The Recipe Box To Go
reviews and complaints

Not cool anymore. There are now two different versions of the Recipe Box and they don’t talk to each other. Use to load recipes into the Recipe Box on my iPad, which I preferred to use on the kitchen counter. Always exported recipes to my iPhone, so I could check the ingredients list while shopping. Then my phone decided to auto-update to Recipe Box To Go, and my iPad recipes decided that they could no longer interchange with my iphone. So there you have it, basically unusable for me. Got to go to another app, though don’t know where or how the heck I’m going export all those recipes to a different app.

My favorite thing is the keyboard! So easy to input recipes with all the measurements and abbreviations! The online recipe search is pretty slick too - easy import and copy abilities. The developers really have a handle on how people will use the app. Also love that you can highlight the steps as you go so you never lose your spot! Took off one star for the design - as another reviewer noted, it's dated looking. Would be nice to have optional skins, or a simple white background - the burgundy ground and graphics are distracting and unattractive. Offer up some options and I will for sure change my rating to 5 stars!

I’ve been using this app for many years. Although I couldn’t import a recipe, I was still happy with the app. With the most updated version, not only can’t I import, but I no longer can download a photo from my iphone photo library or take a photo. That’s extremely disappointing. Since this is a free app, I couldn’t even report this issue. The app only allows for reporting when it was purchased! Weird! I would suggest looking for another app to replace this one if you like to have a photo of the recipe you’re about to cook/bake or the convenience of importing recipes (rather than manually cutting & pasting).

You need this app, it's the best thing ever. This is one of the few apps I've actually made the effort to review because I am so impressed with it. It does exactly what I wanted in an app like this, it super simple and really quick. I love all the information that I can put in about every recipe. This app in my book is perfect, and they even updated the one thing I wanted now it distinguishes prep and cool time from one another. Importing is so simple when you paste the web address in, and even when it doesn't automatically import you highlight what you want and it gives you the section to put it under. It's genius.

I love everything about this app on my iPad. However when I tried to send the Recipes from iPad to iPhone I found that synch seldom works. I was able to send only 3 recipes successfully. Gave up and tried using the method they suggested using iTunes filesharing. when I copied the iPad data file to the iPhone then opened the app on the iPhone, the app "bombed". Thereafter, every time I opened the recipe box app, it would immediately bomb. Sent an email to developers about this problem and have not gotten any reply at all. Love the app but soooooo disappointed in file synching! Would love to see automatic synching from cloud!

I have actually pondered buying a recipe app for some time now. I finally took the plunge and purchased Recipe Box. And so far it has been a great app!

I have both the iPad and iPhone versions. The iPad version is a full throttle app and pretty easy to use. I love being able to automatically save recipes from various cooking related sites.

When I have to go to sites not set up to work directly with the app, I simply cut and paste the information. The toggling feature however can be slightly cumbersome.

It is also easy to categorize all recipes with various tags. This is a great feature that makes searching for saved recipes very easy.

I had just added several favorite recipes to my recipe box app--an app I treasure and use often--and when I saw there was an update available I went for it. Today when I went to open the app I noticed it was no longer there and it's gone, it's not on my device even though in my purchased section it appears as being on the device. I'm not even given the option to download it again, that space on the top right corner of the app appears blank when I view it on the App Store.

What in the world happened? And more importantly are my recipes going to remain intact? This is not a free app, so I really hope programmers get their act together to fix this fast.

This app is just what I needed - helps me keep track of recipes I've used and loved and the ones I want to try soon. I always seem to spontaneously end up grocery shopping on my way home so no need to death around for the recipe I found online, I have it right here on my phone. Love being able to edit recipes from online and input my own touches. Good stuff. Only drawback is the design is a little Betty Crocker for me (dark red and swirls ... Well, aesthetics don't matter here!). I also deleted 100% of the preloaded recipes... Very 1950s stuff lol! Anise cookies? "Rice and Chicken with Awesome Sauce"? Anyway great usability and convenience, good price.

This app is great, and I would love it even better if it didn't crash frequently when I go to add a photo to a recipe or move an item on my grocery list to "in the pantry." This is happening especially for items where there is more than one instance of the item.

Suggestions for enhancement:
1. Scan grocery list for duplicate items. If duplicate items are found, only show 1 instance.
2. Allow us to see a database of all items and assign to grocery isle to those items
3. View grocery list items by isle. Allow this order to be customizable.

