Leave a Review AnyList
Hostile towards users! Clunky and obtuse interface. You need a manual to navigate it.
Update: I contacted the developer, and got a response from someone whose name I'm not going to mention in "customer support," who -- instead of apologizing for the overly complicated and obtuse documentation for the extensive and clunky rollout, over time, of modifications to the app -- attacked me and my criticism that the ins and outs of this app are not obvious or straightforward. If it had been, I would not have needed to write my previous review (below.)
You can no longer create a list the way you want to --adding and deleting items at will -- with the confidence that you can go back and type in a few characters and find the previous items when you need them again. No. Now you get one list, made up of descriptions other people thought up that may have nothing to do with you. And if you delete an item, it's gone forever and you have to retype it. The stupid "hide" function -- which I guess is supposed to substitute for deleting and re-adding when you're ready -- leaves you with a big mess of items to wade through, then cross off or uncross and "Unhide" so you can see the list of items that you actually need at the store. BUT don't make a mistake in those crossing off actions! You'll have to wade through the whole mess again to find it and restore it. This app isn't worth anything anymore.Show lessLaura_CS
Great app- just one problem
I’ve had this app for a few years- I’ve convinced many other people to buy it as well. (This is the ONLY app I pay for!) so convenient and easy to use I love it. I can share the list with my spouse so whoever does the shopping has it readily available. If the grocery store is out of something and I need to rethink the meal plan, all the stores recipes makes it incredibly easy to do so on the fly! I love that it tells you which recipe each item is for on your grocery list. I also use it for to do lists, packing, Xmas lists, etc.
The only qualm I have is how you import new recipes. In the old version you just copy/paste the URL and it found the recipe off of the website. Quick and easy. I only had two instances ever where it couldn’t differentiate the recipe from other text. Since they’ve ‘upgraded’ the system it’s only worked successfully a few times. You end up having to manually copy/paste the ingredient lists, website, steps and directions.
It doesn’t work with Pinterest and many other sites that I get recipes from. AnyList says the problem lies on Pinterest’s (and other sites) end but I’ve got to say- it all worked seamlessly before the shift.
I love this app but am still annoyed at the change each time I need to add a new recipe -at least a year later. If I could somehow go back to the old system I’d do it in a heartbeat!Show lessKateFried
Developer Response
We're glad to hear that you're (mostly) satisfied with the app! There seems to be some confusion about our recipe import feature. We haven't "upgraded" the system and changed it. The only change that we made was to remove the in-app web browser in order to comply with App Store rules and require the use of our iOS app extension for importing recipes. Our iOS app extension uses the exact same logic to extract recipes as the old in-app web browser. Pinterest has never worked seamlessly, you've always had to go from Pinterest to the original site that posted the recipe. If some other site used to work and now doesn't work, it's most likely because that site changed, not because of any changes to our app. Please email us at team@anylist.com and send us some links to the recipes that you've tried to import that haven't worked, so we can investigate it. Thanks!One of my top 2 apps of all time!
Since converting to iOS in 2008, this is only my second review to ever submit... and on the same app. The more I use this app, the more I am amazed at how comprehensive and versatile it is. Take time to explore all options and settings. A simple thing that was recently added, is that as you prepare a recipe, you can check off the ingredients. Life changing!!! I use all the food-related modules... including Meal Plan, which appears on my calendar. This is helpful for future plans, as well as reference to what I cooked on what day, looking back. Great for holiday menu planning!! If I don’t have a specific recipe in AnyList, just add name of dish in a Note, and you can include where that recipe can be found. I use it for my freezer inventory, complete with photos. There are some household items and tools that I use infrequently and can never find, so I started a “Where Am I” list, with storage locations as categories. Those curtain hangers I bought 6 months ago and didn’t use, but don’t want to lose track of... I can look and see exactly where they are and how they are packaged. I reiterate... take a few minutes to learn all options and settings - you will be blown away as to how you can use this app to make your life easier.Show lessneva.dee
Absolutely the Best List App
There are a lot of list apps. I’ve tried many of them. AnyList is the only really well thought-out and well-executed app. They’ve added all the useful items. Multiple stores on one list? No problem. Categories or aisles within each store? No problem. Multiple stores on a list with different categories for the same item? No problem. Easy to check off a current multi-store shopping list? No problem. Recipe import support? Yup. Recipe scaling? Yup. Multi-store pricing? Yes. Total the cost of what you’ve put on your list? Easy. By store? Easy. We shop four major stores, three for groceries and two for other items. AnyList handled every need that I threw at it. And even when I couldn’t figure out a perfect workflow for how we use the lists, I asked for help and received a personal message a few hours later — and it had total instructions for the solution. Documentation is very thorough. If you are serious about managing your shopping lists, then AnyList is worth every penny. I do really wish they’d make family sharing (for two) just a little lest costly.Show lessMTguy23
My longtime favorite app
I am rewriting and resubmitting my review of the AnyList app. I have been using it faithfully for many years and am so very impressed at how functional it is. AnyList is one of those apps that just keeps getting better and better. I have a separate list of house cleaning/yard work duties that syncs to my son’s iPhone, so I just select which home maintenance items need to be completed — and he uses his view of the list as a guide to get his chores done. I have also created packing lists for everyone in my family. I check-off items and they pack from their lists. When we travel, we have essential items we always need for virtually every destination. These listed items are sorted by room so basically I go down the list from the master bedroom… to the basement selecting the destination’s essential items from each room and pack them immediately. We never forget sunglasses, flip-flops, ski goggles, iPad chargers or underwater cameras etc. Surprisingly, I’ve come to love the recipe section of AnyList. I’ve cooked many of the included recipes and have imported dozens of others and now never run out of creative dinner ideas to cook for my family. With recent updates, the developers have made the recipe section even more functional. These developers are dedicated to making AnyList as useful as possible — plus they are extremely responsive to your questions and requests for new features. This is a great app… one that you will find many, many uses for.Show lessdanwagner01
First time app reviewer!
