Questions, answered plainly
What Heilsa is, what it is not, what it costs, and what happens to your household data.
About the product
- What is Heilsa?
- An iPhone app for the kitchen a household shares. It keeps one pantry everyone can see, shows what needs using first, suggests dinners that use it, and writes the shopping list from the plan.
- Do I have to keep the pantry up to date by hand?
- Mostly not. Food you tick off the shopping list goes into the pantry, and when a dinner is cooked Heilsa asks what it used up. How long each food keeps is worked out for you, so nobody types a date.
- Is this a nutrition or calorie tracker?
- Not one you fill in. The You tab adds up the dinners you cook at home — food groups beside the Eatwell Guide, nutrition per plate, and the goals you chose — and can send them to Apple Health. It shows figures; it does not give dietary or medical advice.
- What does it cost?
- Nothing. Heilsa is free, and households that join before its paid plan arrives on 7 December 2026 keep it free through 2027. Nobody is charged unless someone in the household chooses the plan in the App Store.
- Is Heilsa a recipe app?
- It is a recipe app with a pantry underneath it. Curated recipes plus any you add yourself, all checked against what is actually in your kitchen before you pick one.
- Which devices does it run on?
- iPhone, on iOS 15.1 or later. Saying what is in your fridge during setup needs iOS 26; on older versions setup skips that step. There is no Android app and no web version of the app itself.
- How do I get it?
- Heilsa reaches the App Store in the UK and Switzerland in November. Until then it installs through TestFlight, and the install page shows how. Somewhere else? Tell us where you live at heilsa.io/join and we will email you when Heilsa arrives there.
- Which countries is it in?
- The UK and Switzerland, and nowhere else for now. Heilsa is written for kitchens there: British food names, the Food Standards Agency’s advice on leftovers, and nutrition shown the way UK food labels show it. Somewhere else? Tell us where at heilsa.io/join.
- Do I need someone else in my household to use it?
- It works alone, but most of the value is in the sharing. The product is built around two or more people keeping one kitchen state between them.
- How does AI fit in?
- It does the typing you would rather not: a reel, a video, a recipe page or a photo of a cookbook becomes ingredients and steps, as a draft you check before it is saved. It also draws a picture for a recipe that has none. Nothing goes to an AI service until you say yes, and the privacy page says which ones and what they receive. There is no chatbot.
- What happens to my household data?
- It is kept so the app can work, and only the people in your household see it. Some of it goes to the companies that help run Heilsa, such as the AI that reads a recipe in; the privacy page names each one and what it receives. You can delete your account in the You tab, under Account.
- Can I add my own recipes?
- Yes. Share one from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest or a website, photograph a cookbook page or a recipe card, paste a link, or write it out. Heilsa reads it into a recipe for you to check before saving, and your recipes get pantry coverage exactly like the curated ones.
- Does it work without signal?
- Yes. The household’s kitchen is kept on each phone, so the pantry, the plan, the shopping list and cooking all work offline, and changes are shared when the phone is back online. Adding a recipe and reading one in need a connection.
- What notifications does it send?
- Four, each about a dinner: Free tonight? on an afternoon with nothing planned, Still to cook when a planned dinner was not cooked, Take it out tonight the evening before a dinner from the freezer, and Before you plan on your usual planning evening. Each can be turned off.
Getting access
- Do I need an iPhone?
- Yes, on iOS 15.1 or later. Saying what is in your fridge during setup needs iOS 26; on older versions setup skips that step. There is no Android app and no web version of the app.
- Which countries is it in?
- The UK and Switzerland only, for now. If you live somewhere else, tell us where at heilsa.io/join and we will email you when Heilsa arrives there.
- Does it cost anything?
- Nothing. Heilsa is free, and households that join before its paid plan arrives on 7 December 2026 keep it free through 2027. Nobody is charged unless someone in the household chooses the plan in the App Store.
- What is different about a TestFlight build?
- TestFlight builds expire after 90 days, so TestFlight will prompt you to update from time to time. Otherwise it is the same app the App Store will carry.
- What happens when Heilsa reaches the App Store?
- Install it from the App Store and sign in as you did before. Your household’s kitchen is kept by Heilsa rather than by the build, so it is all still there.
- Can two people in one household both use it?
- Yes, and it works far better that way. Once one of you has set the table, invite the others from inside the app. Everyone has their own account and sees the same kitchen.
- How do I stop using Heilsa?
- Delete your account in the You tab, under Account. That deletes your account and what is yours, and the kitchen too if nobody else is in it. Deleting the app alone keeps your account, so you can come back to it.
Try it with your own kitchen
Heilsa comes to the App Store in November. Join now, through TestFlight, and your household keeps it free through 2027.
iPhone with iOS 15.1 or later, in the UK and Switzerland. Somewhere else?