Safety, trust, and troubleshooting

Important: always confirm with restaurant staff

AlignEat helps you make informed choices about what to order. It is not a medical device, and it cannot guarantee that any dish is safe for you. Why you must still ask staff Menus are often incomplete. Ingredients and recipes change without notice. Kitchens can have cross contact between foods, meaning a dish that looks safe on paper may come into contact with an allergen during preparation. AlignEat can only analyse the information printed on the menu. It cannot see inside the kitchen or know what changed since the menu was last updated. Before you order and before you eat, always speak directly with a member of staff. Tell them your specific allergies or restrictions and confirm that the dish you have chosen is safe for you. If you have a severe or life-threatening allergy - Carry any medication your doctor has prescribed and keep it accessible. - Follow your doctor's advice at all times. - Do not rely on the app in place of a conversation with staff. - AlignEat does not provide medical advice. For medical guidance, speak with your doctor or a qualified health professional. In an emergency If you have a serious reaction, contact your local emergency services immediately. Good to know - AlignEat labels dishes as compatible, adaptable, could not confirm, or avoid, but these labels are based on menu text only. Staff have information the menu does not. - Restaurants are generally happy to help when you explain your needs clearly. Asking is always the right move. - Use the app to narrow your choices quickly, then confirm your final choice with the team at the restaurant. Related: How AlignEat decides if a dish is safe, in plain language, My scan failed or the results look wrong

How AlignEat decides if a dish is compatible, in plain language

This article explains how AlignEat reads a menu and arrives at the labels you see on each dish. The four steps 1. Read the menu text. The app extracts the text from the photo you take, including dish names, descriptions, and listed ingredients. 2. Identify the dishes. It breaks the menu into individual dishes and their components. 3. Match against your profile. Each dish is compared to the dietary restrictions and severity levels you set in your profile. 4. Apply a label. Based on that match, the dish receives one of four labels. What the labels mean - Compatible. Nothing in the menu text conflicts with your profile. - Ask. The dish may work if you ask for a modification, such as removing a topping. - Avoid. The menu text contains something that conflicts with your restrictions. Or the menu text did not have enough detail to make a call. The limits of menu text Menus are sometimes brief or out of date. When information is limited, AlignEat errs on the side of caution and asks you to check with staff rather than guessing. Good to know - Your severity levels matter. The app takes into account how seriously you have flagged each restriction, so the results are personalised to you. - A compatible label is not a guarantee. Recipes change and kitchens can have cross contact. Always confirm with restaurant staff before ordering and eating. - You can update your profile any time to keep your results accurate. Related: Important: always confirm with restaurant staff, My scan failed or the results look wrong

How we protect your privacy

Your dietary profile and personal data belong to you. This article explains what control you have over them. You are in control Your dietary profile, scan history, and account information are protected and used only to provide the service to you. You can do the following at any time from the Privacy settings in the app: - Export your data. Download a copy of your information. - Delete your account. This removes your account and the data associated with it. Reading more about privacy The app includes a Privacy Policy that explains in full what data is collected, how it is used, and your rights. You can find it inside the app or from the sign-in screen. A plain-language summary of what data is collected is also available in the app so you do not have to read legal text to understand the basics. Good to know - AlignEat does not sell your dietary profile or personal data to third parties. - If you have questions or a specific request about your data, contact the support team. Details are in the Contact support article. - Deleting your account is permanent. Export your data first if you want to keep a copy. Related: Contact support and vote on new features

My scan failed or the results look wrong

If a scan did not work or the results do not look right, this article will help you figure out what happened and what to try next. Getting a better scan The quality of the photo has a big effect on the result. Before you scan again: - Make sure the menu text is well lit. Natural light or a well-lit room helps a lot. - Hold the phone steady and fill the frame with the menu section you want to scan. - Avoid glare from glossy menus. Try a slight angle. - Make sure you have an internet connection. New scans require one. Error messages you might see - Low confidence scan. The app could not read the text clearly enough. Retake the photo with better light and focus. - Network error or timeout. Your connection dropped during the scan. Check your signal and try again. - Rate limited. You have done too many scans in a short time. Wait a moment and try again. If the results look wrong Do not rely on a result that looks incorrect. Check with restaurant staff directly before ordering. You can send feedback on any scan from inside the app. This helps the team improve accuracy over time. Good to know - Even a successful scan is only as accurate as the menu text. Incomplete menus mean some dishes may be labelled could not confirm rather than a clear result. - Always confirm with restaurant staff before ordering and eating, especially if a result looks unexpected. - If a problem keeps happening, contact support. Related: Important: always confirm with restaurant staff, How AlignEat decides if a dish is safe, in plain language

I cannot sign in or I did not get my code

If you are having trouble signing in, this article walks through the most common causes and fixes. If you did not receive your SMS code 1. Check that you entered the correct phone number and country code. 2. Wait a short moment. SMS delivery can sometimes take a little longer than expected. 3. Check your signal. A weak connection can delay or block delivery. 4. Request the code again using the option on the sign-in screen. If the code still does not arrive, try moving to an area with better signal and request it once more. If you sign in with Apple or Google Make sure you are currently signed in to that Apple ID or Google account on your device. If you are not, sign in at the device settings level first, then return to AlignEat and try again. If none of that works Contact the support team. You can reach them from inside the app through the Profile area, or use the contact details in the Contact support article. Good to know - Codes are single use and expire quickly. If you waited a while, request a fresh one rather than retrying the old one. - If you used a different sign-in method when you first created your account, for example Apple instead of your phone number, make sure you are using the same method now. - The support team can help verify your account if you are locked out. Related: Contact support and vote on new features

Use AlignEat offline

AlignEat works best with an internet connection, but some things are still available when you are offline. What works without a connection - Previously loaded scans. Any scan you already ran and viewed is cached on your device. You can open and browse those results even without signal. - Your dietary profile. Your saved profile is available locally, so you can review your restrictions at any time. What requires a connection - New scans. Scanning a menu requires an internet connection to process. If you are offline, the scan will not run. - Account syncing and updates. Changes to your profile sync when you are back online. Spotting the offline state When there is no connection, the app shows an offline notice so you know that new scans are not available. If you see this notice at a restaurant, try connecting to the restaurant's Wi-Fi or moving to a spot with better signal before scanning. Good to know - If a result was loaded before you lost signal, it is still viewable and still shows your compatibility labels. - Cached results reflect the menu and profile at the time of the original scan. If your profile has changed since then, the labels may not reflect your current settings. - For the most accurate and up-to-date results, scan with an active connection. Related: My scan failed or the results look wrong

Contact support and vote on new features

If you need help or want to shape what AlignEat builds next, this article shows you where to go. Getting support You can contact the support team directly from inside the app. Head to the Profile area and look for the support or help option. From there you can send a message and the team will get back to you. Use this if you: - Cannot sign in or access your account. - Found a bug or something is not working as expected. - Have a question about your data or privacy. - Need help with anything not covered in these articles. Voting on features and submitting ideas AlignEat has a community and roadmap area where you can: - Vote on upcoming features. Tell the team what matters most to you. - Submit your own ideas. Suggest something you would like to see in the app. - See what has already shipped. Browse the history of updates and additions. You can find this area from the Profile section of the app. Good to know - The more detail you give when reporting a bug, the faster the team can investigate. Mentioning what you were doing, what you expected to happen, and what actually happened is very helpful. - Feature votes are a real signal. The team reviews them when deciding what to build next. - For urgent issues such as account access problems, reaching out through the in-app support channel is the fastest path to a response. Related: I cannot sign in or I did not get my code, How we protect your privacy