This Privacy Policy explains how information is collected, used, stored, and handled across the MealTab app and its website, including records from the private beta program, which is closed to new signups.
1. Information We Collect
The MealTab app: what stays on your device. Your meal plans, pantry list, saved and imported recipes, ratings, shopping list, and preferences (diet, budget, household size, notification settings, and similar) are created and stored locally on your device. Unless you sign in to an optional account, described next, MealTab does not receive or store this information on its own servers.
The MealTab app: optional account. You can use MealTab without an account. If you choose to sign in (Profile → Account), you can confirm your email address with a 6-digit code we send to it, or sign in with Apple or Google. With Apple or Google, MealTab receives only the email address they confirm and an account ID for you with that provider; your name and password are never sent to MealTab, and if you choose Apple's Hide My Email we only see the private relay address. Once you're signed in, we store your email address and a copy of what's in the app (your meal plan, pantry, recipes and their photos, prices, ratings and preferences) with our hosting provider, Netlify, so that devices signed in with the same email stay in sync and you can restore your data on a new phone. Each signed-in device also keeps its own backup there. The sign-in email is sent through Resend, our email delivery provider. We use this information only to provide sync, backup and restore, and we don't sell or share it. You can delete your account, the synced copy and every backup at any time from Profile → Account → Delete account.
The MealTab app: email address (optional). If you choose to give MealTab your email address, from Profile → Email updates or the "Get MealTab updates" card in the app, it's submitted directly to MealTab so we can let you know about new features and updates. We store the address, the date you signed up, the kind of device (iPhone, Android, or web), and where in the app you signed up. It isn't linked to the anonymous usage ID described below. Removing it in Profile → Email updates deletes it from our list. This is separate from the beta records described below.
The MealTab app: anonymous usage stats. Once a day when you open MealTab, the app sends a random ID created on your device (not your name, email address, or any account), the app version, and whether you're using iPhone, Android, or the web. Nothing about your meals, pantry, recipes, prices, or location is included. We use it only to count how many people use MealTab, how many come back, and which app versions are still in use. If something in the app breaks, MealTab also sends an error report: the error message (with any email address or long number removed on your device), where in the app's code it happened, the app version, your platform and which screen was open. Error reports carry no ID and nothing about your meals, pantry, recipes, prices or location; we use them only to find and fix bugs. Turning off usage stats turns these off too. You can turn it off anytime in Profile → Usage stats.
The MealTab app: grocery pricing (optional). If you turn on live grocery pricing and connect a store, your ZIP code and store selection are sent, through MealTab's servers, to Kroger to look up nearby stores and product pricing. MealTab does not see or store your Kroger account credentials, and does not retain your ZIP code after the lookup completes.
The MealTab app: adding your list to your Kroger cart (optional). If you choose to add your shopping list to your Kroger cart, you log in on Kroger's own page and allow MealTab to add items to your cart (Kroger's "cart.basic:write" permission). MealTab never sees your Kroger password, orders, or payment details, and can't check out for you. The authorization Kroger returns is held by MealTab's servers for at most 15 minutes while you return to the app, then kept only on your device; each time you add items, it's sent through MealTab's servers to Kroger along with the items and quantities on your list, and isn't retained there. You can disconnect anytime from the cart screen in the app, and you can also remove MealTab's access from your Kroger account settings.
The MealTab app: recipe import and photos. If you import a recipe from a website, the URL you provide is fetched through MealTab's servers to read the recipe from that page; the page's content passes through but isn't retained by MealTab afterward. Recipe and category photos are served through Pexels' image search using generic food-related search terms, never anything about you personally.
The private beta (closed to new signups). MealTab is running a private beta ahead of its public release. Signups and invitations on this website have closed, and no new beta signup information is collected here; current testers install MealTab through Apple TestFlight or Google Play testing. For people who signed up through this website, MealTab holds what they gave when signing up (first name, email address, the source of the signup, iPhone or Android, and optionally where they usually buy groceries), their beta status and dates (such as when they joined, were invited, accepted an invitation or sent feedback), the invitation token that validated their personal access link, and any report they sent from the Beta Test Guide (name, email address, device information, notes and the generated test report). For Android testers, the Google account email they gave was shared with Google Play only to add them to the beta test. Copies of signups were also sent through Netlify Forms as email notifications.
The MealTab app: feedback and photos. If you send a message from Help & Support in the app, MealTab receives the message, the type you pick and the email address if you give one. You can also choose to attach one photo or screenshot, for example a receipt the app didn't read well; it is reduced in size on your phone before it is sent. Receipt photos can show store details, the time of purchase and the last digits of a payment card, so you can remove the photo before sending. Feedback and attached photos are stored with Netlify and used only to answer you and fix problems in MealTab. Receipt scanning itself happens on your phone: a receipt is only sent if you attach it to feedback.