Literally never review apps. But here I am because this is my favorite app. I just got the notification to renew my yearly family subscription which means I have been using this app as an integral part part of my routine for over a year (I used the free version for a while until I was addicted...beware this will happen to you!) This is a 5 start app mainly for the grocery list and meal planning and the ability easily copy recipes off the internet and import them. Now my family has all our favorite recipes in one place which simplified the “what should we cook” convo and makes it easy for us to add ingredients to a shared shopping list. As city dwellers we cannot come home to find we forgot a key ingredient and this has solved the problem. I love how it integrates with Alexa so I can just yell at her to add items to list the second I realize we are out. Also if one of us goes shopping and I realize we forgot to add something I can add it to the list even when they are already at the store! This is the only app I pay for and it has been 100% worth it. If you’re looking around for the perfect meal planning/shopping/organizational app, this is it!Show lessl.bryfo
Love the app
As stated in my title, I LOVE this app. The ability to store all the cool recipes you see online but either bookmark and forget or think you’ll remember and you don’t, categorize all the recipes to make them easier to find, and being able to add all or a select number of ingredients to a shopping list? Amazing. Perhaps life changing.
So why not 5 stars, you may be asking. It bouls down to one super irritating thing: crossing things off the shopping list. You swipe your finger across the item, which does one of three things: backs you out of the list to the menu screen, meaning you have to go back to your list and scroll to find the thing you were trying to cross off; tries to move the item out of its category to a new one; or finally just scrolls you up or down the list. On average it probably takes me anywhere from 3 to 10+ swipes to get the item crossed off. While you’re blocking aisles with your cart, trying to knock things off a list, this is stressful and extremely frustrating.
If, unlike me, you don’t mind blocking aisle access or not crossing items off a list, then you’ll be a-ok, and I envy you.Show lessB_Runk
O b s e s s e d
I seriously LOVE this app. I’m not a huge “app” person- I don’t like a lot of clutter on my phone. But this app is a must have for me. Organization and preparedness brings me peace and a little joy (lol) - and the way it puts all of my groceries into their appropriate categories makes the shopping SO much quicker and more efficient. Needles to say, this is far better than making a grocery list o a piece of paper- that, IF I don’t forget it at home to begin with, I have to carry around and try to cross stuff off with a pen that only works 25% of the time. Lol
Easy to cross off items as you go, has a memory for when you run out of items you buy frequently so you can add it back to your list quickly. And it doesn’t just stop at a grocery list. The options are endless.
During this whole covid19 situation, I was sewing face masks for family / friends / anyone in need. I used AnyList to keep track of who needed what (how many, gender/print preference, size, etc) and then I separated them into categories for “dropping off”, “picking up”, “mailing”, etc.
Then I added the “mailing” ones’ home addresses in there. So then I could take my packages of masks to the post office, pull up my list, fire off addresses and be on my way.
Fantastic app, y’all. Bravo.Show lessRainy & Aaron
Amazing
I voluntary came here to rate this app (without them bugging me with a pop-up) because it is FANTASTIC. Truly the shopping list app to end all others. I started my quest with the intention of finding an app that would let me sync to my Apple Watch (esp useful during pandemic times, to avoid taking out my phone). This has soooo much more. I plan all my big meals and special foods here and it saves all of my favorite recipes in one place and adds the items to my shopping list with the tap of a button. I’m also terribly forgetful so the automatic grouping of ingredients into grocery section (along with a slew of other customizable features) has reduced my shopping time significantly. Also helps with what I call the Trader Joe’s effect (grabbing random things for “aspirational” recipes in your favorite store, then ending up with a cartful of crap and nothing you came for). You can add the individual prices of each item to budget for each trip. Truly a fantastically designed, user friendly experience!Show lesspuppyblew92
1 Stop Access
This app is perfect for keeping all your recipes in a user-friendly format. It also helps keep them in the same format and layout if you are a Type-A’er!!! Also being able to transfer ingredients to a shopping list makes checking your kitchen inventory a snap. Do yourself a favor and upgrade, makes uploading recipes a snap and being able to set at a computer and take in a whole picture of your recipes is so helpful.
I have also started a family recipe book, not that they are special recipes but because they are the meals that we set down as a family to have, so my hope is that someday I will be able to pass it on to each of my boys and if a meal sparks a memory they will be able to have it, this app/website helps create that kind of recipe book that can be printed out in a consistent font/layout and can be housed in a folder until it’s time to pass it down!
I tried the basic version for 2 weeks to test it out then jumped in and purchased the full access...so the same! You won’t regret it!Show lessGrahamdingo