Other apps do 2 & 3 but do not have the functionality of adding reciepes. If you make these additions plus fix the crashing issue, the app will get 5 stars :-)

I love this app. So easy to import recipes from websites. I keep all my major recipes on it and use it to plan my grocery lists. So nice to have my recipes in one place and not hunting thru a ton of cookbooks. I primarily use the iPad version, but also have the app on my iPhone which comes in handy if you're at the grocery store and need to look up ingredients for a recipe. For a long time I had issues syncing recipes from my iPad (where I usually enter them) to my iPhone. They just would not send despite my troubleshooting efforts. But this new update has completely fixed that issue. I just sent about 50 recipes from my iPad to my phone in minutes on the first try. So nice! Really love this app!

1. Need to have the recipes update -if a recipe changes in the iPad version, you need to be able to wirelessly update the recipe in the phone version - this does not happen when you send/receive all recipes. Any recipe updates I make, I make in the iPad and want to be able to send changes to phone.

2. Shopping list should sync better and update. I find this Los somewhat clunky to use if it won't sync and update from iPad to iPhone.

Overall best recipe archive I've found on both iPad and iPhone- but I don't use phone version much because of the above comments. I ended up deleting and reinstalling and resyncing recipes to get updated recipes.

Oh and also, phone app can be sluggish at times (type a letter and there's a 5-10 sec delay in it appearing.

Negative:
1) I have to buy it twice; once for my iPhone and another for my iPad.
2) adding recipes to shopping list a bit clunky. Adds items twice sometimes. Need a master clear for the shopping list; not just pantry clear.
3) Not clear how to find my recipes that I just added. Would prefer a dedicated button to select my recipes.

Positive:
1) Able to add two recipes, copy and paste in a few minutes
2) shopping list invaluable, as well as being able to cross off items as you buy them
3) bookmarks - Easy to find my recipes, once I realized the bookmark supported this. You can use the bookmark for other recipes as well.
4) Very attractive user interface for reading the recipes while cooking as well as the shopping list while shopping; very well done.
5) I don't really care if the icon is ugly or pretty. I just care that the application works very well; and it works very well. And, the box icon is just fine; works with the app name.

I’ve used the iPad version for years. The only problem I had was the instant import feature, but realized it was the recipe source web site that was the problem, not the app (some sources worked well, others didn’t). Then I found this app in the App Store. Thought it would be great to be able to sync my recipes between devices and with friends. Well, it didn’t work. Tried many times. Rebooted both devices. Still wouldn’t. It got to the point where the devices would display the Ready to Send/Receive then just hang there. Checked WiFi on both devices. They were the same. Then, on a hunch, I changed the WiFi from the extender I was using to the main router on both devices. Bingo. Worked great. Don’t know if it’s coincidence or if it was the problem, but it worked. I’ve saved myself from re-entering all my recipes in a different app. Hope the developer puts out an update mentioning this or changes something to make it work with a WiFi extender.

I have used this app for years and have invested a lot of time to get all my recipes into the app. The last few years, more and more features have stopped working. The special keyboard stopped working when I upgraded to an iPad Pro. I can rarely get the wireless sync to work between my devices. The app does not show up as an option to save to iCloud on any of my devices. You can copy the sqlite file from one device to another manually through itunes, but you lose all the pictures. It would be nice if the iCloud backup worked and if there was a way to move the pictures between devices without using the very flaky wireless transfer.
If you don’t need to move the recipes between devices, it works great. I still love the app for recipes. It is pretty easy to type in recipes or to copy them off the internet. But I want to easily transfer the recipes from my iPad to iPhone. It would also be nice if there was a way to view and enter the recipes from a computer.

I like this app, at least as compared to other apps. Hard to find an iPhone app that just stores recipes and looks nice, and this fits the bill.

The shopping list feature is not as versatile as I'd like (I want to be able to just input any items, whether they're in a recipe on the app or not! But I cannot).

I also want the opening screen to automatically go to the recipe list, not to a bunch of food categories. Maybe that's more useful to people with thousands of recipes, but not to me. Just open to a list of recipes, like it were a list of contacts. It's easy enough to search through that way; I don't need the complexity of searching for one cuisine type, and I doubt I would use that functionality half the time even if I had a thousand recipes.

As a final note, the preparation time is difficult to input if you don't start your recipe card creation with it. Once the UI keyboard comes up so you can input data to the other fields, you can't make the prep / total time editing display come up.

update***
Both the problems that I wrote before are fixed.
Loving the app now.

