Frequently asked questions

Your purchase lives with your Apple ID. If the paywall is still up, restore it on this iPhone:

1. 1Open Settings in Cal Otter and tap Upgrade to Pro. If you already have Pro, tap Cal Otter Pro instead.
2. 2Tap Restore (or Restore Purchases) on that screen.
3. 3Make sure this iPhone is signed into the same Apple ID you used to subscribe.

You can also tap the + button on the tab bar. That opens the paywall, which has the same restore option.

Cal Otter Pro unlocks unlimited food scanning: meal photos, Nutrition Facts labels, and barcodes. Subscriptions are billed through the Apple App Store (weekly or yearly, depending on the plan you pick). A free trial may be offered by Apple when you first subscribe.

Manage or restore Pro anytime in Settings → Upgrade to Pro or Cal Otter Pro.

You cancel through Apple, not inside the Cal Otter camera or meal screens. On iPhone:

• Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions → Cal Otter (it may appear as Calorie Tracker - Cal Otter) → Cancel Subscription.

If you already have Pro, you can also open Settings in Cal Otter → Cal Otter Pro and manage billing from there.

Cal Otter Pro is sold through the Apple App Store, so Apple handles refunds. We can’t issue an App Store refund from our side.

Tap the + button, then pick a scan mode:

• Food — snap a photo of your plate. Cal Otter estimates calories and macros from the image.
• Label — fill the frame with the Nutrition Facts panel. Best for packaged food.
• Barcode — hold the barcode in the frame. We look it up in our food database (Open Food Facts).

In Food or Label mode you can also pick a photo from your library instead of using the camera.

Photo estimates are approximations — lighting, mixed plates, and hidden ingredients all throw the AI off. You can correct a meal without scanning again:

• Open the meal on Home, then tap Fix this and describe what was wrong.
• Edit ingredients: change portions, remove items, or add more.
• Reshoot with brighter light, and make sure the food fills the frame.

For packaged food, switch to Label or Barcode — those read printed values instead of guessing from a photo.

If it’s still way off after a correction, send a screenshot to help@luminaimpact.co and we’ll take a look.

You’ll see a “You found a new food!” prompt. Tap Scan label and photograph the Nutrition Facts panel instead. That’s the fastest way to log a product we don’t have yet.

Not yet. Cal Otter doesn’t have a typed food search. Log with a meal photo, a nutrition label, a barcode, or a photo from your library.

After a scan you can correct names and portions on the result screen, including Fix this.

Cal Otter doesn’t use an email login. Your meal log, weight history, and progress photos are tied to this iPhone, not to an Apple ID sign-in.

Uninstalling the app starts a fresh profile. Your subscription can still come back — restore Pro with the same Apple ID (see Subscriptions & billing). Your past meals will not.

Your Cal Otter Pro subscription restores through your Apple ID. Meal history does not transfer to a new phone today, because there is no account sign-in to attach it to.

After you install Cal Otter on the new iPhone, restore purchases so scanning stays unlocked, then keep logging from there.

In the app: Settings → Account → Delete account. That permanently deletes your profile, meals, photos, and progress from our servers and sends you back through onboarding.

Deleting your Cal Otter data does not cancel an App Store subscription. Cancel that separately in iPhone Settings.

Open the Progress tab. Tap Log Weight to add a weigh-in. You can attach a progress photo at the same time.

To connect Apple Health, tap Tap to sync weight with Apple Health on the weight chart. Cal Otter reads the latest weight from Health and writes weights you log in the app — with your permission.

Progress photos live on the Progress tab under Progress Photos.

Cal Otter doesn’t track steps or workouts. Apple Health is used for weight only. Your calorie ring on Home is food you logged, not active energy from Health.

• Settings → Nutrition goals to edit calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, sugar, and salt.
• Settings → Weight goal to switch between lose, maintain, or gain. We’ll offer to recalculate your nutrition targets.
• Settings → Units to switch metric and imperial.

Cal Otter only sends meal logging reminders (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack) — not marketing blasts.

• In the app: Settings → Meal reminders. Toggle each meal and set the time.
• On iPhone: Settings → Notifications → Cal Otter, if you want to mute everything at the system level.

If reminders never appear, Cal Otter will ask you to allow notifications. You can also tap Open Settings from the reminders screen.

Cal Otter is an iPhone app and needs iOS 16.4 or later. iPad isn’t supported. An internet connection is required to analyze meals and look up barcodes.

• To update your iPhone: Settings → General → Software Update.

Try these in order:

1. 1Force-quit Cal Otter (swipe it away from the app switcher) and open it again.
2. 2Restart your iPhone.
3. 3Make sure you’re on the latest Cal Otter version from the App Store, and that you have a network connection.

If it’s still crashing, email help@luminaimpact.co with your iPhone model and iOS version. Avoid reinstalling unless you’re okay losing meal history — see Account & data.

• Allow camera access: iPhone Settings → Cal Otter → Camera.
• Check your connection. Analysis and barcode lookup need the internet.
• If you see “Scan was interrupted” or “Analysis failed,” try again in better light. For packaged food, use Label or Barcode mode.