Review Insights · App Store
Ivy: Processed Food Scanner
Ramzy Nanou · 4,441 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
4,441 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 40 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"free"
18 negative reviews mention this · 45% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unsure How Rating is So High. It seems a lot like Ivy is using and relying on the customer consumer to get its data. There is a lot of wrong information, pictures that are inaccurate that don’t align with the product - duplicates of items so you’re confused as to which …" - ...let down
2
"subscription"
11 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "New category in the App Store “Subscription Based”. All apps on App Store’s should be listed in a category that states subscription based if that’s what it is. I agree with some other reviews that state. This is a waste of my time to have to answer a bunch of questions to get to the end to j…" - Pastorsmilko
3
"money"
9 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "New category in the App Store “Subscription Based”. All apps on App Store’s should be listed in a category that states subscription based if that’s what it is. I agree with some other reviews that state. This is a waste of my time to have to answer a bunch of questions to get to the end to j…" - Pastorsmilko
4
"questions"
8 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "New category in the App Store “Subscription Based”. All apps on App Store’s should be listed in a category that states subscription based if that’s what it is. I agree with some other reviews that state. This is a waste of my time to have to answer a bunch of questions to get to the end to j…" - Pastorsmilko
5
"information"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Wrong product info. The first 3 things I scanned, only 2 had the correct product info. The suggestions are highly inaccurate as well. For an alternative to lotion, it suggested rose water, essential oils, SPF. I clicked on one that was titled lotion with a 100…" - maddy leigh ny
6
"without"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Wrong product info. The first 3 things I scanned, only 2 had the correct product info. The suggestions are highly inaccurate as well. For an alternative to lotion, it suggested rose water, essential oils, SPF. I clicked on one that was titled lotion with a 100…" - maddy leigh ny
7
"trial"
6 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unsure How Rating is So High. It seems a lot like Ivy is using and relying on the customer consumer to get its data. There is a lot of wrong information, pictures that are inaccurate that don’t align with the product - duplicates of items so you’re confused as to which …" - ...let down
8
"doesn"
5 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Scam. First, it is mentioned free, then you can only use it if you pay. I try to delete this app and it doesn’t even let me delete this." - Bernd.W
9
"actually"
5 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subscription needed. Don’t waste your time filling out the introduction questions. They’ll ask you for a subscription before you can actually use the app. Uninstalling!!!" - Unominious06
10
"people"
5 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Why have a free app with a subscription? That's just silly lol. Maybe don't make people go through the effort of answering questions and doing useless things just for nothing? I understand this "helps your app" or whatever the claims are, but you can be a little bit more transparent. Who wants to waste …" - Bellalascala
11
"year"
5 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Lies. I was going to cancel the free trial because I didn’t see a need for the app. However, they offered me.19.99 for one year and then they billed me 59.99" - aqpzijgshdidkfnd
12
"score"
4 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Extreamly false. Ummm… so apparently Pop tarts are rated with a very high score and was recommended as a replacement to the sparkling water I scanned???" - JakeF21
📋 All 40 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Extreamly false
Ummm… so apparently Pop tarts are rated with a very high score and was recommended as a replacement to the sparkling water I scanned???
Wrong product info
The first 3 things I scanned, only 2 had the correct product info. The suggestions are highly inaccurate as well. For an alternative to lotion, it suggested rose water, essential oils, SPF. I clicked on one that was titled lotion with a 100/100 score and the picture was of sardines. Another lotion listed as 100/100 included only 1 ingredient of 20+, which surely would have brought the score down since it’s a major label with many additives.
For multiple products, I tried to submit a ticket about how there was severely wrong information and you can’t without taking a picture for the app to scan and process a label. I haven’t bought these items so I can’t do so. I also could upload a photo of the ingredients label from the products website.
For multiple products, I tried to submit a ticket about how there was severely wrong information and you can’t without taking a picture for the app to scan and process a label. I haven’t bought these items so I can’t do so. I also could upload a photo of the ingredients label from the products website.
Unsure How Rating is So High
It seems a lot like Ivy is using and relying on the customer consumer to get its data. There is a lot of wrong information, pictures that are inaccurate that don’t align with the product - duplicates of items so you’re confused as to which one is accurate because they both have two completely opposite ratings but the same photo and name. It just seems sloppy and misleading - I deleted the app off of my phone after scanning 10 simple items from Trader Joe’s and Sprouts because of how disorganized and inaccurate the items were. Thank goodness for free trials.
