Comparison

Shelfy vs Dinner Light

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Shelfy

Features
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Shelfy keeps track of what's in your pantry — and now of what ends up on your plate. Scan the barcode, add the expiry date, done. Shelfy reminds you before anything goes off, suggests recipes from what you already have, and keeps a full nutrition diary if you want one. Without typing anything twice: the nutrition data comes along with the scan anyway. Your pantry, without the work • Scan barcodes instead of typing — name, image and nutrition facts fill themselves in • Capture expiry dates with the camera or add them in seconds • Reminders before things expire — you decide how early • Sorted by category, with a freshness score at a glance Nutrition diary • Pick your portion in grams — Shelfy converts per-100 g values to what you actually ate • Quick picks from the product's own serving and package sizes • Calorie ring with a daily goal, macro bars for protein, carbs and fat • Grouped by meal, with a recents list for the things you eat often • Works for food outside your pantry too: scan it or enter it by hand • Optionally record vitamins and minerals when the data is available • CSV export — your data stays yours Apple Health • Logged nutrients go straight to Apple Health • Shelfy can read your burned calories and raise your daily goal accordingly • Meals you log in other apps can count towards your day How healthy is this? • Nutri-Score and NOVA processing level right after the scan • Additives spelled out in plain language instead of E-numbers, with context • Allergens and vegetarian labelling Recipes from your pantry • Suggestions built from what you have — favouring what expires soonest • Staples like salt, oil and flour count as available • Filters for vegetarian and for allergens you avoid • Missing ingredients go to your shopping list with one tap Shopping and sharing • A shopping list that fills itself from recipes and from what ran out • Share a household over iCloud — everyone sees the same pantry • Record prices and follow how they change • Optionally share prices anonymously with the community; switching it off withdraws what you already shared Your data Shelfy has no user account. Your pantry and your diary live on your device, household sharing runs through your own private iCloud. Community prices are sent with nothing that points back to you — and only if you turn that on. Product data comes from Open Food Facts.

About

Dinner Light

Easily read menus in dim lighting with a customizable flashlight and magnifier. Calculate tips and split bills accurately among any number of people. This private, ad-free tool supports multiple languages and currencies.

Highlights
  • Dimmable flashlight
  • Live menu magnifier with zoom
  • Tip calculator with presets
  • Bill splitting for any number of people
  • Supports 6 languages
  • Supports 7 currencies
  • Private and ad-free
Features
Read full description

Free to download and try for 7 days. Read menus, magnify small print, control the flashlight, calculate the tip, and split the check—without fumbling at the table. NO ADS. Dinner Light is built around the moment you need it: a large live menu reader opens as soon as access is confirmed, with the essential controls kept within reach. READ ANY MENU • Large, nearly full-screen rear-camera menu reader • Continuous autofocus, plus tap any menu text to focus exactly where you need • Smooth zoom control for small print • Dimmable flashlight that starts at its lowest setting • Automatic flashlight shutoff when the app leaves the reader or moves to the background • Live camera content is never recorded or saved TIP AND SPLIT THE CHECK • Tip is always one tap away in the top-right corner • Tip presets from 12% to 22%, plus any custom percentage • Calculate tip before tax or on the full total • Split among any number of people • See each person’s total and share of the tip • Optional round-up so the difference goes to your server MADE FOR DINING ANYWHERE • 6 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese • 7 currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, MXN, and JPY • Bill-splitting preferences stay saved between dinners ACCESSIBLE BY DESIGN • Large touch controls and high-contrast text • VoiceOver-friendly labels and clear slider values • Large-text and reduced-motion support • A dark-first interface designed for restaurants PRIVATE, PLAIN AND SIMPLE No account. No sign-up. No tracking. No analytics. No data collection. The camera feed stays on your device, and Dinner Light never records or uploads it. NO ADS. FREE 7-DAY TRIAL Download free and try every feature for 7 days. Then continue for $2.99 per year. The subscription renews automatically unless canceled in App Store settings. Customers who purchased an earlier version keep permanent access. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Shelfy4 screens
Dinner Light4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Shelfy at every 4 days against Dinner Light's every 9 days. Dinner Light's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelfy ships an update every 4 days, Dinner Light every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and August 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Shelfy versus Dinner Light: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelfyDinner Light
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.215.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTIMON SCHENKELSCOTT RICHARD MORVAY

In-app purchases

None

Shelfy

No in-app purchases

None

Dinner Light

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shelfy free?
Shelfy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dinner Light free?
Dinner Light is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Shelfy or Dinner Light have ads?
Neither Shelfy nor Dinner Light shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shelfy or Dinner Light?
Shelfy ships an update every 4 days, and Dinner Light every 9 days. Most recently, Shelfy was updated on September 14, 2026 and Dinner Light on August 22, 2026.

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