RecipesManagerPro — User Manual

RecipesManagerPro keeps all your recipes in one place: from the web, from cookbooks, PDFs and other recipe apps. Any recipe becomes a shopping list with one tap, the pantry shows what you already have, and cooking mode guides you step by step. The app runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac and can sync through iCloud.

1 — Overview

iPad and Mac

On iPad and Mac the window has three columns:

The button at the top left shows and hides the sidebar. On the Mac you can also open the settings via RecipesManagerPro › Settings…

iPhone

On the iPhone the tabs Recipes, Shopping, Pantry and Settings are at the bottom. Shopping and Pantry only appear when these features are switched on. Tags, favorites and cookbook are chosen via Filter above the list.

Help in the app

Almost every screen has a question mark. It explains the buttons you see at that moment and gives tips. The question marks can be hidden under Settings › General › Show Help Buttons.

After an update the app shows once what's new. You find that window again under Settings › Info › Show What's New.

2 — Cookbooks

Cookbooks keep collections apart, for example everyday cooking, baking and recipes to try. Exactly one cookbook is selected at any time. The list shows its recipes, and new recipes go into it.

Switching and managing

The current cookbook is at the top of the sidebar. Tapping it shows all cookbooks to switch between and the entry for managing them. There, + creates a new cookbook with a name and a symbol. Tapping an existing cookbook opens it for editing.

Moving a recipe

Long press a recipe in the list, or right-click it, and choose Move to. If several recipes are checked via Edit, all checked recipes move along.

3 — Finding recipes

Search

Tap the search field above the list. Below it you choose where to search: Title, Title & Subtitle, Ingredients, Tags or All.

Filter by time

The time filter shows only recipes with a matching total time: Up to 15 min, 15-30 min, 30-60 min or Over 60 min.

Sidebar and filters

Above the list you see what is currently filtering. Each filter can be removed there by tapping its cross.

Sorting

The button with two arrows sorts by name (A–Z or Z–A), by creation date (newest or oldest first) or by last change.

Several recipes at once

Edit above the list switches on selection. Check the recipes and choose Tags, Favorite or Delete at the bottom. Delete and Move in the context menu of a checked recipe also apply to all checked recipes.

4 — The recipe

Scaling servings

Tap the number of servings and set another. All amounts are recalculated. The shopping list then receives the scaled amounts.

The buttons

Images

A recipe can have several images. Swipe across the image to browse. New images come from the photo library, the camera or files.

Nutrition

When the feature is on, estimated values per serving appear below the recipe. More under Nutrition.

5 — Creating and editing recipes

Tap + above the recipe list and choose Enter manually. An existing recipe opens with Edit. You can also tap directly on the ingredients or the instructions.

Writing ingredients

The app recognizes amount, unit and name when you write like this:

250 g flour
2 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch salt (optional)

• A hyphen gives a range: 2-3 tbsp.
• (optional) at the end marks an ingredient as optional.

Headings with #

A line starting with # becomes a heading. This works for ingredients and instructions.

#For the dough
250 g flour
125 g butter
#For the filling
500 g apples

Recipe parts

If a dish has several parts, such as main course and sauce, Add recipe part creates another part. Each part has its own name, ingredients and instructions.

Images

Add images from the photo library or the camera. The first image is the main image in the list. The red cross on an image removes it.

6 — Recipes from the web

There are three ways to get recipes from the web:

• the built-in browser in the app,
• the share menu of other apps,
• the Safari extension.

The built-in browser

1. Open Browser in the sidebar or + › Browser Import.
2. Enter the address, or tap Paste to load a copied address. You can also simply browse.
3. If the page contains a recipe, the app fills the preview. A green sparkle marks automatically detected data.
4. Check the data, set tags and difficulty, and save.

All fields in the preview can be edited directly. Drag images from the web page into the image area of the preview. The double arrow enlarges the preview.

When nothing is detected

Some sites don't describe their recipe in a way the app can read. Then you assign the text yourself:

1. Choose the target field: Title, Subtitle, Ingredients, Instructions or Notes.
2. Select the matching text on the web page.
3. Tap the green button. The text goes into the chosen field.

