Pantry Ninja helps you catalog what’s in your pantry and build a shopping list of the items you are running low on or out of. This page matches version 2.0 of the app; the same text is in the app under the info button on the Home tab.
Getting around
The tab bar at the bottom of the screen has five tabs:
- Home: your dashboard. Shows your level (Free, Bronze, Silver or Gold), your default store, and how much of each limit (items, categories, locations, stores) you are using.
- User Info: your name, your stores and which one is the default.
- Pantry: the full item list, where you will spend most of your time. The Shopping List and the Action Menu open from the top of this tab.
- Location Search: pick a location and see everything stored there.
- Utilities: text size, backup and restore, subscriptions, and reset.
Categories
Each pantry item is stored under a category with a name and a location of your choosing. The Home tab shows how much of each limit you are using at your level. Subscriptions raise the limits: Utilities > Subscriptions.
Item names
Each category holds its own set of names, which you can add to or delete. This may seem odd at first, but it avoids having similar but different names for the same item. There is no limit on the number of names you can have for a category, other than your phone’s storage.
Locations
An item’s location is selected from your locations list, which you can customise as you like. The Location Search tab lists the items stored at any one location.
Items
Each item holds its category, location, name and optional detail (for example, name “Milk”, detail “Soy”). You enter the number you want in your pantry and the number you have. The difference sets the item’s need, shown as a green, yellow or red box next to the item.
An item can also carry the store aisle where it is found, with a different aisle number for each of your stores.
To add an item, open the Action Menu on the Pantry tab and choose New pantry item. Pick a category, then a name from that category’s list (or add a new one), then a location. Finally enter the want and have counts and the aisle.
A sample set of items is loaded the first time you open the app. Change, delete or add to it so it reflects your own pantry.
Shopping list
The shopping list is the heart of the app. Each item’s colour shows its need:
- Green: you have 75% or more of what you want.
- Yellow: between 50% and 75%.
- Red: below 50%.
The All / Stocked / Low / Out chips above the pantry list filter it by need, so you can see the state of your pantry at a glance.
To build a list, open the Action Menu and choose Add all yellow items or Add all red items, or switch On Shopping List on an item’s detail page. The cart icon on each item shows whether it is on the list (green) or not (red).
Shopping by aisle
Tap Aisle at the top right of the shopping list to sort it by store aisle, so you can move through the store in order. Tap Category to switch back. To sort in reverse (highest aisle first) put a “!” in the store name on the User Info tab.
Switch stores on the User Info tab and the list re-sorts using that store’s aisle numbers.
While shopping, swipe an item to the right and tap Bought: your have count goes up and the item leaves the list. Swipe left and tap Not today to drop it from the list without buying. Both ask you to confirm first.
Levels and limits
The free version includes 25 items, 8 categories, 5 locations and 1 store. Bronze, Silver and Gold raise those limits and add purchase-date tracking, backup and restore, and Family Sharing. Details and prices are on the Pantry Ninja page.
Pantry Ninja home · Version history · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact us