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Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

When something isn’t behaving the way you expect, this is the place to start. Most of the hiccups people run into come down to one of a few things: a permission Cartsy was never granted, a feature that needs a connection when there isn’t one, or the App Store taking a moment to catch up. Each section below describes a symptom in plain terms and walks through the fix.

If your question is more “how do I…” than “why won’t this work,” the FAQ is the better place to look.

The price scanner shows a black screen

You tap the camera button to scan a price and the screen stays dark, or the camera view never appears. This almost always means Cartsy doesn’t have permission to use your camera — without it, there’s nothing for the scanner to show.

iOS asks for camera access the first time you open the scanner. If you tapped Don’t Allow then (or turned it off later), the scanner has no picture to read.

How to fix it:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone — the system one, not Cartsy’s own settings.
  2. Scroll down to Cartsy and tap it.
  3. Turn Camera on.
  4. Come back to Cartsy and open the scanner again — the camera view should appear.
Still nothing to scan? Once the camera is showing, a dark or blurry tag can still stump it. Give the tag good light, hold steady for a second, and line the price up inside the highlighted box — that box is the only part Cartsy actually reads. More on aiming in the Price Scanner section.

The scanner grabbed the wrong number

The scanner reads a number, just not the price you meant. A price tag is often crowded — a unit price, a “was” price, a multi-buy, even a weight — so the largest figure Cartsy picks isn’t always the one you’re after.

How to fix it:

  1. Look under Other prices on the tag on the result panel — if the price you wanted is there, just tap it.
  2. Pointed at the wrong tag entirely? Tap anywhere on the result (or the Tap to rescan badge) to clear the guess and start looking again.
  3. If a particular shop’s tags keep tripping it up — stray product codes, prices printed without a decimal point — open Settings → Advanced → Price Scanner and adjust the Minimum Price, Maximum Price, and Auto-decimal Above dials. These are explained with examples in the Price Scanner section.

Auto-fill didn’t fill in a product’s name or photo

You scanned a product’s barcode hoping Cartsy would fill in its name and photo for you, but the fields came back empty. There are three things to check, in order.

How to fix it:

  1. Is the feature on? Auto-fill is off by default. Turn on Auto-fill Product Info under Settings → Advanced in Cartsy. With it off, scanning a barcode only saves the code — it doesn’t look anything up.
  2. Are you online? The lookup needs an internet connection. On everyday shopping Cartsy works fully offline, but this one feature reaches out to the web — so it’ll come back empty with no signal. Try again when you’re connected.
  3. Is the product simply not in the database? Cartsy looks codes up in a free, community-run food database that doesn’t have every product — own-brand and local items are often missing. When there’s no match, there’s nothing to fill in, and you can just type the name and add a photo yourself.
For the technically curious. The lookup uses OpenFoodFacts. When Auto-fill is on, scanning a barcode sends just that code to OpenFoodFacts to fetch the matching name and image; if the code isn’t found, the request times out, or you’re offline, Cartsy quietly leaves the fields blank rather than showing an error — so an empty result and “no match” look the same from the outside.

Importing from Reminders shows no lists

You tap the import button on the Products screen, but instead of your Reminders lists you see a prompt asking for access — or no lists at all. Cartsy needs your permission to read Apple Reminders, and until it has that, it can’t see your lists.

How to fix it:

  1. If Cartsy shows an access prompt with an Open Settings button, tap it — that jumps you straight to the right place.
  2. Otherwise open the Settings app, scroll to Cartsy, tap Reminders, and choose Full Access.
  3. Return to Cartsy and open the import screen again — your Reminders lists will be there to pick from.

Cartsy only ever reads your reminder titles to bring them in as products; it doesn’t change or delete anything in Reminders.

You’re subscribed but still see the limits

You’ve subscribed to Cartsy Pro — or you had it on another device — but Cartsy is still showing the free-plan caps. The subscription is almost certainly fine; Cartsy just hasn’t picked it up yet.

How to fix it:

  1. Open Settings → My Plan and give it a moment to refresh — Cartsy checks your plan each time this screen opens.
  2. Tap Restore on the Cartsy Pro screen. This asks the App Store to re-sync your purchases, which is exactly what’s needed on a new phone or after a reinstall.
  3. Make sure you’re signed into the same Apple Account you subscribed with — purchases are tied to that account, so a different one won’t find them.
  4. If a purchase seemed to go through but Pro didn’t switch on, it may still be settling with the App Store. Wait a minute and tap Restore again.
Nothing you’ve added is ever at stake. Whether you’re on the free plan, in your trial, or subscribed, your products, lists, cart, and history stay put. The limits only ever decide whether you can add more — so even if Pro takes a moment to show up, you won’t lose a thing.

Still stuck?

If none of the above sorts it, get in touch — open Settings in Cartsy and tap Contact Support at the bottom. Tell us what you were doing and what happened, and we’ll help.

Cartsy ProFAQ