01. Quick start
- Open CaloRings and complete or skip the welcome tour. No CaloRings account is required.
- In Settings > Energy unit, choose kcal or kJ.
- If you want progress targets, open Settings > Nutrition Goals. Enable the targets you want, enter values and save. You can also log without setting goals.
- Open Today > Add Food. Choose a common food, select a saved food, scan a barcode or create a food.
- Review the portion and meal category, then choose Add to log.
- Return to Today to see the recorded nutrition. Use Log water to add a separate water entry.
Manual logging, saved foods and the bundled common-food library work offline. Online product searches, purchases and cloud transfers require connectivity. You can leave optional Health, iCloud and notification features off.
03. Log your first food
- On Today, confirm the date. Use the calendar to select another supported date if you are entering an earlier meal.
- Tap Add Food or the plus button.
- Choose the meal category. Recent, Favourites and Frequent help find saved foods; Meals contains saved combinations.
- Select a food. New users can start with Common foods, Scan Barcode or Create Food.
- In Portion, enter the quantity and select one of that food's available units.
- Check Nutrition for this portion, then tap Add to log.
Example: if a food is defined as 200 kcal per 100 g, recording 150 g contributes 300 kcal. The base amount defines the label values; the logged amount describes what you ate.
The app remembers the last successfully logged portion for each saved food on that device. Always check it before adding another entry. Cancelling a portion does not log it.
Saving a food in the library and adding it to your diary are different actions. If the daily total has not changed, check whether you saved the food but have not yet used Add to log. On a wide iPad layout, the portion editor may remain visible after a successful addition so that you can continue; check the diary before tapping again.
04. Create foods and use scanning
Manual entry
- Open Foods, use the plus menu and choose Create Food, or choose Create Food from Add Food.
- Enter a name and any useful brand information.
- Set the nutrition basis: the exact amount and unit to which all entered nutrient values apply, such as 100 g or 1 serving.
- Enter the nutrient values for that amount. Blank imported values mean unknown, not a confirmed zero.
- Add serving conversions if needed, then save the food.
- When you eat it, select it and log the actual portion.
Serving conversions
A conversion belongs to that particular food. For example, if one slice weighs 35 g, add that conversion before using slices as a portion unit. The app does not assume that a cup, spoon or slice has a universal weight, or that grams and millilitres are interchangeable.
Common foods
Open Common foods from food browsing or Add Food, search for a matching item, and check that its description matches what you ate. Raw and cooked foods may have different values. This is a curated offline USDA-based collection, not the entire USDA database. Create a custom food when the correct item is missing.
Packaged foods and barcodes
Open Packaged foods from Foods to search branded products, or use Scan Barcode. Results come from Open Food Facts and may be incomplete or outdated. Compare the product, nutrition column, units and portion basis with the actual package before saving. A missing result can be entered manually.
Nutrition labels
From the food editor, choose Scan Nutrition Label. Use an available camera, photo or text-input option, then review the recognized values and nutrition basis before saving. This reads a printed label, not the calories in a photograph of a meal. Recognition runs on device; optional on-device assistance depends on device and system support. Online barcode lookup sends the barcode to the product service, not the camera image.
Food icons and photos
Tap Food icon in the food editor to choose an icon or available photo option. A saved food image is part of the food library and can sync if iCloud is enabled. Selecting an image does not calculate its nutrition.
05. Organize your library and saved meals
Find and organize foods
Use Foods to search by name, brand or barcode. Filter to favourites or sort by name, energy, protein or date added. Nutrition-based sorting compares saved base amounts, which may differ between foods; it is not automatically a per-100-g comparison.
Touch and hold a food for actions such as Edit, Favourite and Delete. Swipe actions also provide editing or deletion where shown. Editing the library food affects future use; previous logs keep their recorded nutrition. Deleting a library food does not erase historical entries or the nutrition already stored in saved meals.
Create a saved meal
- Save the foods you need in your library first.
- In Foods, use the plus menu and choose Create Meal.
- Give the meal a name.
- Add foods, choosing the available unit for each, and adjust their quantities.
- Review the combined nutrition and save.
Log a saved meal
Open Today > Add Food > Meals, confirm the day and category, then select the saved meal. This records its components together; it is not just a preview. You can also use Add to today from a saved meal's context menu.
Tap a saved meal in the Foods library to edit its composition. Its context menu also offers Duplicate and Delete. Deleting a saved meal leaves already logged foods intact.
06. Review, edit and copy your daily log
Choose a day with the calendar or swipe the daily nutrition summary to adjacent days. Use Today to return to the current date. The totals and entries follow the selected day.
