Help & Support

Account

How do I create an account?

On myshelf.life under “Sign up” with your name, email address and password – or with your Google account. In the iPhone app you sign up with email address and password or with “Sign in with Apple”.

If you sign up with an email address, we send you a confirmation link; once you have opened it, you can sign in. If you choose “Hide My Email” with Apple, we only receive a forwarding address from Apple. One account works on the website and in the app. If someone invited you to their household, you create your account through the invitation link.

I forgot my password.

On the sign-in page, tap “Forgot password?” and enter your email address. We send you a link to set a new password; it is valid for 15 minutes. The password then works on the website and in the app.

If you signed up on the website with Google and want to sign in to the app with your email address, use the same steps to create a password.

How do I delete my account?

In the iPhone app: Settings → “Delete Account”. On the website: Settings → Danger Zone → “Delete Account”. For your security you confirm with your password; if you only sign in with Google or Apple, you don't need one.

This deletes your account with your name, email address and password, and your sign-ins on all devices. If you are the owner of the household – at first, that is whoever created it – the household is deleted with everything in it: pantry, storage locations, shopping list, meal plan and points, for the other members too. If the others want to carry on, transfer ownership first: on the website under Settings → Household → Members → “Transfer ownership”. If you are a member of someone else's household, you leave it; the household stays for everyone else.

If you signed in with Apple, we also revoke the sign-in with Apple. Deleting your account cannot be undone.

Household

How do I invite someone to my household?

On the website under Settings → Household → “Invite” – or in the iPhone app. Enter the person's name and, if you like, their email address: then we send the invitation by email. Otherwise, copy the invitation link and send it yourself. The link is valid for 7 days; whoever opens it creates an account through it and is in your household right away.

The owner of the household can invite. Everyone in the household shares the pantry, shopping list and meal plan, and each person signs in with their own account.

Will I know when someone changes something?

In the iPhone app, if you allow notifications: when someone else in your household adds something to the shopping list or checks it off, adds pantry items or takes them out, or earns household points, you get a short message. You can turn this off at any time in the iOS Settings under Notifications → ShelfLife.

App and Features

Does the app work offline?

Mostly, yes. The iPhone app keeps the shopping list, pantry and meal plan on your device as well. Without a connection you can still add, check off, edit and delete items; the changes go out as soon as you are back online. Dictation and Shelfy need an internet connection – typing always works. The website needs a connection.

Voice input and Shelfy: what is sent where?

Tap the microphone, speak, and tap again when you are done; the recording stops by itself after two minutes. The recording is sent encrypted to our server and from there to OpenAI for speech recognition. We do not store it, and the app deletes its copy on the iPhone after sending.

Shelfy, our assistant, understands the recognised or typed text. Behind Shelfy is an AI language model – currently GLM by Z.ai – that we reach through the OpenRouter service. So that Shelfy knows what you mean, the model also receives the state of your household: pantry, shopping list, meal plan and the members' names. In the app, Shelfy first shows the proposed changes; nothing changes until you confirm.

Before the app sends a recording or text to these services for the first time, it asks for your permission; you can take it back in the app's settings. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

Which languages is ShelfLife available in?

German and English, on the website and in the iPhone app. On the website you switch the language in the settings. Shelfy answers in your account's language, and voice input understands German and English.

Cost and Privacy

Does ShelfLife cost anything?

No. ShelfLife is free – with no ads and no in-app purchases.

What happens to my data?

We use it to run ShelfLife for you and your household. There is no tracking, no advertising and no analytics – neither in the app nor on the website. Which services receive which data is set out in the Privacy Policy.