaves the app only when you choose a destination in the iOS share sheet. That destination then handles its copy under its own terms.

Delete Aisle Intelligence data

  1. Create a JSON backup first if you may need the data again.
  2. Open Accounts > Delete all data.
  3. Review the warning and confirm Delete everything.

This removes local purchases, receipt images, budgets, preferences, store profiles, and scheduled reminders from that device. It cannot delete copies you previously exported to Files, email, cloud storage, or another app.

For complete details, read the Aisle Intelligence Privacy Policy and the legal agreements and disclosures.

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Common fixes

Troubleshooting

“Data wasn’t saved” appears

Check available iPhone storage and try the change again. If the app still opens your existing data, create a JSON backup before further troubleshooting.

CSV sharing is unavailable

Save at least one reviewed receipt, return to Receipt to Spreadsheet, and prepare the CSV again. The share action appears after the file is prepared.

A total or category looks wrong

Open the receipt in Activity, tap Edit, and compare every amount and item with the original. Reports update after the corrected receipt is saved.

A JSON backup will not restore

Confirm that you selected an unmodified Aisle Intelligence JSON backup rather than a CSV. The backup must be 100 MB or smaller and the iPhone must have enough free storage.

A loyalty barcode is unavailable

Check the member ID for unsupported or unusually long characters and compare it with the retailer-issued identifier. You can still keep the profile without a barcode.

Sample data replaced real data

Loading sample data replaces the current local data after confirmation. Restore a JSON backup made before loading the sample; without one, the replaced records cannot be recovered.

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Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

Does Aisle Intelligence connect to my grocery account?

No. Store profiles are manually maintained records. The app does not request retailer passwords, sign in to retailer accounts, or automatically download purchase history or reward balances.

Do I need internet access or an account?

No account or required network connection is used for core app features. Opening the public Support or Privacy pages, sending support email, or sharing to an online destination may use that destination’s network service.

Does the app sync between iPhones?

No. Version 1.0 does not provide cloud sync. To move data, create a JSON backup on one device, transfer it securely, and restore it on the other device. Restoring replaces the receiving device’s current app data.

Can support recover deleted receipts or a lost device?

No. Aisle Intelligence does not receive a server copy of your grocery data. Recovery requires a JSON backup that you previously exported and retained.

Why must I review every receipt?

On-device text recognition can confuse dates, quantities, discounts, tax, item names, and totals—especially on faded, folded, or unusually formatted receipts. Aisle Intelligence never saves recognized fields automatically without the review step.

What is the difference between CSV and JSON?

CSV is a human-readable spreadsheet export for analysis. JSON is the complete, versioned backup format that Aisle Intelligence can restore and may include receipt images and loyalty details.

Does Aisle Intelligence sell or monetize my grocery data?

No. Version 1.0 keeps grocery data on your device and contains no advertising or analytics SDK. Aisle Intelligence does not receive or sell your grocery records.

Where are the legal agreements and disclosures?

Onboarding requires agreement to the Terms of Use and End User License Agreement and acknowledgment of the Privacy Policy and Disclosures. Public copies are at aisleintelligence.app/legal, including the California Privacy Notice and Accessibility Statement.

What is the seasonal harvest calendar?

Overview includes a typical U.S. farmers-market harvest chart. Add an optional ZIP and the app picks a regional calendar (Florida winter tomatoes, California berries, Mid-Atlantic apples and gourds). Produce from your own receipts rises to the top. Seasons are typical, not live stall data.

Does the app support Dark Mode, larger text, and VoiceOver?

Yes. The app supports Dark Mode, Dynamic Type-friendly layouts, VoiceOver summaries, accessible chart descriptions, and minimum touch targets. Contact support with the screen and accessibility setting involved if you encounter a barrier.

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Contact

Still need help?

Email support with:

  • your iPhone model, iOS version, and Aisle Intelligence version;
  • the screen or feature involved;
  • what you expected and what happened instead; and
  • the exact steps that reproduce the issue.

Email Aisle Intelligence Support

Protect your information: do not send retailer passwords, payment-card or bank details, unredacted receipts, loyalty or member IDs, or a full JSON backup unless support explicitly requests a specific redacted file through a trusted channel. Never post those details in an App Store review.