Sharing from other apps

In Safari and many other apps, choose Share and then RecipesManagerPro. The app opens the address in the import. If you cancel the share sheet, nothing is imported.

The Safari extension

The extension saves a recipe without opening the app. Its icon in the Safari toolbar shows when a page contains a recipe. A click shows the title, a second click saves the recipe. If it is already in your collection, the extension tells you.

The recipe appears in the app the next time it runs. Which cookbook it goes into and which keyword it gets is set under Settings › General › Browser Extension.

7 — Import from photo, PDF and text

Via + above the recipe list you get recipes from a photo, a PDF file or a text file. All three work the same way: you select text and assign it to a field.

How it works

1. Choose Import from image, Import from PDF or Import from text file.
2. Choose the target field at the top, for example Ingredients.
3. Drag a rectangle over the text with your finger, Apple Pencil or mouse. The captured lines turn blue.
4. Tap the green Apply as … button.
5. Repeat for the other fields, set tags, times and servings, and tap Import.

Tapping an empty area clears the selection. A new rectangle replaces the old selection.

Photo

The photo comes from the library, straight from the camera, or from the file system with From Files. Text recognition runs on the device. It works best in good light, without shadows and with the camera held straight above the recipe.

The photographed page is not used as the recipe image. With Crop from Image you drag a rectangle around the actual photo of the dish; that crop becomes the recipe image.

PDF

The arrows page through multi-page PDFs. Your selection is kept when you change pages. In crop mode you cut an image out of the PDF as the recipe image.

Text file

For long files, the button at the bottom of the text area switches between Scroll and Select. Scroll to the right place first, then switch to Select.

8 — Moving from other apps

Under Settings › Data you bring over recipes from other apps. Export them in the old app first, then select the file.

Before importing, the app shows the recipes it found. You choose which ones to bring over.

9 — Tags

Tags organize recipes across all categories: vegetarian, quick, Christmas, barbecue. A recipe can have any number of tags.

Assigning tags

In the recipe via Tags, while editing and during import. For several recipes at once, use multiple selection. During import the app suggests tags it has learned from your earlier assignments.

Managing tags

Under Settings › Tags you create tags and groups. Each tag can have its own color and symbol. Tags can be sorted by dragging and moved between groups.

In the sidebar, Sort switches on reordering by dragging. A long press on a tag offers edit and delete. A deleted tag is removed from all recipes.

10 — The shopping list

From a recipe

In the recipe, tap the cart. The list of ingredients appears. Choose which ones should go on the shopping list and confirm. With scaled servings, the scaled amounts go on the list.

When the pantry is on, the app marks ingredients already in stock and subtracts the amounts you have.

Amounts in small units such as tablespoons, pinches or cloves are left off the list: nobody buys olive oil by the spoon or garlic by the clove.

By hand

In the shopping list via +. Under From Recipe you search a recipe and take single or all ingredients. Under Manual you enter name, amount and unit. The app assigns the item to a category by itself.

While shopping

• Tapping an item checks it off.
• Swiping left deletes or edits an item.
• Tapping the category symbol changes the assignment.
• Checkout Now moves all checked items into the pantry and clears the list.

The … menu

From the menu you share the list as text, see earlier trips in Shopping History, check all items, or delete checked or all entries.

Shops, products and categories

Under Settings › Shopping List:

11 — Pantry

The pantry shows what you have at home and when it expires. The feature is off at first. Switch it on under Settings › Pantry › Enable pantry.

Adding an item

Via +. Suggestions appear as you type the name. Amount, unit, location, category, expiry date and notes are optional. Quick buttons such as +7d or +1m set the date.

The app remembers where you store a product and suggests it next time. Checkout Now in the shopping list also fills the pantry.

The list

• Red means expired, orange means expiring soon.
• The menu groups by location or category.
• The menu also deletes all expired or all items.
• Swiping left deletes an item.

Settings

12 — What can I cook?

