Question 1

How do I find grocery deals near me?

Accepted Answer

Open the Deals tab — BiteCaddy automatically shows weekly deals from nearby stores based on your zip code. You can filter by store (Albertsons, Aldi, Costco, etc.), category (Protein, Produce, Pantry, Grains, Bakery), and sort by price.

Question 2

How do I scan a barcode?

Accepted Answer

Tap the 'Scan Barcode' button at the top right of the Deals page. Point your camera at any product barcode (UPC/EAN) to see if there's a deal available for that item. You can also type a product name in the search bar.

Question 3

How do I get directions to a store?

Accepted Answer

Tap the 📍 pin icon on any deal card. This opens Apple Maps (iOS) or Google Maps (Android) with directions to the nearest location of that store.

Question 4

How do I add a deal to my shopping list?

Accepted Answer

Tap '+ Shoplist' on any deal card to add it to your shopping list. The button changes to '✓ Remove' so you can easily remove it. You can also tap 'Find Recipes' to discover recipes that use the deal item.

Question 5

How do I change my zip code?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Account Details → Zip Code → tap 'Edit'. Enter a new zip code or tap 'Use My Location' to auto-detect it. Deals will refresh based on your new location.

Question 6

How do I search for specific deals?

Accepted Answer

Use the search bar at the top of the Deals page. It instantly filters deals by product name, brand, category, and tags. Tap the ✕ button to clear your search.

Question 7

How do I generate a meal plan?

Accepted Answer

Go to the Plan tab and tap 'Generate Plan'. Choose your plan duration (1-3 weeks), meal types per day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack), protein preferences, and optional nutrition targets. BiteCaddy creates a personalized plan based on on-sale ingredients.

Question 8

What is Meal Prep Mode?

Accepted Answer

Meal Prep Mode lets you cook once and eat for multiple days. When enabled, you choose how many days to repeat each recipe (2-4 days). BiteCaddy calculates the minimum unique recipes needed and scales portions automatically.

Question 9

How do I swap a recipe in my meal plan?

Accepted Answer

Tap 'New Meal' on any recipe card in your meal plan. BiteCaddy will fetch an alternative recipe for the same meal type. You can also tap the search icon (🔍) to manually search for a specific recipe.

Question 10

How do I search for recipes?

Accepted Answer

Tap the magnifying glass button (bottom right of the Plan page) to open the recipe search. Filter by meal type, cuisine (Italian, Asian, Mexican, etc.), keyword, and nutrition targets (min protein, max calories, fat, carbs).

Question 11

How do I create my own custom recipe?

Accepted Answer

Tap the + button on the Plan page to open Create Recipe. Enter a name, servings, and ingredients (one per line). Tap 'Analyze Nutrition' and BiteCaddy uses the USDA food database to calculate calories, macros, and 22 micronutrients. You can also add a photo from your camera roll.

Question 12

What if I make typos in my ingredients?

Accepted Answer

BiteCaddy's parser is typo-tolerant. Common misspellings like 'tsbp' (tbsp), 'ounc' (ounce), 'tablespon' (tablespoon), and 'pouds' (pounds) are recognized automatically. Unrecognized ingredients show a warning so you can fix them before adding the recipe.

Question 13

How do I save my favorite recipes?

Accepted Answer

Tap 'Save Meal' on any recipe in your meal plan, the heart on a custom recipe, or the bookmark icon on search results. Open the ♥ floating button to view your saved recipes (My Recipes), search them, and add them back to your meal plan with one tap.

Question 14

Does protein preference filtering work strictly?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you select only 'Pork', BiteCaddy filters out any recipes that don't contain pork-related ingredients (pork, bacon, ham, sausage). Same for chicken, beef, fish, and turkey — each protein has its own keyword list to ensure strict matching.

Question 15

How do I change a meal type?

Accepted Answer

Tap the meal type label (e.g., 'Breakfast ✎') on any recipe card. An inline picker appears where you can switch between Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snack.

Question 16

How do I adjust portions?

Accepted Answer

Use the Portions stepper (- ×1 +) on any recipe card. Portions adjust in 0.5 increments. Both ingredient quantities and nutrition values scale automatically — fractions like '1 ½ cups' are handled correctly.

Question 17

How does the shopping list work?

Accepted Answer

Your shopping list is automatically populated when you tap 'Add to Shop' on a recipe in the Meal Planner. Items are grouped by store and recipe, with checkboxes to mark ingredients as bought. A progress bar shows your completion percentage.