To correct a food entry, tap it or use Edit. Adjust the quantity, meal category or date, then save. You can use the row's actions to duplicate or delete an entry, and its context menu to move it to another meal category. Check the resulting day and totals after making a change.
Copy previous day's log copies food entries from the day immediately before the selected date. Review the confirmation and copied portions; using it again adds another copy. It does not copy water entries.
Diary nutrition is a snapshot of what was recorded. If you correct a food's library values, old entries do not silently recalculate. If the original nutrient values were wrong, correct the library food, remove the incorrect entry and log the corrected food for the original date and portion; changing only the old entry's quantity does not replace its stored nutrition basis.
07. Record water and customize presets
Record an amount
- Open Today > Log water.
- Choose a preset or drag the ruler. Ordinary adjustment uses 50 ml steps.
- For 10 ml steps, briefly hold the ruler before dragging. The fine-adjustment label appears in this mode.
- Check the date and time, then tap Log. When editing an existing entry, the button is Save.
The ruler moves continuously under your finger and snaps to a tick when released. A fine value such as 270 ml remains available to record. The next ordinary drag first aligns to the nearest 50 ml step. Haptic feedback follows your app setting and device support.
Customize presets
Open Log water > Customize presets. Edit amounts, add or remove presets, and choose up to three shortcuts. Use Edit to reorder where available, then save. The selected shortcuts appear on Today, compatible water widgets and the paired Watch. The full preset list is available in the water-entry form.
A preset in the water-entry form selects an amount; you still tap Log. A quick-record button on Today or a supported interactive widget records directly, so avoid tapping it again unless you mean to add another drink.
Edit or remove water
Find the entry in the selected day's Water intake list. Tap to edit, or use its delete control. Water and food nutrition are separate: recording a drink as a food does not automatically add its volume to the water total. Food moisture is not included automatically.
08. Set nutrition goals
Open Settings > Nutrition Goals. Turn on the measures you want to compare with targets, enter or adjust their values, and save. Turn off a target if you want to record that measure without displaying a target comparison.
Personalize your goals is optional. Enter the requested details, review the estimate, choose Apply estimates if appropriate, then review the draft targets and save. Changing profile details alone does not silently replace existing targets. Clear personal details and save to remove the local profile while retaining targets already set.
Automatic estimates are starting points for supported adults aged 19–78 and are unavailable during pregnancy or breastfeeding. They are not individualized medical advice. You can continue using manual logging and targets when an estimate is unavailable.
The sugar record is total sugar. The estimate's separate free-sugar reference is a different quantity and is not applied as your total-sugar target. Sugar and sodium slider limits of 150 g and 4,000 mg are interface ranges, not intake recommendations.
09. Read trends
- Open Trends.
- Select the nutrient. Energy trends are available without Pro; additional nutrient trends are marked Pro.
- Select 7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year.
- Select a day on the chart to inspect its recorded total. Review the accompanying statistics and most-logged foods.
Food-log averages use days with records. An unlogged day is not treated as proof of zero intake. Partial logging also makes an average less representative. The current nutrient chart does not provide a separate water-history chart; water records remain available in the daily diary.
10. Set meal reminders
- Open Settings > Meal reminders.
- Enable reminders and allow notifications if you want alerts.
- Tap a reminder time to edit the time and optional title; add more times as needed, up to eight.
- Swipe a time to delete it, or disable the master switch to stop reminders.
These are free, local reminders and follow the device's local time. Tapping one opens food entry. They do not record a meal for you. Notification permission, Focus and system notification delivery settings can affect when an alert appears.
11. Set up automatic food logging — Pro
- Open Settings > Automatic food logging and create a schedule.
- Choose a food and portion.
- Set the meal category, weekdays, local time, start date and repetition/end date.
- Review the nutrition and schedule, then save.
Use multiple schedules for multiple foods or times. This feature creates diary entries according to your plan; it does not detect eating. Schedules execute on the device where they were created, while generated entries can sync to other devices.
The system controls background opportunities. If the app cannot run at the scheduled time, it can catch up when reopened, using the scheduled dates. Review those entries if your routine changed.
Pausing skips that period; resuming does not fill in the paused interval. Deleting a schedule keeps entries already recorded. A schedule captures nutrition when saved; later library edits do not silently update that snapshot. Review and edit the schedule when its food or portion changes. If Pro access was lost and restored, check and re-enable paused schedules yourself.
12. Sync iPhone and iPad with iCloud
- Use the same iCloud account on both devices and check that iCloud access is available.
- On each device, open CaloRings > Settings > iCloud and enable sync.
- Relaunch CaloRings for the changed setting to take effect.