Enter what you have at home and get matching recipes. On iPad and Mac the feature is in the sidebar, on the iPhone in the + menu.

1. Enter ingredients or pick them with Select from pantry.
2. Tap Search recipes.

Each recipe shows how well it matches in percent and which ingredients are missing. Part of a word is enough: “kidney” also finds “pork kidney”.

The feature can be switched off under Settings › General › Show recipe suggestions.

13 — Cooking mode

Cooking mode shows a recipe large and step by step. Start it in the recipe with Cook.

1. Prepare ingredients: check off what you have ready.
2. Steps: move on with the arrows or by swiping.
3. Timers: when a step mentions a time, such as “bake for 20 minutes”, you start a timer right there. Several timers can run at the same time.
4. Done: at the end you can subtract the used ingredients from the pantry. Staple ingredients are left alone.

When you leave, the app asks whether to save your progress. Then you continue at the same place next time.

Settings › Cooking

14 — Nutrition

The app estimates calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat per serving from the ingredients. The feature is off at first. Switch it on under Settings › General › Show nutrition info.

Tapping the values shows them per ingredient and where they come from:

The nutrition database

Settings › General › Nutrition Database holds over 300 ingredients with values per 100 g. You can search it in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish, filter by category, change values and add your own ingredients with +. Your own entries carry a person symbol and are never overwritten by updates. The app checks daily for new data.

If values look wrong, Clear nutrition cache removes the cached values. They are recalculated the next time you open a recipe.

15 — Settings

General

Appearance

Language

Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil) or Spanish, independent of the system language. The change takes effect immediately. Your recipes, own tags and shopping lists stay in the language you created them in. Built-in items such as tag groups, the default cookbook, storage locations and categories appear in the selected language.

Other sections

Shopping list and pantry can be switched off entirely in their sections. Their buttons and tabs then disappear as well.

16 — Backup, iCloud and log

iCloud

With Settings › General › iCloud Sync, recipes, ingredients, tags and settings sync across all devices signed in with the same Apple ID. iCloud is part of the full version.

Creating a backup

Under Settings › Data › Create backup or via + in the recipe list. You choose the recipes and get a JSON file. It is suitable for safekeeping and for moving to another device.

Restoring a backup

Settings › Data › Restore backup reads such a file back in. Existing tag groups, tags and the default cookbook are recognized in any language, so no duplicates are created.

Reload data from iCloud (Mac)

If syncing on the Mac no longer gets through, Settings › Data › Reload data from iCloud fetches the collection fresh from iCloud. First a backup of all recipes is created, and you choose where to save it. Without a backup nothing is removed. The data in iCloud and on your other devices stays unchanged. iCloud Sync must be on for this.

Maintenance

Clear image cache deletes cached images from the web. The images of your recipes are kept.

Log

Under Settings › Log the app records what happens in the background, such as iCloud sync, imports or backups. The file stays on the device until you share it yourself.

17 — Free and full version

The free version can do everything but holds at most 5 recipes. This also applies to imports: if a file contains more recipes, only as many are imported as there are free slots.

The full version is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It brings:

• unlimited recipes,
• syncing through iCloud,
• all future updates.

You buy it under Settings › Pro. If you have bought the full version before, get it back with Restore Purchases. You need to be signed in with the same Apple ID.

18 — Frequently asked questions

A recipe from the web is not detected.

Assign the text yourself in the browser import, see When nothing is detected.

The Safari extension says it has no access.

Allow it access to websites, see Enabling the extension. After an app update it helps to quit and restart Safari.

A recipe from the Safari extension is missing.

It appears the next time the app runs. Start the app.

Text recognition reads a photo poorly.

Take the photo in good light, without shadows and straight from above. Rescan tries again.

Shopping list or pantry are missing.

They can be switched off. Switch them back on under Settings › Shopping List or Pantry.

The nutrition values are wrong.

Clear the nutrition cache. If an ingredient is missing entirely, add it to the nutrition database yourself.

The Mac no longer syncs with iCloud.

Use Reload data from iCloud.

I can't create a new recipe.

The free version holds 5 recipes. After that you need the full version.