Questions and answers

Who can see my shopping list?

You, whoever is in your household, and whoever you’ve invited to a shared list. Nobody else. The data is stored on a server at Infomaniak in Switzerland. Encrypted backups are also kept at Hetzner in Germany. None of it is sold or analysed for advertising.

Does my receipt or cupboard photo go to an AI?

For four features, yes, and each only once you’ve agreed: reading receipts, reading cupboard photos, recipes (suggestions and recipes from a website) and, in the background, assigning new items to shop aisles when our catalogue doesn’t know them. For this, the image or the item names go to Anthropic in the USA.

We don’t store the images permanently. They’re analysed, and only the result is stored, i.e. the recognised lines. The content isn’t used to train models.

If you don’t agree, your data doesn’t go out. The shopping list and pantry work without it. If someone else in your household uses the recipes with their consent, the names of your shared pantry items go along too, including items you created. The details are in the privacy policy.

And the photos I attach to an item myself?

They stay with us. They don’t go to any AI or to anyone else; they stay in the database until you delete them or close your account. They can be seen by whoever is in your household or on the same shared list.

What happens to my email address?

It’s your login. For confirmation and password emails, it goes to Brevo, with servers in the EU. If you buy Pro or Max in the browser via Link, it goes to Link, Stripe’s payment service. No advertising, no reselling, no newsletter you didn’t sign up for.

Can I delete my account and all my data?

Yes, in the app itself. Gear icon in the header, right down to ‘Close account’. You see beforehand everything that will disappear, and you type the word DELETE to confirm. After that, nothing is left.

If you’re in a household with others, the household carries on for them. You’re just removed from it.

If you pay for a subscription via Link and the others stay, it’s cancelled at the end of the paid period, and the household gets another trial. If you’re the last person in the household, it ends immediately.

You cancel a subscription through the App Store yourself in your iPhone settings; Provi can’t do that for you.

What does Proviato cost?

There are three plans, and the prices include VAT:

• Free, for good: shopping list sorted by aisle, offline too, pantry, household for two people, 2 shared lists. Suggestions for items you buy often.
• Pro, 2.50 CHF a month or 24 CHF a year: household without limits, 10 shared lists, suggestions for everything. Each month, 5 receipts or cupboard photos, 10 recipes and 10 meal-plan days.
• Max, 4.50 CHF a month or 48 CHF a year: everything without limits.

These are the prices in the browser, for people living in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. In the iPhone app, the price Apple shows in your country applies; in the Android app, the price Google Play shows you before you buy. In Switzerland, with Apple and Google, that’s 3 CHF a month or 30 CHF a year for Pro, and 5 CHF a month or 50 CHF a year for Max. Purchases through Google Play in Switzerland don’t include VAT, because as a small business we aren’t liable for VAT.

Without an account, you can use a list of up to 20 items, saved only on your device.

Why does Proviato cost anything?

The list and pantry are free, for good. Receipts, cupboard photos and recipes are read by an AI, and every request costs money. That’s why they come with Pro and above.

In return, there’s no advertising and no selling of data. You pay with money, not with your data.

Do I lose days if I buy during the trial?

No. If you buy during the 30 days, you keep everything until they end. The subscription only starts then, and only then do you pay.

This applies to purchases via Link. In the iPhone app and the Android app, the subscription starts straight away and the trial ends.

What happens after the 30 days?

For the first 30 days you have full access, no credit card. After that, the Free plan applies. Nothing is deleted: pantry, recipes and plans stay where they are. Only receipts, cupboard photos, recipes and the meal plan are locked.

How do I pay, and how do I cancel?

In the browser at app.proviato.com, if you live in Switzerland or Liechtenstein: via the gear icon in the header, ‘Your access’ card. Payment goes through Link, a Stripe service, for example by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Your statement shows LINK.COM*, and Link emails you the receipts.

You cancel, change plan or change your card in the same card under ‘Manage subscription’. After cancelling, your access runs until the end of the paid period.

