Smart Scan

Smart Scan sends a photo to a vision model and gets back a list of what it can see. It is the difference between an inventory you build and one you photograph.

Two modes#

Smart Scan runs in two modes, and the one you get follows the button you pressed.

Add Multiple Items is the one people mean by Smart Scan. Photograph an open box or a shelf, and it returns every distinct thing it can identify as a separate item, each with a name, a description and suggested tags, up to twenty at a time. You get a checklist to review before anything is saved.

Add a Single Item consolidates the photo into one result. It is also what runs when you photograph a bin, naming the container rather than cataloging its contents, and it is the mode behind Auto Smart Scan.

Auto Smart Scan#

Found under Settings → AI, and on by default. With it enabled, taking a photo while adding a bin or an item quietly suggests a name and description. It only fills what you have not already typed.

It needs a connection, because the vision model runs on the server. Item photos fall back to on-device suggestions when you are offline; bin photos do not.

If you would rather name things yourself, turn it off. Nothing else changes. Manual Smart Scan from a bin remains available either way.

Reviewing before it saves#

Nothing is written until you say so. A scan produces a checklist: every row starts ticked, every name is editable, and you untick anything the model invented or duplicated.

This is not a formality. Vision models are good at obvious objects in good light and unreliable about things that are partly hidden, unusually lit, or ambiguous at a glance. Correcting a list is faster than typing one.

Treat the output as a first draft written by someone who has never seen your house. It is right often enough to save you most of the typing and wrong often enough that you should read it.

Getting better results#

• Open the container and shoot from above. A closed box scans as a box.
• Spread things out. Overlapping objects get merged or missed. A black tabletop or backdrop also gives the photo a professional look.
• Light it. Phone flash, room light, daylight. Underexposed photos produce vague names like "an object" more often than they produce wrong ones.
• Take two. A bin holds three photos: half-full and full gets you the things at the bottom, which is exactly what you will search for later.
• Do not expect model numbers. It reads shapes, not spec sheets. Anything precise, like a serial number, you type in yourself.

Usage limits#

Smart Scan runs against a paid vision API, so it is metered. Where a limit applies to your account, Settings → AI shows where you are against it. Run out and scanning stops with a message saying so; everything else in the app carries on working normally.

When not to bother#

Smart Scan earns its keep on containers full of miscellaneous things. On a bin holding twelve identical items, typing the name once and setting a quantity is faster.