- Allow time with connectivity and sufficient iCloud storage.
Supported records include foods, saved food photos, meals, food and water logs, goals and water presets. Some device preferences and personal goal-profile details remain local. Pro restoration uses the purchasing Apple Account and is separate from iCloud diary sync.
The iCloud screen provides status and, when available, a last successful transfer time. Check again checks account access; it cannot force every cloud transfer to finish immediately. An available account or recent transfer is not proof that every device has caught up.
Disabling sync does not delete local or cloud copies. Sync is not a separate backup: changes and deletions may propagate. Do not uninstall the app as the first step for a sync delay, especially when a device holds unsynced records.
13. Connect Apple Health
Open Settings > Apple Health > Connect Apple Health and choose the write permissions you want to allow. Existing food records may also be written after enabling the connection.
The current release writes dietary energy, protein, carbohydrates, fat, total sugar and sodium from food logs. It does not read Health data and does not write water intake to Health. The connection is optional and does not replace iCloud sync between CaloRings devices.
You can stop future writes in CaloRings and manage permissions in the Health app or system settings. Turning the connection off does not erase previously written Health records. Manage those separately in Health; food-log edits or deletions can update their associated samples when permission and synchronization allow.
14. Add widgets and Control Center shortcuts
Home Screen
Touch and hold an empty area, open Edit > Add Widget, find CaloRings, choose a style and size, and add it. Open CaloRings once after installing if it has not appeared yet. These system steps can vary by version.
Lock Screen
On iPhone, touch and hold the Lock Screen, choose Customize, then use the widget area to add a CaloRings widget. Available space and layouts depend on the device. Apple's widget instructions: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/118610
Water widget actions
- Small Home Screen water widget: free; the entry shortcut opens water logging.
- Medium Home Screen water widget: Pro; up to three preset buttons log directly, while plus opens the entry form.
- Lock Screen water widgets: Pro; tap the widget to open water logging.
- Control Center water control: free; opens water logging rather than automatically choosing an amount.
Use the system Control Center editing interface and find CaloRings in the available controls. Other nutrition widget styles indicate when Pro is required.
Save preset or goal changes in the app before checking widgets. Refresh timing is controlled by the system. If a value looks stale, check the saved record in CaloRings and allow time for transfers and refresh. Widgets are not live, second-by-second monitors.
15. Use CaloRings on Apple Watch
Getting connected
Install the companion app on a supported Watch paired with your iPhone. Open CaloRings on the iPhone and Watch so that the Watch can receive today's summary, goals, units and selected water presets. The current release requires watchOS 11 or later; iPhone and iPad require iOS/iPadOS 18 or later.
Daily use
- View the nutrition rings and totals on the overview page.
- Open the water page to see progress or tap a preset to record directly.
- For a custom amount, use the Digital Crown. Ordinary steps are 50 ml; the fine-adjustment switch uses 10 ml. Tap Log to record the chosen amount.
- Turning fine adjustment off on Watch aligns the value to a 50 ml step. This differs from the phone ruler's hold gesture.
- Open recent records to review or undo water recorded on that Watch.
Recent records include pending entries and up to 30 synced entries from that Watch within the last seven days. It is not a complete phone diary. Food logging and library editing remain on iPhone or iPad.
Offline and delayed sync
A Watch water entry can be saved locally while the phone is disconnected. Pending entries are sent when communication becomes available. Use Sync now where shown, open both apps and allow time. Do not record the same amount again on the phone just because it has not arrived. Avoid deleting the Watch app while it still holds pending entries. With iCloud enabled, the iPhone can then pass the received records to iPad; Watch does not connect directly to iPad.
Complications and Smart Stack
Add a CaloRings nutrition or water complication to a compatible slot through the watch-face editor. Available shapes depend on the face. Tapping it opens the related Watch page.
From the watch face, open the Smart Stack, touch and hold to edit it, and add a CaloRings widget. Quick-water preset buttons can record without opening the app. Apple's Smart Stack guide: https://support.apple.com/en-euro/guide/watch/apdecf142fb9/watchos
Current Watch features and complications do not require Pro. A stale or missing summary may show a placeholder until the iPhone provides current data; this should not be read as a confirmed zero intake.
16. Use Siri and Shortcuts
In Apple's Shortcuts app, create a shortcut, search the available actions for CaloRings and choose the action you need. Available actions can open Today or food entry, open barcode/label scanning, log a saved food or saved meal, or retrieve a nutrition summary, nutrient intake or remaining goal.
For a logging shortcut, select the food or meal, review quantity, unit, date and category, then name the shortcut. Try it once and check Today to confirm the result before adding it to a routine. An omitted saved-food quantity uses the action's default, not necessarily the portion you last used in the app. Units must have a valid conversion for that food.