Question 18

How do I manually add items?

Accepted Answer

Tap the '+ Add' button at the top of the Shopping List. Enter an item name, optional amount (e.g., '1 gallon'), and optionally select a store (Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, etc.).

Question 19

How do I choose which store to shop at?

Accepted Answer

Tap the store name on any recipe group to open the store picker. Choose from popular retailers or enter a custom store name.

Question 20

What happens when I check all items?

Accepted Answer

When all ingredients in a recipe are checked off, the recipe is automatically removed from your shopping list after 8 hours. You can also manually remove it by tapping the ✕ button on the recipe header.

Question 21

How do I clear my shopping list?

Accepted Answer

Scroll to the bottom of the Shopping List and tap '🗑 Clear Shopping List'. A confirmation dialog will ask you to confirm before clearing everything.

Question 22

How do I use the step-by-step cooking mode?

Accepted Answer

Add recipes to your Cook queue from the Meal Planner. The Cook tab shows each recipe with numbered steps. Tap the checkbox or 'Mark step done' button to complete each step. The next step auto-expands when you finish one.

Question 23

How do cooking timers work?

Accepted Answer

When a step mentions a cooking time (e.g., 'bake for 15 minutes'), a timer badge appears. Tap the step to expand it and see the timer. Press Start to begin the countdown. You'll get a vibration alert and notification when the timer completes — even if your phone screen is off.

Question 24

What happens when I finish all steps?

Accepted Answer

A 'Meal Ready!' celebration appears with the recipe's full nutrition breakdown (calories, protein, carbs, fat, sugar). You can then tap 'Log to Progress' to log the meal with all macro and micronutrient data.

Question 25

Can I view the original recipe on the website?

Accepted Answer

Yes! A '🌐 See full recipe & directions' link appears below the steps. It's also shown immediately while steps are loading, so you can start reading the recipe right away.

Question 26

What if my recipe doesn't have cooking instructions?

Accepted Answer

Custom recipes you create yourself don't have step-by-step instructions. The Cook screen shows a 'Custom Recipe' card with a 'Log This Meal' button — tap it, choose how many portions you ate, and confirm to add it directly to your progress log.

Question 27

What if a recipe scraper can't load steps from a website?

Accepted Answer

Some recipe sites block automated scraping. When this happens, BiteCaddy shows the 'See full recipe & directions' link plus a 'Log This Meal' button so you can still log the meal even without seeing the steps in-app.

Question 28

How do I remove a recipe from the Cook queue?

Accepted Answer

Tap the ✕ button on the recipe header. A confirmation dialog will ask you to confirm. Completed recipes are also auto-removed after 12 hours.

Question 29

Why does the Shop tab show more ingredients than the Cook tab?

Accepted Answer

The Cook tab shows what you need for one cooking session. The Shop tab shows what you need for the whole week — the same ingredients multiplied by how many times that recipe appears in your meal plan. Example: a recipe set to 3 portions, planned 4 times this week = 12 total servings worth of groceries to buy. Tap the ×N portions badge in Cook to see this explained inside the app.

Question 30

How do I track calories?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Progress tab. Tap '+ Meal' to log what you eat. Enter the meal name, select a meal type (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack), and add calories. Optionally add protein, carbs, fat, and sugar. The daily ring shows your progress toward your calorie goal.

Question 31

Can I search for branded foods like McDonald's or Subway?

Accepted Answer

Yes! In the Add Meal modal, type a food name (e.g., 'McDonald's cheeseburger') and tap '🔍 Search Food Database'. BiteCaddy queries the USDA FoodData Central database which has 300,000+ branded foods. Tap any result to auto-fill calories, protein, carbs, fat, and 14 micronutrients.

Question 32

How do I set my calorie goal?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Progress tab. Tap the 'Goal' button (shows your current goal, e.g., '2000 cal') at the top right. Enter your daily calorie target (recommended: 1,800-2,500 cal/day) and tap Save.

Question 33

How do I customize which nutrients to track?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Progress tab. Tap the 'Customize' button next to 'Today's Nutrition'. A panel shows all available nutrients grouped by Macros (protein, carbs, fat, sugar, fiber, etc.), Vitamins (A, C, D, B6, B12, folate, etc.), and Minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, etc.). Toggle the ones you care about and tap Save.

Question 34

How do I log exercises?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Progress tab. Tap '+ Exercise' in the Activity Log. Choose from a database of exercises organized by category (Cardio, Strength, Sports, Water, Flexibility) or switch to 'Manual Entry' to enter exercise name and calories burned directly. Set your duration and BiteCaddy calculates calories burned based on your weight.