In the iPhone app, you buy from Apple and pay via your Apple ID. You then cancel or change plan in your iPhone settings, or in the app via ‘Manage subscription’.

In the Android app, you buy through Google Play and pay via your Google account. You cancel in Google Play under ‘Subscriptions’, or in the app via ‘Manage subscription’.

Can I get my money back?

Yes, if you write to hallo [at] proviato.com within 14 days of a payment, no reason needed. This applies to purchases via Link and through Google Play. Your paid access then ends immediately.

If you bought from Apple in the iPhone app, you request the money from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple decides on it.

With Google Play, you can also request a refund directly from Google — here’s how. Google then decides on it.

How do I add a detail like ‘35 L’ or a photo to an item?

Tap the item’s name in the list, or press and hold the line. The detail view then opens with note, photo, name, aisle, contents per pack and shop.

The photo helps where the name isn’t enough in the shop: that one deodorant cream without alcohol and without aluminium, the right kind of coffee.

An item is in the wrong aisle.

Open the detail view and set the aisle by hand. The app remembers it for next time.

Do I have to keep the pantry up to date?

No. The shopping list works on its own, and lots of people use only that. You add the pantry if you want to know what’s still there, what’s expiring soon and what you can cook with it.

What’s the difference between a household and a shared list?

A household shares everything: shopping list, pantry, recipes and meal plan. It learns your habits. That’s the family or the flatshare.

A shared list is just a shopping list, for the office, the club or a party. No pantry, no learning, no suggestions.

You invite people to either via the gear icon in the header, under ‘Share household’ or ‘Share list’. You switch between them at the top, in the header.

Why do ticked items stay on the list?

Because only ‘Done shopping’ records the purchase. Until then, you can undo a tick without anything happening. With the button, everything ticked off goes into the pantry and into the learning history.

If you forget it, the app completes the shop itself the next time you open it, once it’s more than twelve hours old.

How does a receipt get into the app?

Tap ‘Scan’ at the bottom, then ‘Receipt’, then choose a photo, PDF or screenshot of the online order. The app reads out the lines, you check them and add them.

Anything you’ve ticked off on the list in the last three days isn’t counted by the receipt as a purchase a second time. Otherwise the same shop would distort the order the app has learned.

How do I get Proviato on my home screen?

iPhone: open app.proviato.com in Safari, tap Share, then ‘Add to Home Screen’.

Android: open app.proviato.com in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu to the right of the address bar, then ‘Add to Home screen’ and ‘Install’. Depending on your Chrome version, the entry may be called something slightly different.

After that, Proviato opens like a normal app, without an address bar.

Is Proviato on the App Store?

iPhone: yes. There the app is called Provi. Vorrat & Einkauf, on the App Store in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg. Outside Switzerland and Liechtenstein, you can only buy Pro and Max in the app, from Apple. You log in with the same account as in the browser; the list and pantry are the same. Go to the app on the App Store.

Android: not yet. Until then, open app.proviato.com in Chrome and add it to your home screen, as described above.

Which languages is Provi available in?

German, French, Italian and English. The first time you open it, Provi uses your device’s language; you can change it at any time via the gear icon in the header, ‘Language and region’ card. The setting is yours alone — anyone who shares the household with you keeps their own.

You also set your region: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France or Italy. It decides the wording within German, French and Italian — in German, the vegetable is called ‘Rüebli’ in Switzerland and ‘Karotte’ in Germany. English is British English, with one word list. If you live in Liechtenstein, Belgium or Luxembourg, choose the region whose words are closest to yours.

Does the app work offline?

The shopping list does. You can tick off and add items, and the changes go out as soon as you’re connected again. Receipts, cupboard photos and recipes need a connection.

I’ve forgotten my password.

On the login page, tap ‘Forgotten your password?’ and enter your address. The link comes by email and works once.

I’ve found a bug or have a request.

Write to hallo [at] proviato.com. Proviato is a one-man operation, and the answer comes straight from me.