What users complain about in meal planner apps

The complaints that repeat

Each heading sums up what reviewers wrote; the quotes under it are their own words.

1. 01

   Aggressive paywalls, deceptive trial reminders, and subscription renewal billing issues

   Many users

   “This is a scam! I can't log into my account, it says that my partner should have premium access before I can log into my account.”

   “I canceled membership well before renewal and trial was over.”

2. 02

   Charging separate fees for each operating system or failing to support family sharing and partner sync

   Many users

   “Buyer beware! Understand that, despite the advertising in the App Store, Apple Family Sharing is not supported.”

   “The only problem I encountered is that you have to purchase a separate pro subscription for each operating system you use.”

3. 03

   Flawed, glitchy, or failing recipe imports from external websites and social media platforms

   Many users

   “Lately, it became an ordeal to try to import recipes with them often disappearing or worse after trying several times.”

   “When the shortcut is available and I try to add a recipe (say from a website) it’s completely hit or miss if it will actually work.”

4. 04

   App updates breaking core usability, search, and navigation (specifically Samsung Food and RecipeBox)

   Many users

   “The new update is awful. I miss that alphabet sidebar for a quick search for a recipe.”

   “This app was ruined the moment you revamped it from "Whisk" to "Samsung Food".”

5. 05

   Failure to automatically transfer ingredients from planned meals directly to the grocery shopping list

   Several users

   “It appears that I have to separately enter all the ingredients on the list and then manually add them from memory of the recipe.”

   “Recipes don't show which ingredients I have in my Food List, and when I add the ingredients to my shopping list, it adds everything”

6. 06

   Data loss, sync failures, or fear of losing uploaded recipes when subscriptions end

   Several users

   “I lose all my recipes that I took time uploading/typing. This is a selfish platform way overcharging for a simple service”

   “Keeps erasing all content. It’s like throwing your recipe book out the window.”

What users ask for

• Home screen widget for quick meal reference

  Asked for a few times

  “I agree with another reviewer that a widget would make this app PERFECT, but it’s nearly perfect the way it is.”

• Ability to print meal plans and shopping lists

  Asked for once or twice

  “I would really like to see the capability to print the menus and shopping list, though.”

• Batch import from Safari bookmarks and PDF recipe files

  Asked for once or twice

  “I wish they would also allow to batch import bookmarks or bookmark folders from safari, and to allow import from PDFs so it’s easy to start using the app.”

• Support for metric unit measurements alongside imperial units

  Asked for once or twice

  “US centric app as only with imperial units and no way to switch to metric in the settings.”

What these apps get right

What users praise, and would expect from anything new.

• Clean, uncomplicated meal tracking without bloated calorie counters or unnecessary features
• Frictionless URL recipe extraction from web pages and social media
• Seamless cross-device syncing and shared planning for couples and families

Apps we read

• Samsung Food: Meal PlannerGoogle Play
• Meal Planner & Grocery ListGoogle Play
• mise - meal plannerApp Store
• Meal Planner & Weekly MenuApp Store
• Daily Meal PlannerApp Store
• Recipe KeeperGoogle Play
• ReciMe: Recipes & Meal PlannerGoogle Play
• Paprika Recipe Manager 3App Store
• RecipeBox - Save Your Recipes!App Store
• Salt: Recipe OrganizerApp Store

App names belong to their owners. Quotes are from public store reviews, and the summaries describe what those reviewers experienced; they are not claims we have verified.