Bare

Click the feedback button in the app or send it here.

The iOS widget system is quite buggy and can fail a lot. This is not a problem with the app and is out of my control. See how to fix a widget that does not show up.

Make sure Lock Screen widgets are allowed when locked: “Settings › Face ID & Passcode › Allow Access When Locked › Lock Screen Widgets”. If it’s “off”, iOS may hide the widget until you unlock.

Touch and hold the item, tap “Category”, and pick another one. The app remembers it for the next item with the same name. To let the app choose again, pick “Automatic”.

In this order:

1. The section you picked for an item with the same name.
2. The section an earlier item with the same name got.
3. A built-in list of common groceries.
4. Apple Intelligence, with Private Cloud Compute or the on-device model. The item is added right away and sorted a moment later.

Open the list, tap the “…” menu, and then “Share List”, or touch and hold the list in the lists screen. The people you invite need an iCloud account and the app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. With Family Sharing, your family gets the app at no extra cost. Each list is shared on its own, so you can keep some lists private.

For someone without an iPhone, use “Send as Text” in the same menu. They get the list as text, sorted by section.

Open the invitation link on a device with the app, while signed in to iCloud. The app shows “Joining List…” until the list appears. If it fails, tap “Try Again”.

There is no sync setting. The app syncs when you are signed in to iCloud. Troubleshooting.

Type it with the name, like “2 milk”, “2x milk”, or “milk x2”. Text like “500 g flour” stays in the name.

You can also swipe right on an item to add or remove one. Adding an item that is already on the list increases its quantity.

Touch and hold the item and tap “Edit”, or swipe left on it and tap the pencil button. You can change the name, quantity, category, and notes. A renamed item keeps its section. To sort it again, set its category to “Automatic”. On Apple Watch, notes are read-only.

They move to Done at the bottom of the list. Tap one to put it back. To remove them all, tap the trash button in the Done header.

Yes. Tap “Done” to collapse or expand it.

Tap the “…” menu and then “Uncheck All”. All items in Done go back on the list.

Yes. Common groceries are still sorted, and other items go in Other, where you can move them yourself. The app remembers your choice. See which devices have Apple Intelligence.

The app could not find a section for it, or could not sort it yet, for example, when you added it on Apple Watch while offline. Touch and hold the item, tap “Category”, and pick one. The app remembers it.

No. The sections are in the order most stores use, starting with Produce. Custom orders and categories will not be supported, as they need setup, and the app is designed to work without it.

No. It syncs directly with iCloud, so it works even when your iPhone is at home. Items you add on the watch are sorted with Private Cloud Compute, or, when it is not available (for example, offline), the next time you open the app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

The widget gets its data from the app, so after you force-quit the app, it may not update until you open the app again. You do not need to quit apps on iOS. The system can also delay background updates, for example, in Low Power Mode or when “Background App Refresh” is off. On Mac, the widget updates only while the app is open.

Yes. Your lists are on your device, so you can add and check off items without a connection, like in a store with bad coverage. Changes sync when you are online again.

Copy a list with one item per line, for example, from Notes or a message, and use “Paste” in the “…” menu of the list. Bullets like “- ” are removed.

Yes. Copy the items as text, one per line, and use “Paste” in the “…” menu of a list. Bullets like “- ” are removed.

No. Items are sorted A to Z in each section, so they are easy to find. Done shows the last checked item first.

Touch and hold the item and tap “Move to List”. If the other list has an unchecked item with the same name, the quantities are added together.

Yes. Touch and hold the item, tap “Edit”, and write it in “Notes”. Keep the name short, like “Milk”, so the app can sort and suggest it.

Say “Add to Bare” or “Add to Groceries in Bare”, and then the item. Without a list name, it adds to your first list. The app also has Shortcuts actions.

Yes, on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: shake the iPhone, swipe left with three fingers, or press Command+Z. You can undo checking off, deleting, and “Uncheck All”. On Apple Watch, you can put an item back from Done, but you cannot undo a delete.

