Your 10-minute tour

How to use
KindlyChecked.

Six short sections that walk you through your first scan, your first allergen setup, and your first "oh, this changes everything" moment. Designed to be read in order, top to bottom.

~10 min read
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6 sections
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Interactive demos inline
1 The fundamentals

Your first scan.

You point your phone at a barcode. We do the rest. Here's exactly how it works the first time.

  1. Open the app
    Tap the KindlyChecked icon on your home screen, or open the URL in your browser. The home screen shows a big lime card that says "The label, kindly checked."
  2. Tap the camera button
    It's the lime circle at the bottom-center of every screen, or the "Scan a product" button in the lime card. First time, your phone will ask for camera permission — say yes.
  3. Hold the barcode in the frame
    Line up the barcode within the four lime corners. A scanning line moves up and down — you don't need to tap anything. We'll detect it as soon as it's clear.
  4. Watch the green flash
    When we detect the barcode, the frame flashes green and a check mark pops up. About 300ms later, you're on the result page.
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iPhone users: The camera only works in Safari. If you opened the link in Chrome, the camera button will say "use Safari instead." Apple restriction, not our bug.
Stuck? Three things to check
  • 1
    Camera not opening Permission was denied. Open browser settings, find KindlyChecked, allow Camera. Then refresh the page.
  • 2
    Barcode won't detect Move 4–6 inches from the product. Steady your hand. If the package is wrinkled or shiny, flatten it.
  • 3
    Got a "not found" screen That product isn't in our database yet. We'll show you a one-tap link to add it — takes 30 seconds and helps everyone.
2 Understanding what you see

Reading the score.

Every product gets a number from 1 to 100, a color, and a verdict. Here's exactly what each band means.

The score is the headline answer — but it's not the whole story. Below it, you'll see the breakdown: a list of reasons that explain why it scored what it did. Some are good (lime checkmarks), some are flags (red triangles).

Tap any flag to see the specific ingredient name, the risk category (high or moderate), and a one-line explanation of why it matters. Tap the score itself to see the math — we have nothing to hide.

75 – 100
Excellent
Buy with confidence. Strong nutrition, clean ingredients.
50 – 74
Good
Decent choice. Some minor flags but nothing alarming.
25 – 49
Poor
Worth a second look. We'll suggest swaps automatically.
1 – 24
Avoid
Significant concerns. Better alternatives exist.
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How the math works: For food, it's 60% Nutri-Score + 30% additives + 10% organic bonus. For cosmetics and cleaners, we start at 100 and subtract for each hazardous ingredient. Sources are cited in the app under Profile → About.
3 The single most important setup

Set your allergens.

Tell us once, and every scan from then on checks automatically. No allergen ever sneaks past you.

Open the Profile tab (the person icon in the bottom nav). Scroll down to "My allergies". You'll see nine common allergens as toggleable pills: gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soy, fish, shellfish, sesame.

Tap the ones that apply. Each active allergen turns red and shows a checkmark. That's it — you're set forever (or until you change them).

Now every product you scan gets checked against your allergens. If a product contains any of them:

  • A red banner appears at the top
    Before you even see the score. "Contains your allergen — 🥛 Dairy" with a warning icon. Impossible to miss.
  • The score is automatically capped at 20
    No matter how good the rest of the ingredients are, allergen products land in the "Avoid" tier. The math protects you.
  • Better-pick suggestions filter them out too
    When we recommend alternatives, we filter out anything containing your allergens. You'll never get suggested a product you can't eat.
This is not a substitute for reading labels. Open Food Facts data is community-contributed and occasionally incomplete. For severe allergies, always verify the ingredient list yourself.
4 The killer feature

Find better swaps.

When something scores badly, we don't just judge it. We surface alternatives in the same category — same shelf, better answer.

Scan something that scores under 50, and scroll down past the breakdown. You'll see a section called "Better picks for you" with up to four alternatives, ranked by score.

Each alternative card shows the product name, brand, image, and its score in a colored pill. Tap any one to scan it directly — useful when you want to see why the alternative scored higher.

The picks are filtered three ways:

  • Same category as what you scanned
    If you scanned a chocolate spread, we find better chocolate spreads — not unrelated foods. We use the product's category from Open Food Facts.
  • Score 70 or higher
    No mediocre swaps. If we can't find at least one alternative scoring 70+, we won't show this section at all rather than waste your time.
  • Allergen-safe
    Anything containing your allergens is filtered out before we even sort. You never get suggested something you can't have.
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Pro move: Use this at the grocery store. Scan the thing in your hand, see the alternatives, and check if any of them are on the same shelf. Trader Joe's runs are way more efficient with this.
5 Build your reference library

Save & revisit.

Every scan is automatically saved. Bookmark the keepers. Build a personal database of what's safe in your house.

Two places to find products you've scanned before:

  • Recent scans on the home screen
    The last 4 products you scanned appear at the bottom of the home screen. Tap any to instantly re-scan — useful when you want to compare two products side by side.
  • Saved tab in the bottom nav
    Tap the bookmark icon on any product result to save it permanently. Then access them from the saved tab, sorted by verdict (Excellent / Good / Poor / Avoid). Use this to build a "yes" list and a "never again" list.
  • Share button on every result
    Tap the share icon to send the score to a friend via Messages, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, whatever. The share text reads "Coca-Cola scored 17/100 (Avoid) on KindlyChecked 🌱" — they get the score and the link to scan their own.
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Offline mode: Anything you've scanned in the last 7 days works offline — just open the app, tap the recent scan or saved item, and the cached result appears instantly. Useful when you're at a store with bad signal.
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Where this data lives: Only on your phone. We don't have accounts in v1. Everything (scan history, saved products, allergens) is stored in your browser's local storage. Clear your browser data and it's gone — so don't.
6 Make it part of your life

Make it a habit.

One scan changes nothing. Twenty scans change a household. Here's how people who actually use this app use it.

The pattern that emerges from beta testers — there are five ways KindlyChecked actually fits into someone's week:

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The shopping run

Scan things before you put them in the cart. Especially things you buy on autopilot — cereals, yogurts, bread, soaps. The first time you do a full grocery audit, expect to swap 2–3 items.

🏠

The pantry sweep

One Saturday morning, scan everything in your pantry, fridge, and bathroom. Save the keepers. Use up the bad scores, then don't repurchase. Most rewarding hour you'll spend this month.

🍴

The dinner-party check

Friend brings a dish? Scan the ingredients. Now you know what you're serving guests, what allergens are present, and you can credibly say "this Greek yogurt scores a 92."

🎁

The gift screen

Holiday baskets, beauty samples, baby gifts. Scan before you use. Especially for cosmetics — the worst endocrine disruptors hide in nice-looking gift sets.

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The kid scan

Hand the phone to your kid. Let them scan their snacks. Educational, gamified, and they'll start asking questions about food. Don't underestimate this one.

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The share-your-find

Found a 95? Found a 12 that you thought was healthy? Hit share. The share message includes the link, so friends who don't have the app yet will install it to see what you're talking about.

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The honest truth: You won't use this for everything, and you shouldn't. The point isn't to obsess over scores — it's to occasionally ask "wait, what's actually in this?" and have a real answer in 4 seconds. Use it when it's useful. Forget it when it's not.

Ready when you are.

You've seen everything. Now actually scan something.

Open KindlyChecked