Heirloom

How to use Heirloom

Short, simple instructions for each thing you might want to do. The buttons are drawn the way they look in the app, so you know what to tap.

What Heirloom does

Heirloom keeps your family's recipes in one place, like a recipe box you can carry in your pocket. It can read old recipe cards from a photo, and it keeps one shopping list for the whole family.

  • Along the bottom of the screen are four buttons: Recipes, List, Friends and Kitchen. Tap one to go there. On a computer they're along the top, and List is called Shopping list.
  • Your kitchen is your family's shared recipe box and shopping list. Everyone you invite sees the same recipes.
  • Friends are people outside your kitchen you swap recipes with. They never see your shopping list.

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Make the words bigger

Tap a size. The words get bigger everywhere in Heirloom on this phone or computer.

  • On a phone you can also spread two fingers apart on the screen to zoom in.

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Signing in

  1. Go to heirloom.fielddeployed.com.
  2. Tap Start your recipe box or Sign in.
  3. Choose your Google account. If Google asks for your password, type it in.
  4. That's it. Heirloom keeps you signed in on this phone or computer until you tap Sign out.
  • Always use the same Google account, so you always see the same recipes.

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Put Heirloom on your home screen

Then you can open it with one tap, like any other app.

On an iPhone or iPad

  1. Open Heirloom in Safari.
  2. Tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen. It looks like a square with an arrow pointing up.
  3. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
  4. Tap Add. A recipe card picture appears with your other apps.

On an Android phone

  1. Open Heirloom in Chrome.
  2. Tap the three dots ⋮ in the top corner.
  3. Tap Install app or Add to Home screen.
  4. Tap Install.
  • The first time you open it from your home screen, you may need to sign in once more.

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Find a recipe

  1. Tap Recipes.
  2. Type a word in the search box, like chicken or cookies. The list changes as you type.
  3. Or tap a tag, like Dinner or Dessert, to see only those recipes. Tap it again to see them all.
  4. Tap a recipe to open it.
  • You can tap more than one tag. Dinner and Slow cooker together show only slow cooker dinners.

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Save a recipe card with a photo

Heirloom can read a handwritten or printed recipe card from a picture. You check what it read, then save it. The photo of the card is kept with the recipe.

  1. Tap Recipes, then Add recipe.
  2. Tap Scan a recipe card.
  3. Tap Take a photo. Hold the phone over the card so the whole card fits on the screen, and take the picture.
  4. If the recipe carries on over the back, tap Add another page and take another picture.
  5. Tap Read recipe and wait. It usually takes 10 to 30 seconds.
  6. Look over the words. The photo of your card is at the top so you can compare. Tap any box to fix a mistake.
  7. Tap Save recipe at the bottom.
  • Lay the card flat on a table near a window or under a bright light.
  • Faded or very curly handwriting may need a few fixes. That's normal.

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Type a recipe in yourself

  1. Tap Recipes, then Add recipe, then Type it in.
  2. Type the recipe's name under Title.
  3. Under Ingredients, put each ingredient on its own line, like 2 cups flour.
  4. Under Steps, type the first step. Press Enter (or Return) to start the next one.
  5. Tap any tags that fit, like Dessert.
  6. Tap Save recipe.
  • Have a recipe in an email? Copy it, choose Paste recipe text instead, and Heirloom fills in the boxes for you.

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Cook from a recipe

  1. Open the recipe.
  2. To make more or less, tap − or + next to Serves. The amounts change for you.
  3. Tap Cook mode. The words get bigger and your screen stays on while you cook.
  4. Tap each step when you've done it. It turns gray and gets crossed out, so you don't lose your place.
  5. Tap Stop cooking when you're finished.
  • To print a recipe, tap ⋯ and then Print.

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Put a recipe's ingredients on the shopping list

  1. Open the recipe.
  2. Tap Add to shopping list.
  3. Untick anything you already have at home. Salt and pepper start unticked.
  4. Tap the button that shows how many items you're adding, like Add 7 items.
  • If something is already on the list, Heirloom adds the amounts together instead of listing it twice.

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Use the shopping list at the store

  1. Tap List. Everything is grouped by the aisles in your store.
  2. When you put something in your cart, tap it. A red line crosses it off.
  3. Tapped the wrong thing? Tap it again to bring it back.
  4. To add something, type it in the box at the top, like 2 lb ground beef, and tap +.
  5. When you're done shopping, tap Clear crossed-off items.
  • To move something to a different aisle, tap ⋯ next to it and choose the aisle. Heirloom remembers for next time.
  • Everyone in your kitchen sees the same list, and it updates while you shop.

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Things you buy every week

Milk, eggs, bread: add them once and they come back on the list by themselves every week.

  1. Tap List, then Weekly staples.
  2. Tap a suggestion like + Milk, or type your own and tap +.
  3. To choose which day a new week starts, tap Kitchen and pick a day under Shopping week.
  • You can also tap Start new week on the shopping list at any time. Crossed-off items are cleared and your weekly items come back.

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Share your recipes with family

Everyone in your kitchen sees the same recipes and the same shopping list.

  1. Tap Kitchen.
  2. Under Invite family, tap Share link and send it in a text message or email.
  3. When they open the link and sign in, they're in your kitchen.
  • On a computer the button says Copy link. Paste the link into an email.

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Swap recipes with friends

Friends see only the recipes you choose to share with them, never your shopping list.

Add a friend

  1. Tap Friends.
  2. Tap Share link and send your friend link in a text message or email.
  3. When your friend opens it and taps the button to add you, you're connected.

Let friends see a recipe

  1. Open the recipe and tap ⋯.
  2. Tap Who can see this.
  3. Tap Friends.

Send one recipe to a friend

  1. Open the recipe and tap ⋯.
  2. Tap Send to a friend.
  3. Tick your friend's name, add a note if you like, and tap Send to 1 friend.
  • Recipes your friends share show up under Friends. Tap Save to my recipes to keep your own copy.

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If something isn't working

  • I can't see my recipes. Make sure you signed in with the same Google account as before. Tap Kitchen to see which email you're signed in with.
  • The photo was read wrong. Open the recipe, tap Edit, fix the words, and tap Save recipe.
  • Something disappeared from the shopping list. Someone else in your kitchen may have crossed it off. Just add it again.
  • I'm stuck. Ask the person who invited you. They can open Heirloom on their phone and see the same recipes you do.

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Still need help?

Ask the person who invited you to Heirloom.