Open the list, tap the “…” menu, and then “Manage Sharing”. There, the owner can remove people or stop sharing, and others can leave the list. You can also swipe left on the list in the lists screen and tap “Leave”.

They need the app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. For anyone else, use “Send as Text”.

Your lists are stored on your devices and in your iCloud account. I cannot see them. Categorization uses Apple Intelligence on your device or Apple’s Private Cloud Compute, which does not store your data.

Yes. On Mac, click an item to check it off, and right-click instead of touch and hold. The actions of the “…” menu are in the “List” menu in the menu bar, and the Share button is in the toolbar.

Touch and hold the suggestion above the keyboard and tap “Remove Suggestion”. You can only remove suggestions from your earlier items, not the built-in common groceries.

The built-in suggestions follow the app language. To change it, go to “Settings › Apps › Bare › Language” on iPhone and iPad, or add the app in “System Settings › General › Language & Region › Applications” on Mac. Suggestions from your earlier items always show, in any language.

The app has a built-in list of common groceries, about 5,000 in English and 3,900 in Norwegian. You cannot remove them, but your own items are suggested first.

The screen stays on while a list is open, so the phone does not lock between aisles. Auto-lock comes back after ten minutes without changes.

The app follows the system setting: “Settings › Sounds & Haptics › System Haptics”.

There are none. The app is designed to work without setup. It follows system settings, like “System Haptics” and the app language.

Open a list, tap the “+” button at the bottom, and dictate, type, or scribble the item. You can also add a list to a watch face as a complication.

On the watch, open “Settings › General › Return to Clock”, tap Bare, and turn on “Return to App”. The list then stays open when you raise your wrist.

Touch and hold the widget, tap “Edit Widget”, and choose a list. If that list is deleted, the widget shows your first list.

Add the “Add Item” control. For the Action button, go to “Settings › Action Button”, choose “Controls”, and then “Add Item”. For Control Center, open it, tap “+”, and then “Add a Control”. You can choose which list the control adds to.

On Apple Watch, add the “Shopping List” control to Control Center. It opens the list, where you tap “+”.

Yes, on iPad and Mac:

• Command+N: Add an item
• Shift+Command+N: Make a new list
• Command+1 to Command+9: Go to one of the first nine lists
• Command+Z: Undo

In the lists screen, touch and hold the list, and tap “Rename” or “Delete”. To rename the open list, you can also use “Rename” in the “…” menu.

It is deleted for everyone. Changes by others that were not synced yet are lost.

No. Each list is shared on its own, so you can share the groceries with your family and keep other lists private.

No. To keep the list simple, the app does not show who did what.

No. The list updates by itself, and on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, the widgets update in the background.

This can happen when two devices add a new item at the same moment, before they sync. Delete one of them.

No. This is a limitation of iCloud sharing.

Yes. Your lists work on the device. To sync and share them, sign in to iCloud in Settings.

The lists on the device belong to another iCloud account, so the app pauses syncing to not mix them. To use the current account, tap “Delete Lists on This Device”. This downloads the lists of the current account and does not affect lists in iCloud, but changes that were not uploaded yet are lost.

The app’s data in iCloud was deleted, for example, in Settings, but your lists are still on the device. Tap “Upload Lists Again” to keep them. Shared lists must be shared again.

Your changes stay on the device and sync when there is space again. A note about it shows below your lists in the lists screen.

Lists that synced to iCloud come back when you reinstall the app. Lists that did not sync, for example, without iCloud, are lost.

No. You can use Siri.

Yes. The app also supports VoiceOver and Dynamic Type.

Swipe left on the item and tap the trash button, or touch and hold it and tap “Delete”. You can undo it on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

No. One purchase works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

Share lists, leave a shared list, rename lists, edit notes, and move items. Do these on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

No. Lists are in the order you made them, so your first list is the oldest one.

The app is in English and Norwegian. I may add more languages, but no promises.

No. The app is intentionally simple, and these features would make it slower to use for most people.

This is an iOS limitation and is out of my control. It shows a placeholder until the first unlock. This is how all Lock Screen widgets work.