Help & Troubleshooting
Quick fixes for common situations. If something here doesn't solve it, see contact & support at the bottom.
On this page
Camera & photos
The camera doesn't open when I add a souvenir
- Check that Pocket Curio has camera permission: Settings → Apps → Pocket Curio → Permissions → Camera.
- If you declined it, Choose from library still works — you just pick an existing photo instead.
I saved without a photo
You can't — the photo is the record, so the composer asks for one first ("Take a photo first — that's the record"). Take it or choose one from the library, then save.
The photo is sideways, dark, or has too much background
Tap Retake, or Crop to tighten the frame on the souvenir. Cropping also helps the app read the print: less background, fewer stray words.
A photo disappeared
Photos live inside the app's own storage, so they survive updates but are removed with their souvenir — and by "Clear data" or uninstalling. If a souvenir is there but its photo isn't, edit it and take or choose a new one.
Reading the print
The place came out wrong or empty
- Check the Also read chips under the field — the right line is often the second one it found.
- Fill the frame and avoid glare: shiny magnets and curved glass are the usual culprits. Crop tight.
- Handwritten text, heavily stylized lettering, and non-Latin scripts aren't supported by the on-device recognizer. Just type the place — it's a plain text field.
It read the text but I typed something else, and now the note is gone
That's expected: start typing and the "Read from the photo" note clears because your spelling wins. The chips stay if you want to go back to one.
Scanning a shelf
My boxes don't land where I touch
Drag from one corner of the souvenir to the opposite corner. Tap a box to remove it and draw again. For a very tall fridge, take two photos — top half and bottom half — and scan each; small, distant magnets are hard for the reader.
Some crops didn't get a place name
The review grid (Check what was read) says how many couldn't be read — "2 couldn't be read — type those in." Type the place on those crops (or untick them) and the add button lights up; every kept crop needs a place before anything is saved.
The scan stopped at "Room for 3 more"
The free tier holds 25 souvenirs, and a scan that would go past it says so before adding anything ("24 of 25 free items used — 3 more won't fit"). Buy Pro from the sheet and the add completes, or box fewer souvenirs.
I backed out halfway — did it save anything?
No. Leaving the scan at any step before the final add leaves no souvenirs and no stray photos.
The map
A state or country isn't lighting up
- The map reads the State and Country fields under Add the memory — not the Place field. "Yellowstone" alone doesn't know it's in Wyoming; add WY and US.
- Abbreviations and casual spellings are understood ("FL", "usa", "England"). A country the app doesn't recognize still counts in the country chips, just without a continent.
The map shows a Pro prompt
That's expected: the map is part of Pocket Curio Pro. Restore a backup stays available on that screen without Pro. If you do have Pro and still see the prompt, make sure you're signed into the store account that made the purchase, then tap Restore purchase on the Pro sheet.
"Souvenirs by year" is missing some
Only souvenirs with a date are counted there; the screen tells you how many are undated. Add a When date to each one and they'll appear.
Purchases & the free limit
I hit the free limit — what exactly is limited?
Only adding more: a second collection, or a 26th souvenir. Your first collection and every souvenir in it stay yours to view and edit forever. The tally counts what you've ever added, so deleting a souvenir doesn't hand the slot back.
My Pro purchase didn't restore after reinstalling
- Make sure you're signed into the same store account that made the purchase (Google account on Android, Apple Account on iPhone).
- Open the app once while online so the store can report the purchase, then tap Restore purchase on the Pro sheet.
- Still missing? Check Google Play → Payments & subscriptions (or Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions on iPhone) to confirm the purchase, then email us (below) with the order number.
Do I need both the one-time purchase and the subscription?
No — they're two ways to get the same Pro. Buy one. If you subscribed monthly and later want to stop paying, cancel through the store; the free tier keeps everything you've added viewable.
Backups, new phones & data
How do I move my collection to a new phone?
On the old phone: Map tab → Back up everything (Pro) and share the file somewhere you can reach from the new phone — your cloud drive, an email to yourself. On the new phone: install the app, Map tab → Restore a backup, pick the file. Restore doesn't need Pro. Your device's own backup (Google Backup with app data, iCloud Backup) can also carry the app across.
Removing the app removes its data and photos. If you're troubleshooting by reinstalling, make a backup first — we have no copy to restore for you. That's the point of the privacy design, but it means the backup is in your hands.
Restore replaced things I'd added since
Restore replaces everything on the phone with the backup, after a confirmation — it doesn't merge. Anything added after the backup was made is gone; re-add it from the photos on your phone if you still have them. Back up again after big additions.
Will an app update erase my data?
No — normal updates preserve your collection. Data is only removed by uninstalling the app or clearing its storage.
Contact & support
If you've worked through the relevant section above and still need help:
- Re-read the User Guide for the screen you're on.
- Check the FAQ for how privacy, pricing, and platforms work.
- Email us at support@code-cowboys.com — include your device model and a short description of what you did and what happened.