Grocery list apps, late 2015 edition

August 21, 2015 4:24 PM

I need a grocery app that my husband and I can both add to/sync lists for iOS (web interface nice but not mandatory). We've been using Buy Me a Pie, but it's gotten glitchy for us and won't let me add him to lists. I've seen this post, and will check out the other recs, but it's a year old, which is forever in app development time. Possible complication: spouse beta tests new iOS versions on his phone for work reasons.
posted by immlass to Computers & Internet (28 answers total)

Best answer: I like Our Groceries for this.
posted by jeather at 4:44 PM on August 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

AnyList
posted by mkultra at 4:46 PM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm all about Wunderlist.
posted by ph00dz at 4:48 PM on August 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

My wife and I have been using ShopShop for years. It is the perfect list app for us, and we use it for everything. Dropbox sync works really well now, and it isn't affiliated with a supermarket chain or food conglomerate. It's just an app for sharing a shopping list.

Something else is that we don't buy much processed food, so our lists tend to look like lemons, watermelon, coffee, garlic, yogurt, mozzarella, all purpose flour, chocolate chips. Instead of a specific size and brand of cheese doodles or whatever.
posted by rockindata at 4:51 PM on August 21, 2015

Speaking as someone who texts her husband a grocery list most evenings as he does the shopping, is there any benefit from having an actual app as opposed to what I'm currently doing (clearly there must be, enough people use them?) I'm watching this with interest to see if I need one myself. I tried using Remember the Milk but uh, never remembered to use it.
posted by Jubey at 4:57 PM on August 21, 2015

We use Cozi for this. It's more than a shared shopping list but it does that well also.
posted by rsclark at 4:57 PM on August 21, 2015

The benefit of the app, I've found, is that you can easily sort by aisle. Otherwise, I would just go with Wunderlist.

I use GroceryIQ, but I'm not very happy with it, so I'm looking forward to other people's answers.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:07 PM on August 21, 2015

The Sweet Setup recommends Wunderlist.
posted by caek at 5:15 PM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is there a reason that the built-in Reminders app doesn't work for you? My husband and I keep shared grocery/errands lists there. It doesn't have grocery-specific features like organizing by aisle, but it works well for sharing/syncing lists between us. (To share a list: Tap on the list name, tap Edit, tap Sharing, add person.)
posted by snowmentality at 5:17 PM on August 21, 2015

Seconding AnyList with great enthusiasm! We find it's well worth the annual subscription to get the additional features.
posted by Quietgal at 5:25 PM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I used to use Grocery IQ as well, but now I use the Amazon Echo shopping list. It's kind of limited at this point, in that it has trouble with amounts, but it syncs between all our various devices, and being able to add items by voice is just amazing. Yes, you have to buy the echo, but it's a killer device on the off chance that you're invested in the Amazon ecosystem.
posted by Huck500 at 5:26 PM on August 21, 2015

We use Wunderlist. We both have the app on our phones and we have it on our MacBook as well. I like that because it is quicker for me to type things in on the MacBook.
posted by hilaryjade at 5:30 PM on August 21, 2015

Safeway may deliver to your area. You'd have to visit the website to confirm that. They have an app, but I don't use it so I can't express an opinion about it.

However, I'm pretty severely crippled and for the last two years I've been getting all my food from Safeway via their web site. I've been very satisfied with it and recommend it without reservations.

In terms of sharing lists, the process would be that one of you begins an order and designates a delivery date-and-time, and adds whatever food is desired. Until 3:00 AM of the day of delivery, that order can be amended, so the other could make whatever changes.

You have to be home to received the delivery, by the way. But you can schedule evening deliveries and they also deliver on Saturday and Sunday.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:32 PM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

We use AnyList and I'm a big fan. I haven't shelled out for the premium/paid version yet, but I have friends who have who sing its praises. I'm happy enough with the basic version.
posted by netsirk at 5:39 PM on August 21, 2015

Out of Milk works fine. We share grocery lists. I also keep my books to read list, movies to watch list, music to listen to list, and personal to-do list on there. Integration across devices and platforms generally fine although there are occasional synching delays.
posted by latkes at 5:40 PM on August 21, 2015

I've tried a bunch, and Our Groceries is the only one that my wife and I have both liked.
posted by jon1270 at 6:12 PM on August 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I like RememberTheMilk with a shared list. It's simple, but easy to add to whenever I think of something I need. If you shop at multiple stores, it can help to group things by starting the entry with the store's initials.
posted by lorimt at 6:12 PM on August 21, 2015

Wunderlist is our go-to for this.
posted by 26.2 at 8:46 PM on August 21, 2015

We use Silo.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:12 PM on August 21, 2015

My partner and I have tried and given up on a lot of grocery list sharing apps. We finally just made a shared note in Google Keep and use that for our list. It works really well because it's simple, and we see each other's changes immediately (other apps we tried took too long to sync).
posted by neushoorn at 11:40 PM on August 21, 2015

We also use Google Keep for this purpose.
posted by trunk muffins at 8:13 AM on August 22, 2015

Shopi works well. Free with ads or pay for no Ads.
posted by Spumante at 8:38 AM on August 22, 2015

These days we use Paprika. It's a fantastic recipe-management app that has integrated grocery list management (and has been fine with iOS 9 so far). I wouldn't recommend it solely for its grocery list features, but if you're at all interested the rest of the functionality it's pretty great. Before Paprika, we used Wunderlist (and still do for non-grocery things).
posted by mumkin at 1:14 PM on August 22, 2015

Response by poster: We're currently trying Our Groceries and we'll see how we do with that. If that doesn't work, we'll check out some of the others (Wunderlist and RememberTheMilk are both on my list because I've heard good things about them otherwise). Thanks for all the recommendations!
posted by immlass at 1:26 PM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Late, but Avocado.io is worth a shot. They have a Lists feature that we use to keep track of grocery lists, weekly menus, gift lists, etc.

My wife and I have been using it for 4 years with no issues. It's also cross platform; my wife has an iPhone and she's on Android.
posted by reenum at 7:27 PM on August 22, 2015

Coming into this late - I've given up on Grocery Gadget, although it has a feature I want a replacement app...

As you shop, GG memorize the order you bought stuff (showing your path through a store...) Next time you shop, it displays the list in that order - representing how you shop.

Hopefully one of the other ones does it too.
posted by filmgeek at 5:14 AM on August 24, 2015

Seconding AnyList, the other Mr. Nenequesadilla and I find it easy to use and very convenient.
posted by nenequesadilla at 4:46 PM on September 19, 2015

Response by poster: Still using Our Groceries and it's working great so far. Thanks to all who answered; I'll remember the suggestions the next time I need to think about grocery apps.
posted by immlass at 1:40 PM on September 21, 2015