Contact
Write in any language BoltScan supports — English is fastest, but we get to the others too.
To get a faster answer, include:
- iPhone model (Settings → General → About)
- iOS version
- BoltScan version (Settings tab inside the app, bottom of the list)
- What you scanned and what happened — a screenshot of the product card helps a lot
How it works
Four steps, no account, no setup
Open the scanner
It's the screen BoltScan opens on — no login, no tab bar to find first.
Point, or pick a photo
Hold the code inside the frame, or choose a photo of the pack from your library. Typing the digits works too, from the keypad sheet.
Read the card
Ingredients, your allergens, the Nutri‑Score and the processing group — in the language you picked on first launch.
Save or share it
Keep the product in your list, or export the card as a PDF to send to someone else.
The product card
What BoltScan actually checks
Every card is built from the same open record: the ingredient list, the declared allergens, the Nutri‑Score grade and the NOVA processing group. BoltScan reads the record — it doesn't grade the product itself.
Allergen chips, explained
Set your own allergens once, in Settings. BoltScan matches them against the record every time you scan — it never guesses from the ingredient text.
No chips shown isn't a clean bill. It usually means the record hasn't listed allergens yet, not that the product is free of them. For anything serious, the pack in your hand is still the source of truth.
Scores explained
Nutri‑Score, A to E
This is the official scale from the open food database — not a BoltScan invention, and the only place on this page that borrows colours outside our own palette on purpose, to match the label you'd see on the pack itself.
NOVA processing group sits alongside the grade — it says how processed the product is, not how healthy it is:
FAQ
01 — Scanning
Which barcodes does it read?
Standard retail codes — EAN‑13, EAN‑8 and UPC‑E — from the camera in real time, from a photo already in your library, or typed in by hand.
The code won't scan — what do I try?
Flatten the pack if it's curved, get closer so the code fills more of the frame, and add light — glare on shrink‑wrap is the usual culprit. A photo from the library often reads a stubborn code better than the live camera, since you can retake it until the code is sharp.
Do I need a connection to scan?
The camera reads the code itself with no network at all. Looking the product up does need a connection — without one you'll see a retry, not a wrong answer.
It scanned but says the product isn't found
The open database doesn't have every product on every shelf yet, especially regional or own‑brand items. That's a gap in the record, not a BoltScan error — there's nothing to retry.
02 — The card & accuracy
Can I trust the allergen chips with a serious allergy?
Treat them as a heads‑up, not a verdict. The record is community‑maintained and can be incomplete or out of date — for a serious allergy, always read the physical label too.
Who decides the Nutri‑Score grade?
The open database does, from the manufacturer's own nutrition facts. BoltScan displays the grade as published — it doesn't recalculate or override it.
Can I save or share a product card?
Yes — add it to your saved list from the card, or export it as a PDF to send to someone else.
The information looks wrong for this product
That comes from the open database itself, not from BoltScan. It's community‑editable, so corrections do eventually land, but we can't fix a single entry on request — write to us anyway if a wrong allergen or grade caused a real problem, we do want to know.
03 — The app itself
Which languages does BoltScan support?
English, German, Italian, Danish, Spanish and Polish. Pick one on first launch, or change it any time from Settings — it switches instantly, no restart.
Do I need to create an account?
No. There's no sign‑up, no login, and nothing about you leaves the device except what's described under Data & privacy below.
Are there ads, purchases or a subscription?
None. BoltScan is free, with no in‑app ads and nothing to buy.
What are the notifications for?
Occasional reminders and news from us. They're optional — decline or turn them off later in the Settings app without losing anything else.
How do I clear my saved products and allergens?
Settings → Reset all data, after a confirmation. This clears your saved list, allergen list and preferences from the device; it doesn't touch the open database.
Data & privacy
The short version: what you set up stays on your phone; a barcode leaves the phone only to ask the open database what it is.
| Stays on your device | Saved products, your allergen list, units, language choice, scan history — cleared any time with Reset all data, or by deleting the app. |
|---|---|
| Sent to look up a product | The scanned barcode, sent to the Open Food Facts database (not run by us) together with a plain app identifier so they can tell real usage from noise. No account, no name, no email attached. |
| Sent for install measurement | After you answer the App Tracking Transparency prompt, a device identifier may be shared with our attribution provider to see which campaign an install came from. Declining changes nothing about how the app works. |
| Camera | Frames are read on the device to find the barcode. Nothing is recorded or uploaded. |
Full details live in the privacy policy. For anything not covered by Reset all data — or any question about what we hold — write to timothycruzz@icloud.com and we'll follow up directly.