Navigation and scanner actions open the app. Supported data actions can run without showing it, but may require device authentication. Siri availability and execution depend on your system settings.
For shortcuts that use numeric outputs, energy is returned in kcal, sodium in mg and the other supported nutrients in g. The text summary follows your display-unit preference. A remaining-goal query uses your currently enabled goal, including when querying an earlier date. Do not interpret a zero from an empty log as a measurement of actual intake.
17. Export food logs — Pro
- Open Settings > Export food logs.
- Choose a date range, including Custom dates if needed.
- Select CSV, JSON or PDF.
- Choose Individual entries or Daily totals and check the energy unit and record count.
- Tap Prepare export. Use Preview PDF when available, or Share export to choose a destination.
CSV is suited to spreadsheets, JSON to structured data, and PDF to reading and sharing. Exports include food-log data for the chosen range, not water logs, the entire food library, photos or personal goal-profile details. Daily totals contain logged days only.
An export is not a complete, restorable app backup. The current release has no full restore-from-export workflow. A shared file is a separate copy; later edits or deletions in CaloRings do not change copies you already saved or sent.
18. Appearance, language and accessibility
Use Settings > Appearance to adjust available display and theme options. Custom theme colours are a Pro feature. Use Energy unit to switch kcal/kJ; this changes the display, not the amount recorded.
Haptic feedback controls supported in-app feedback. Language & system settings opens the app's system settings, where available language and permission controls can be managed. CaloRings includes English and Simplified Chinese.
The interface supports system text sizing, VoiceOver and Reduce Motion. Larger text or a narrow iPad window may stack content into a single column. The water ruler provides accessible adjustment actions as an alternative to dragging.
19. Buy or restore Pro
Open Settings > CaloRings Pro to review the included features and current App Store price. Pro is a one-time purchase with no scheduled expiry or recurring subscription fee.
If you already purchased, choose Restore Purchases while using the purchasing Apple Account for Media & Purchases. This may be different from your iCloud account. Restoring Pro does not restore diary data or enable iCloud automatically. Purchase details appear after unlocking when Apple provides them; a missing historical price is not replaced with today's selling price.
For purchase assistance, use Apple's purchase history or contact support. Refund requests can be made at https://reportaproblem.apple.com/. See the Terms & Conditions for purchase information and consumer rights.
20. Troubleshooting and support
A food or barcode cannot be found
Check spelling or the barcode, confirm connectivity for online lookup, and try manual creation. The offline library and online service do not contain every food.
A nutrition value looks wrong
Compare the selected food, base amount, logged portion, unit conversion and label column. Check whether energy is displayed in kcal or kJ. Review imported values rather than assuming a missing value means zero.
A total did not change
Confirm the selected date and check that you used Add to log or Log, not just Save Food. On Watch, look for a pending-sync state. Check the diary before submitting again.
The ruler does not show the expected steps
Start an ordinary drag for 50 ml steps. Briefly hold before dragging for 10 ml steps. On Watch, use the explicit fine-adjustment switch. Check the haptic preference if movement has no vibration.
iCloud appears delayed
Confirm the same iCloud account, sync enabled on both devices, the required relaunch, network access and available storage. Read the status in Settings > iCloud. Keep the devices' local records while investigating; a check of account access does not force a transfer.
Watch data is missing
Open the paired iPhone app and Watch app, check their connection and use Sync now where available. The Watch cannot show current phone totals until it receives them. Keep pending Watch records rather than recreating them on the phone or removing the app.
A widget is locked after purchase
Open the app, verify Pro or restore the purchase, then allow the widget to refresh. Ensure you are using the purchasing Apple Account. The app's current data and entitlement are the first things to check.
Reminders or scheduled entries are delayed
Check notification permission and Focus for reminders. For automatic entries, check the plan, Pro access and the originating device, and reopen the app to allow catch-up. These features do different jobs and neither overrides system scheduling.
Health is missing water or earlier data remains
Water writing is not part of the current Health integration. Check write permissions for supported food nutrients. Disabling integration does not delete existing Health samples.
Before removing data or reinstalling
Deleting local app data is not a safe first troubleshooting step when you have unsynced entries. App data, iCloud copies, Health records, exports and backups are separate locations. Deleting a visible food entry can leave synchronization records behind. Consult the Privacy Policy for retention and removal details, or ask support for help.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Please put “CaloRings” in the subject and include the app version, device model, system version, what you tried and what happened. Screenshots can help after you hide private details. Never send passwords or payment-card information. A small relevant example is preferable to an entire health diary.