Scanning a product

Watsin tries several ways to find a product, one after another, and stops as soon as one works. The card at the top of the screen always tells you what it needs next.

01A photo of the front

1. Tap the camera button just above the bottom bar, on the right.
2. The card says Take a front label photo. Point the camera at the front of the package, with the product name clearly in view, and tap the round shutter button.
3. The card says Please wait while Watsin compares your photo with the products it knows.

If Watsin recognises the product, its page opens straight away. A photo can sometimes match a similar product, so the page then asks Not the correct product? Tap Scan barcode to check it against the barcode.

If you see Please retake photo, the photo didn’t look like the front of a package. Try again with the whole front in view.

02The barcode

If there is no match for the photo, the card says Scan barcode. Turn the package and hold its barcode inside the frame on the screen. Watsin reads it by itself; you don’t need to tap anything.

03A web search

If the barcode isn’t in Watsin’s database, Watsin searches the web for the product using your front photo and the barcode. The card says Searching the web… and the shutter shows the progress. This takes a little longer.

A web search uses credits (it’s included in Watsin Unlimited). Without credits, Watsin goes straight to reading the label.

If the web has only part of the information, Watsin asks for a photo of just the missing part: Take a photo of the ingredients or Take a photo of the nutrition table.

04Reading the label

When Watsin can’t find the product anywhere, you’ll see Product not found, and then Scan product labels. Watsin can read the details from the package itself:

1. Photograph the ingredient list with the shutter button.
2. Photograph the nutrition table. If a panel doesn’t fit in one photo, take more than one.
3. Your photos appear as small circles next to the shutter, with a tick once each one has been read. Tap Process.

Watsin builds the product from your photos and opens its page. Reading labels is free, up to a daily limit on label photos. If you see “You’ve reached today’s limit for label scans”, try again the next day.

The label photos are deleted once they’ve been read. Only the text and the product details read from them are kept. See the Privacy Policy.

Tips for good photos

• Use good light and avoid reflections on shiny packaging.
• Hold the phone steady and square to the label, and fill the frame with the panel you’re photographing.
• Make sure the whole ingredient list is in the photo, from the first word to the last.
• In the nutrition table, include the “per 100 g” column. That’s the one Watsin reads.
• If the label is printed in several languages, that’s fine: Watsin reads one of them.
• Smooth out crumpled bags as well as you can.

Typing a barcode

If you know the barcode number, type its digits into the chat box and tap Done on the keyboard. If the product is in Watsin’s database, its page opens.

When the product details are wrong

Product details come from databases, the web and label photos, so they can contain mistakes. You can fix them or tell us.

Re-scan the labels

1. On the product’s page, scroll to Ingredients and nutritional info may have mistakes and tap Re-scan.
2. The card says Re-scan product info. Photograph the ingredient list and the nutrition table.
3. Tap Process.

What your photos show replaces the saved details. Anything they don’t show stays as it was, and the product’s name and brand don’t change. A re-scan uses credits (it’s included in Watsin Unlimited).

Report a problem

Products from Watsin’s database have a Report this product panel at the bottom of their page. Choose what’s wrong (General info, Product name, Nutritional info, Ingredients or Other) and tap Send report. Reports aren’t linked to your account; they help us fix the product database.

Your saved products

Every product you scan is saved. Open the menu and choose Products to see them, and tap one to open it again. To delete a product, swipe it to the left. Saved products are kept only on your iPhone.

If the camera doesn’t work

If Watsin says “Camera access is required”, open the iPhone Settings app, find Watsin under Apps, and turn on Camera.