New category in the App Store “Subscription Based”
All apps on App Store’s should be listed in a category that states subscription based if that’s what it is. I agree with some other reviews that state. This is a waste of my time to have to answer a bunch of questions to get to the end to just find out it’s a subscription based app. I don’t have a problem with you wanting to make money based off of an app you designed, but I feel it’s way overpriced and a bit deceptive to make somebody go through all that process. If it was listed in a category on the App Store that this is a “subscription based” app I would never have downloaded it at all & wasted my time. Time to make some upgrades Apple!
Scam
First, it is mentioned free, then you can only use it if you pay. I try to delete this app and it doesn’t even let me delete this.
Subscription needed
Don’t waste your time filling out the introduction questions. They’ll ask you for a subscription before you can actually use the app. Uninstalling!!!
Why have a free app with a subscription? That's just silly lol
Maybe don't make people go through the effort of answering questions and doing useless things just for nothing? I understand this "helps your app" or whatever the claims are, but you can be a little bit more transparent. Who wants to waste time on an app that just asks you to subscribe? Just have a one time purchase. Not every single thing in the universe has to be a subscription. Be so serious.. and then you're asking for reviews too? I mean, okay I guess
More like processed food scammer
It is absurd to charge people money to see the true value of their food while most Americans are already struggling to get access to organic alternatives. If the app truly prioritized health they would have a free version
Why
Why does everybody make all these apps seem so important and so available and then they want you to write a review before you even get to experience what the app does before they’ll let you into the app fully write a review for us and then the next page after that is a subscription page no thanks everybody is so concerned about getting their money every single app every game, every health app every everything so concerned about money. you know what we’re all already broke.
Corrupt Comapny
This company will lie to you and there is nothing you can do about it. Do not subscribe or even try their free trial. It’s a scam.
Not for me
I don’t like the questionnaire they ask. Too much data collected on users. Look and see what they collect. It’s none of their business.
Too expensive
There are other free ways less invasive ways to research your products
Too expensive
There are other free ways less invasive ways to research your products
Lies
I was going to cancel the free trial because I didn’t see a need for the app. However, they offered me.19.99 for one year and then they billed me 59.99
Why so many useless questions
Annoying amount of questions to get started made me just want to delete the app
There are better apps
So many different ratings for the same product. Can’t tell which is accurate. Not worth the money
paid app
who tf is gonna pay $40 a year for this
Expensive
Figured I would give this all a try. Then I realized you can’t even get into the app without providing a lot of personal information and giving them a credit card. Was never able to actually try the app because of this. Their ads are deceptive.
Trash
Get Yuka it’s free and it’s better than this junk
Answer 100 questions, then they say it’s not free
Answer 100 questions, then they say it’s not free
0 Stars
It’s not free. Try Cronometer.
Pay before use
I don’t understand why do i have to pay for the app without even trying it. I passed the pointless and generic quiz at the beginning and then you’re charging me $40 per year for what? I’ll never pay for the app without trying it
False product
An app that is supposed to tell us what’s healthy and what’s processed, doesn’t need to know my personal goals. It doesn’t need to know what my gender is. It doesn’t need to track my health habits, it doesn’t need to know why I wanna eat healthy. It just needs to scan the ingredients, tell me what’s processed, and what/where the ingredients are from. It gathers all this useless information so it can turn around and sell me a subscription for an app that doesn’t do what’s proclaimed.
I want a refund
I downloaded this app just out of curiosity and was charged almost $40. I didn’t like the app, so I requested a refund, but no one has helped me so far. I’m still waiting for a response. I don’t want to be charged for an app that I’m not going to use and that I don’t like.
Can’t actually use…
I’ve had this app for almost a year…paid for up front…expires April 2026. Every time I try to use the app, it tells me I have to get a subscription. But I already paid $20 bucks for the year?! Then it says I can get a 3 day free trial…but I already paid?! Is this some scam to be paid twice. I’ve tried to get to use it so many times I’m just disgusted. And because I can’t get into the app, I can’t contact anyone for help. Wasted $20 and got no information.
Just make it cost money to download
Can’t use the app without a subscription, so stupid. I mean it’s only 3.33 a year but they never disclose that anywhere before downloading. Very misleading
GREEDY DEVS STAY AWAY
How on earth do you expect someone to rate an app before even using it? Forcing a rating during onboarding is beyond stupidity and asking people to pay without showing what the app actually does with just 3 days trail is straight up greedy. The developers are clearly squeezing money than value, THEY ARE DESPERATE for reviews and money imagine the food companies sponsoring them they would rate it high for sure. STAY AWAY
Dumb “IVY” apps idea!