Question 35

How do portion controls work?

Accepted Answer

In the Progress tab (Profile → Progress), each logged meal has -1 and +1 portion buttons. Tap +1 to log another portion of the same meal. Tap -1 to remove the most recent duplicate. This makes it easy to track multiple servings without re-entering all the details.

Question 36

How does the calorie ring work?

Accepted Answer

The calorie ring is in Profile → Progress tab. It shows your net calories (eaten minus burned from exercise). It's green when you're under 70% of your goal, yellow at 70-90%, and red when over 90%. If you've logged exercises, it shows a breakdown of eaten, burned, and net calories.

Question 37

How do I start intermittent fasting?

Accepted Answer

The Fasting Timer is in Profile → Progress tab. Choose a protocol (16:8, 18:6, 20:4, or OMAD) and tap 'Start Fast'. The countdown begins and your protocol choice hides until the fast ends.

Question 38

What fasting protocols are available?

Accepted Answer

BiteCaddy supports four popular intermittent fasting protocols: 16:8 (16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating), 18:6, 20:4, and OMAD (One Meal A Day — 23 hours fasting, 1 hour eating).

Question 39

Does the fasting timer work when the app is closed?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The fasting timer persists across app restarts. When you reopen the app, the timer picks up exactly where it left off. You'll also receive a notification when your fast is complete.

Question 40

How does the fasting streak work?

Accepted Answer

Complete fasts on consecutive days to build your streak (shown as 🔥 X days). The streak resets if you skip a day. It tracks your last 30 days of fasting history.

Question 41

How does the referral program work?

Accepted Answer

Share your unique referral code (found in Profile → 'Refer a Friend') with friends. When they sign up and complete their first paid subscription, you earn 7 free days of Pro added to your subscription. You can refer up to 5 friends (35 free days max).

Question 42

Where do I find my referral code?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → scroll down to the 'Refer a Friend' card. Your unique code (e.g., BITE-A1B2C3D4) is displayed. Tap it to copy, or tap 'Share Invite Link' to send it via text, email, or social media.

Question 43

Where do I enter a referral code?

Accepted Answer

During onboarding (after setting your nutrition goals), you'll see a 'Have a referral code?' step. Enter the code and tap 'Apply Code'. You can also skip this step if you don't have one.

Question 44

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Account Details → tap 'Delete Account' at the bottom. A confirmation screen appears — type your full name to confirm. This permanently deletes your account and all associated data.

Question 45

How do I sync with Apple Health or Health Connect?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Health Integration → toggle on Apple Health (iOS) or Health Connect (Android). Grant the requested permissions. Your logged meals and exercises will automatically sync with your device's health platform — and BiteCaddy will pull in nutrition and exercise data logged by other apps too.

Question 46

Do I need a special version of Android for Health Connect?

Accepted Answer

Health Connect works best on Android 14 and newer. On older Android versions, you'll need to install the free Health Connect app from the Play Store first. BiteCaddy still works without it — you just won't get the cross-app sync.

Question 47

Will BiteCaddy double-count meals I log in another app?

Accepted Answer

No. Apple Health and Health Connect both pool data from every app that writes to them (your watch, MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, Samsung Health, etc.). BiteCaddy de-duplicates entries before adding them to your daily totals so the same meal isn't counted twice.

Question 48

Are all nutrients tracked equally on iOS and Android?

Accepted Answer

Macros (calories, protein, carbs, fat), fiber, sugar, sodium, and most major vitamins and minerals sync on both platforms. A few rare micronutrients (like vitamin K2 or choline) are only available on iOS because Health Connect doesn't expose them yet. We track the cross-platform set so your data stays consistent if you switch devices.

Question 49

How do I manage notifications?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Notifications section. Toggle individual notification types: Daily Meal Reminder (noon nudge), Weekly Summary (Sunday recap), Deal Alerts (new deals nearby), and Plan Reminders (evening prep reminder).

Question 50

How do I update my weight?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Account Details → Weight → tap 'Edit'. Toggle between lbs and kg, enter your weight, and tap Save. Your weight is used to calculate accurate calorie burn estimates for exercises.

Question 51

How do I contact support?

Accepted Answer

Go to Profile → Feedback & Support → tap 'Get Help'. Browse the FAQ section, or switch to 'Contact Us' to submit a support request. You can also tap 'Send Feedback' to share ideas, report bugs, or ask questions.

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