Support
What Knowsie is
Knowsie is an iPhone app that helps you understand packaged food. Scan a barcode and you’ll see a score from 0 to 100. The ingredients we rate are explained, with the research behind each rating. Tell the app about your allergies, diet and goals. It warns you when a product’s information lists something you avoid, and your goals adjust the score. If a product is missing, photograph the label and you’ll get a score from your photos once you submit them. Our team checks it before it’s added for everyone. You can use Knowsie without an account.
Contact us
We usually reply within 2 working days. We answer privacy requests within 30 days.
Questions
How does the score work?
Every product starts at 100. Points come off for:
- Processing: heavily and ultra-processed ingredients, and how processed the product is as a whole.
- Additives, and some other ingredients such as certain oils, fats and syrups. Each one we rate is Low, Some, Moderate or High concern, based on published research and assessments by food-safety bodies. Tap an ingredient in the app to see why it got its rating, and the sources.
- Added sugar. Sugar that’s naturally in foods like milk or fruit doesn’t count on its own.
Minimally processed whole foods with no rated ingredients and no added sugar earn a small bonus. So do fermented foods like yogurt, kefir or sauerkraut.
Some products have their score capped, so they can’t reach the top range. This mainly happens when a product contains a High concern ingredient, or three or more Moderate concern ones.
Every score falls into one of four ranges: Low concern (76–100), Occasional (56–75), Limit (36–55) and Avoid (0–35). Dietary supplements aren’t scored. Brands can’t pay us for a better score.
You’ll find more detail in the app, under Profile → How scores work.
Do my allergies, diet and goals change the score?
Only your goals do.
- The base score is the same for everyone.
- Your nutrition goals, like less added sugar, more protein or prefer organic, can move your score up or down by up to 15 points. They never lift a product above the cap set by its ingredients of concern. The app tells you when your goals changed a score.
- Your allergies, diets, watch list and the allergens you type in never change the number. They add separate warnings, such as “Not for you — contains dairy” or “May contain peanuts”.
A product is missing or wrong. How do I tell you?
In the app:
- Not found: after scanning, tap “Add this product”. Take a photo of the front, then of the ingredients list, and of the nutrition label if you can. Check the details, then tap Submit.
- No ingredients: tap “Snap the ingredients” and photograph the list.
- Your package looks different: on the product’s “What’s in it” page, tap “Different on your package? Update it from a photo”.
- Something else looks wrong: on the product’s last page, tap “Something look wrong? Report a problem with this data”. Tell us what’s wrong, and add a photo if it helps.
When you add or update a product with photos, you’ll see a score from your photos once you tap Submit, as long as there’s an ingredients list. Our team checks every submission before it’s added for everyone. You don’t need an account.
Good to know: to fill in the details for you, the app sends your photos (front, ingredients and nutrition) to an AI service (Anthropic’s Claude) as soon as you add an ingredients or nutrition photo. A front photo you send, or a photo you add to a problem report, may become the product’s public picture. Please keep people and personal details out of your photos.
You can also email support@knowsie.app with the barcode number and what’s wrong.
Do I need an account?
No. Scanning, scores, warnings, search and sending in products all work without one. An account adds scan history and keeps your preferences, so they’re there on your other devices. You can sign in with Apple, Google or email.
I can’t sign in.
If you signed up with email and forgot your password: in the app, go to Profile and tap Sign in, then tap “Forgot password?”. Enter your email, and we’ll send you a link to set a new password. It can take a few minutes, so check your spam folder too. The link works once, for a limited time.
If you signed up with Apple or Google, you don’t need a password: tap the Apple or Google button instead.
If none of that works, or you can’t get into your account, write to support@knowsie.app from the email address you signed up with, and we’ll help you.
How do I delete my account?
In the app, go to Profile → Account settings → Delete account. You need to be signed in. It deletes your account, preferences and scan history right away, and it can’t be undone.
Products, photos and problem reports you sent in, and feedback messages, stay for the times listed in our privacy policy, but the link to your account is removed. A few technical records, listed in the privacy policy, are removed only when you ask: write to privacy@knowsie.app. If you use Knowsie on another phone, sign out there or delete the app to remove your preferences from it. Deleting the app alone doesn’t delete your account.
If you signed in with Apple, check that Knowsie no longer has access: on your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then tap Sign in with Apple (on some versions of iOS, it’s under Sign-In & Security). If Knowsie, or Malvi, its earlier name, is still listed, choose it and tap Delete.
How do I restore my purchases?
Knowsie is free right now. There’s nothing to buy, so there’s nothing to restore.
What do you do with my data?
We don’t show ads, we don’t track you across other apps, and we don’t sell your data. If you’re not signed in, your allergies, diets and goals stay on your phone. Read the full privacy policy.
Not medical advice
Knowsie gives general information about food ingredients. It isn’t medical advice, and it doesn’t replace a doctor or dietitian. Product and allergen details come from labels, Open Food Facts and people who send in products, so they can be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and recipes change. A score is not a guarantee about any product for any person. Always read the package, and if you have an allergy or a health condition, follow your doctor’s advice.