Request information. The services that host and deliver MealTab may briefly process normal request information needed to operate and secure those services, such as IP address, browser or device information, requested pages, and request timestamps - including to apply rate limits that keep MealTab's shared services available to everyone. This is used only for security and operating the service, not to identify you personally.
Anonymous product and website analytics. MealTab uses its first-party Low Key analytics service to understand broad product activity, such as app opens, onboarding completion, meal-plan generation, shopping-list use, recipe saves and imports, platform, and app version. These events do not include recipe names or URLs, ingredients, dietary preferences, ZIP codes, email addresses, exact budgets, other meal-plan content, or location; Low Key does not retain country, region, or city for app events. The public website also uses Plausible Analytics for aggregate traffic such as page visits and referral sources. These analytics do not use advertising identifiers, and app analytics can be disabled from Profile → Usage stats.
2. Information Stored on Your Device
Core MealTab app information, described in Section 1 above, is stored locally on your device. MealTab works without an account; if you choose to sign in to one, a copy is also kept on our servers as described in Section 1. MealTab includes controls (More → Export my data and More → Import data) to export that information to a backup file and import it to restore information or move it between devices. If you clear your browser or app data, uninstall MealTab, or switch devices without exporting first, this information is not recoverable by MealTab unless you had signed in to an account - without one, we simply don't have a copy.
If you used the Beta Test Guide, it saved your in-progress responses in your browser's local storage. Clearing browser or site data removes them.
Your meal and profile content stays local unless you choose to export, share, or submit it, or use a feature (like grocery pricing or recipe import) that requires sending part of it to MealTab's servers or a connected service as described above. Anonymous product events are handled separately as described above.
3. How We Use Information
- Let you know about new MealTab features and updates, if you've given us an email address.
- Count how many people use the MealTab app and which versions are in use, from the anonymous usage stats (unless you've turned them off).
- Find and fix bugs, from the app's anonymous error reports (unless you've turned off usage stats).
- Look up nearby stores and grocery pricing when you use that optional feature.
- Fetch and parse a recipe page when you use recipe import.
- Keep records from the private beta and answer questions or deletion requests about them.
- Receive, review, and use feedback to test, support, and improve MealTab.
- Understand aggregate website usage and improve the website experience.
- Operate, troubleshoot, and protect MealTab and its website, including rate-limiting to prevent abuse of shared services.
4. Where Information Is Processed
Netlify. MealTab uses Netlify to host the app and website and run its server functions. Netlify Blobs stores records from the private beta (tester records, invitation-token mappings, status and access timestamps, and beta feedback), messages and any photo or screenshot sent with the app's feedback form, the app's anonymous daily usage records and error reports, the list of email addresses given in the app for updates, the email address, synced data and device backups of anyone who signs in to an optional account, Kroger cart authorizations for up to 15 minutes while a login finishes, and short-lived rate-limit counters used for security.
Kroger. If you use MealTab's live grocery pricing feature, your ZIP code and store selection are sent to Kroger's product API to look up store locations and pricing. If you add your list to your Kroger cart, you log in with Kroger directly and your list's items and quantities are sent to Kroger's cart API. Each only happens when you use that feature.
Pexels. MealTab uses Pexels' image search to display recipe and category photos, using generic food-related search terms only.
Apple and Google. If you choose Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google, you sign in with that provider directly, and it confirms your email address to MealTab as described in Section 1. Their own privacy policies cover that sign-in.
Resend. MealTab uses Resend to deliver the 6-digit sign-in codes for optional accounts, and used it to send invitation emails to beta testers. The recipient's email address and the message are provided to Resend for that purpose.
Plausible Analytics. MealTab uses Plausible to measure aggregate website traffic without cookies.
These providers may process normal technical information as part of hosting, securing, and delivering their services.
5. Retention and Your Choices
MealTab keeps records from the private beta until they are no longer needed or you ask for them to be deleted. No fixed retention period is stated at this time.
You can manage locally stored app information using MealTab's available export, import, and device or browser controls; uninstalling MealTab or clearing its site data also removes that local information. You can turn off the app's anonymous usage stats in Profile → Usage stats, remove your email address from our list in Profile → Email updates, and delete an account, with its synced data and backups, in Profile → Account → Delete account. More → Erase all data clears everything stored on a device. Questions or requests about your information, including asking us to delete an email address or beta record we hold, can be made by following the steps on our Delete your data page.
6. Security
MealTab uses access controls and service-provider safeguards intended to protect the information described in this policy. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure.
7. Children's Privacy
MealTab is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them.
8. Changes to This Policy
This policy may be updated as MealTab develops. The current version is always on this page, with its updated date shown above.
9. Contact and Support
Use Help & Support or the feedback form available in MealTab, email scott@mealtab.app, or see the Support page.