1 star! I downloaded this dumb app. What's dumb about paying $40 for a subscription? Rip it off!! Obviously, the IVY app wanted to USE people's money!! I deleted it! BOO-BOO👎👎👎🙅🙅🙅
Long survey before purchase
They put you through a LOOONG survey to get you hooked on their app before asking you to purchase.
We’ll stick with YUKA!
Thanks no thanks.
We’ll stick with YUKA!
Thanks no thanks.
Pay wall
50 questions just to hit a pay wall.
Why do you have to pay??
It’s not like it’s better than BobbyApproved app. What are you paying for? Stop being greedy
I’d give no stars if I could.
Ivy is a terrible app. The fact that you have to pay to use it perpetuates the inaccessible and expensive lifestyle culture of being a healthy and conscious eater. No one should have to pay extortionate prices just to learn what foods they’re eating are cancer causing or generally unhealthy.
Surprise Subscription
They have you answer a couple questions, they ask for a review before trying it out, then bam 3 days trial and then subscription service.
They don’t advertise the fact it’s a paid service or disclose that until after trying to get you to sign up. Very misleading about their service and they use influencers to help promote their subscription service in which they also don’t mention the subscription.
They don’t advertise the fact it’s a paid service or disclose that until after trying to get you to sign up. Very misleading about their service and they use influencers to help promote their subscription service in which they also don’t mention the subscription.
Took my $ without knowing
I want a refund. I didn’t know I would be charged, and it’s very hard to find where to request my money back. Other apps make it easy, but this one is not. Now I have to go through Apple to try and fix it, which is frustrating.
I was charged $39 without a clear warning or approval step, and this caused my bank account to overdraft. That’s unacceptable. I would have never agreed to this charge. Please issue a refund immediately.
I was charged $39 without a clear warning or approval step, and this caused my bank account to overdraft. That’s unacceptable. I would have never agreed to this charge. Please issue a refund immediately.
Not “Free”
This app doesn’t have “in-app purchases, as none of the app itself is usable. It asks you to rate it even before you use it.
Talk about bait and switch… it is a wholly pay to use app, not in-app.
Talk about bait and switch… it is a wholly pay to use app, not in-app.
Free trial issue
Kind of disappointed that only three days of free trial!!! Ugh. It should be one month instead of three days before can decide to pay for subscription incl reasonable cost as well. Thank you.
Disappointed
I thought they would at least have some features for free, but no, it doesn't let you do anything unless you pay, and 3 day trial is ridiculous and not enough to make a choice, I've read other reviews and it doesn't convince me to even start a trial, since like i said its not even enough time for me to actually try it
Pay for subscription to use
I gave this app 1 star because before I could even answer the questions it was asking for a rating. Then I wasn’t even able to try the app out because it requires you to pay for a subscription beforehand this is very misleading.
App Developers should register the app as a paid service app so you know there’s a cost upfront before you download the app. This is a manipulative approach to get people to use this app.
Don’t advertise as trying to help consumers getting tricked by the powers that be with false advertising by “dangling” promoting useful educated information disguised as providing solutions to problems then deceitfully charge the consumer you claim to be wanting help under false pretense charging for a service that should be free. Information is free. You should NOT be gatekeeping knowledge and charging a fee for access. You are apart of the problem not the solution. #DoBetterBeBetter
App Developers should register the app as a paid service app so you know there’s a cost upfront before you download the app. This is a manipulative approach to get people to use this app.
Don’t advertise as trying to help consumers getting tricked by the powers that be with false advertising by “dangling” promoting useful educated information disguised as providing solutions to problems then deceitfully charge the consumer you claim to be wanting help under false pretense charging for a service that should be free. Information is free. You should NOT be gatekeeping knowledge and charging a fee for access. You are apart of the problem not the solution. #DoBetterBeBetter
Not paying for this.
Should be free with ads. Apps like this are just as bad as the companies trying to poison us.
Not free
Why does it cost money
Good not best
The problem is it talks about a score out of 100. What is being considered to give that score? Pestisides plastic heavy metals risk ok tell me what in the food is good and bad
Doesn’t account for plastic and many items not listed
This is is still new and looks like still in development but they don’t lower the score or mention if a container is in plastic or pesticides on fruits. Also doesn’t have many items yet but with time that shouldn’t be an issue. Just use Yuka instead (it’s better and free)
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
3%
Negative (1-2★)