Help me find a new grocery list app.

December 28, 2020 3:36 PM

The one I like (Copy Me That) has been discontinued for iphone! I want to create templates with items I buy from several different stores. Then, I want to be able to select items I need from those templates every week, and check them off as I buy them. Do you know another app like this?
posted by lgyre to Shopping (15 answers total)

I use Out Of Milk (on Android, but it's available for iPhone too) and I think it might do what you're looking for.

I like that I can split my list into sections (ex. aisle #s or sections like produce/beer-wine/seafood/frozen/etc.), organizing the items to match my path through the store so I can easily find and check off each item in order...which works great until the store decides to rearrange everything >:( but at least it's easy to drag the sections into a new order.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:13 PM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

I use Buy Me a Pie which lets you create multiple lists so you can have one per store and have color coded items in each list (I use blue for dairy, red for deli, etc.). When an item is checked off each list, it drops below the list and you can easily add it to the list next time you go shopping.
posted by sleeping bear at 4:30 PM on December 28, 2020

We use Out of Milk as well. I customized the categories / aisles by number (example 1-Dairy, 2-Fruits and Veggies, etc) that way I can easily follow my list thru the store. The program saves the item to the category so you don't need to categorize more than once. You can create multiple stores and lists as well.

And my husband also keeps a copy on his phone as he does a lot of the shopping. We use the same login. That way of one of us pops into the store and checks stuff off the list, we know. Very handy if more than one person in the family shops.
posted by SassyMcSassin at 4:38 PM on December 28, 2020

I use the built-in iOS Notes app for this. You can share notes between iCloud accounts, so multiple people can have access to a single list and you can edit them on a laptop. Its checklist feature sorts items as you go so the purchased ones drop below the unpurchased ones. I never delete an item, and just un-check it for the following shopping trip. Over time, you end up with a roughly-prioritized list of things with common purchases near the top and rare ones near the bottom. For particular recipes, I’ll indent items to group them.
posted by migurski at 5:12 PM on December 28, 2020

Check out Anylist -- I am using it and enjoying it, but I also know that I'm not using all the functionality.
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:28 PM on December 28, 2020 [4 favorites]

I use AnyList as well. We even pay for a subscription. But I just add things as I run out, so I don’t know if it will let you have a pre-set list of stuff to add and subtract from.

I like the Siri integration, although it’s a little tricky to set up. (There’s a setting inside AnyList)
posted by leahwrenn at 7:24 PM on December 28, 2020

I'm following this because I'm very dissatisfied with the list app I use now, Out of Milk.

When I add an item from my tablet, it won't show up anywhere else (smartphone or desktop web app) unless I remember to manually hit the "Sync" button. For awhile the smartphone app wasn't even synching automatically when you started it up, which is pretty basic functionality for a list app. Sometimes it assigns arbitrary categories (e.g. "household supplies") to items you input and sometimes it doesn't, which can be confusing when new items randomly show up at the bottom of the list instead of the top.
posted by Umami Dearest at 7:30 PM on December 28, 2020

Yes, AnyList can do this! I have a standard grocery list set up and it lets you sort into categories like bakery, deli, etc and you can tag stores (so I have yogurt tagged with Trader Joe’s because we get a certain kind there, and bananas as Trader Joe’s and Safeway because I can get them at either). I cross off items we don’t need that week, then can cross off as I shop. Then to reset, you can choose uncross all items.
posted by wsquared at 7:32 PM on December 28, 2020

I use a spreadsheet pre-populated with 90% of what we buy in any given week. Print out a copy weekly, add the things I need to add, and go shopping - check off with a pen or pencil as I go. Spreadsheet is sorted by row in the store. It's worked since about 1999. Still haven't found an "app" that is more efficient or as easy to maintain.
posted by COD at 8:05 PM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yeah. Definitely take a look at Anylist. I am sort of pathologically stingy and basically refuse to pay for any "software as service" things, but I happily pay yearly for Anylist Complete because 1) it's cheap and 2) it's so worth it.

For the use case you describe, one way to do it in Anylist is to have a "Recipe" for each of your Templates. Then, you can select items from those "Recipes" as needed. And, yes. You can designate different stores for your different items and than filter by store.
posted by Betelgeuse at 10:34 PM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

@Umami Dearest: The syncing is great and easy and seamless in Anylist. Some of the more advanced syncing between accounts may be a paid account
("Anylist Complete") thing, but most syncing works in the basic app, I think.
posted by Betelgeuse at 10:38 PM on December 28, 2020

My partner and I also use AnyList, and we are both quite happy with it. We can share lists, lists can be organized by (arbitrary) section, and it is pretty smart about recognizing most basic food types. It can also store recipes which you can use to easily add ingredients to a list.
posted by vernondalhart at 12:17 AM on December 29, 2020

I use OurGroceries to do this, you can create the templates as recipes and add all or some of the template to a specific store shopping list.
posted by ellieBOA at 12:54 AM on December 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

I also use OurGroceries. Very straightforward, easy to use.
posted by radioamy at 2:07 PM on December 29, 2020

I too use AnyList and love it enough to pay for a subscription, but another app I like is Paperless, which I see is now $3 to purchase. Paperless works very well for a store-based approach to lists, and I use it for drugstore shopping instead of AnyList: I tend to buy the same ~20 things over and over at the drugstore and Paperless offers a checklist format which works really well.
posted by Quietgal at 6:34 PM on December 29, 2020