This used to be my mainstay, I have well over 300 recipes in this app including originals and was once a lifetime purchaser. Then cookbook updated and made it subscription based. Prior Lifetime buyers were given a grace period I guess one would call it, before having to hop on subscription base for the updated app or default into basic (free). Those who defaulted to basic now had 40 recipes to work with which I guess is more than what the non lifetime purchasers got, yay. Since I’m over the 40 I’m constantly told that I need to delete recipes or subscribe in order to look at the recipes I already have stored. I’m not even actively using the app to try to save recipes. Just view my stored ones. Even sorting it to most recent ads directed doesn’t allow me to view my “40” instead it is just a “subscribe or delete recipes pop up” I can’t help but feel cheated. Now there’s an option for “lifetime” purchase. The lifetime of the latest upgrade until they come out with a cookbook 3.0 or whichever one they are on and the cycle continues? I understand they have a business to run but I am weary of their practices now and have went with another app instead. Good news if people are interested in subscribing it’s cheap at least and I did like the UI. So if you’re on the fence maybe they can have your money. I have no intention on being a patron.

I have super appreciated this app for years, but was initially put off by the requirement to pay for it again. Then somebody reminded me that seven years is a long time for an app to keep working. For example, I am no longer able to use the Microsoft office suite I purchased for my windows XP machine. Fair reasoning. That said, here are some of the reasons I value this app so highly: The “import recipe from a URL” is simply astonishing. It extracts the important elements for recipes from websites like AllRecipes and the Food Network, while leaving all the ads and commentary out. Everything is completely editable after importing, so if you want to alter the recipe to reflect something you saw in the comments, it’s very easy. The import via OCR (optical character recognition – converting a photo with printed text to digital text) is not quite as simple, but once you get it, it’s fantastic. It allowed me to retain my favorite recipes from my mother’s cookbooks, which were falling apart. I told it which parts of the image were the title, ingredients and steps, and it did the rest. The tags, timer, and “cross-out finished steps” features are the ones I use the most, but this app has loads of other features, also. The interface is very user-friendly and the pro version is an exceptional value.

I don’t often leave reviews, but this app has been a complete game changer for my meal prep. Before installing this app, I would bookmark all the recipes I found online and tried my best to organize them in folders. But digging through a list of titles meant I often skimmed past recipes I loved or struggled to find the recipe I was looking for. This app has completely changed how I approach cooking/meal prep and even lets me share my favorite recipes with friends! I can now quickly import recipes from the internet or recipes scribbled down by my in-laws directly to my cookbook. It’s easy to find what I’m looking for thanks to all the pictures and custom tags (they start you off with some basic ones which was super helpful). And thanks to the shopping list feature I can now quickly plan out my meals for the week and get an organized shopping list that combines the same ingredients across recipes - no more writing everything down on a sticky note and crossing out numbers as multiple recipes start calling for limes. To top it all off, I can even share my recipes/notes with friends whether they have the app or not. But to be honest, now recommending this app to everyone, I absolutely love it. If you like to cook, and have a ton of recipes to store/organize, this is the app for you!