A few websites don't have the import function working but with the copy and paste option available its not terrible then.

Overall, this is a really good app.

I only have 2 problems with it which is why I gave it the 3 stars.

1. Sometimes when I import recipes it only imports the name and the directions leaving out other things like ingredients.

2. The picture feature has some serious problems to it. One of the 3 things have happened when I try to input pictures:
A. The picture simply disappears after I take another picture.

B. most recent picture replaces my old pictures. So the same picture starts appearing for multiple recipes.

C. The most recent picture starts showing when I click to see the picture of any recipe. Even of it is showing a different picture on the main page once I click it to see a close up the most recent picture appears.

I really hope these problems get fixed otherwise I really like this recipes manager.

⚠️Don’t waste your time on this until it’s fixed!
I loved this app when I first downloaded it several years ago and happily rated it 5 ⭐️'s. Now, unfortunately, you cannot CONTACT the developer via their link. I’ve made plenty of “Bug Reports” but it’s obvious that’s now a waste of time. The IMPORT feature and the COPY feature are not working well at all. The Import I've always found temperamental but the Copy feature at least allowed me to capture the recipe. Now, can’t do that at all :( When copying, via the Add(+)/Search Recipe feature, a red check appears denoting that the Ingredients, Directions, etc have been copied to your recipe, only to find once this tedious step by step process has been completed the recipe you thought was saved is not there at all-frustrating and a waste of time. It’s just beyond frustrating now as don’t know what to do? Do I now switch APPS and retype all the recipes already saved on this APP? Kathleen, fix, this APP please. I have too many recipes in my Recipe Box to do this all over again. This was a really great APP when it worked. Would love to have it functional again-VERY VERY SOON.

I have used this app for many years without using any import or export features. Then I wanted to use the iPhone app so that I could take recipes with me. The touted WIFI transferring of recipes doesn’t work, but the export via email does for new recipes. You can only send under 20 at a time if you want pictures to accompany the recipe, and you need to flag them in some way; I use the bookmark feature, but that means you are only using bookmarks for import/export, and continually unchecking bookmarks on both apps when done.
If you update a recipe with new information, you must first delete the recipe from the destination and then import it. Hard to remember what you’ve changed if you don’t do the fixes right away.
Importing recipes from the web has an Instant import feature that never works for me. I can do things in stages with cut and paste although it takes multiple steps (name, notes, ingredients, preparation, source, servings, etc). Doable but slow. Still, it is better than typing. The picture import doesn’t work, although you can capture the image to tour photos and import from there.
Bottom line is I make it work for me, but wish the WIFI and Instant Import would work. Then it would be a 5.

I previously gave you 5 Stars, but with further use, I've identified several annoying issues. I use Recipe Box on my iPod and iPad 1.

1- After inputting a recipe, I find your Sort function to be particularly anemic! Sorting only by Name, Source, Recently Viewed (which is listed TWICE!), Calories, etc, are not as helpful as sorting by say, Dessert, Fish, Soups/Chowders, Appetizers, etc, would be. It seems to me that sorting by Type is a no-brainier, after all, that IS how my old recipe box loaded with index cards was arranged!

2- I touched the "i" on my iPad 1, and tried to read the information there, with varying degrees of success. Even making the print fill the large iPad screen, it is difficult for me to read the information there. I wish you would use a crisp, non-serif font (perhaps Arial?) with crisp, clear colors; perhaps black on white with red borders to be in keeping with your style. The white and yellow on red that you currently use is very difficult for MANY of us with aging eyes to read, even with clean glasses and good lighting! Those with poor vision may as well give up and find another App, or go back to large index cards! If you must keep this artsy section, would please you please at least put an easier to read version online?

3- What is Tagging and where do I find information about how to do it? Is Tagging what is employed when i touch the button with the "ribbon" on it? If they're not the same, what then, is that ribbon, and where do I find instructions for the use of both Tagging and "Ribbon-ing"?

Yes, this will be a lot of work, however, I'll gladly award you 5 stars when you do; you will have deserved it!

Recipe import rarely works and usually skips the directions. Support ignores bug reports.

Can’t transfer recipes. Dev has given up on this app. Not gonna trust it with my recipes anymore. Moving on.

New updated version is no good, should have not changed anything. Why change something if it is not broke!

I liked this at first now it won’t import anything. I have reported several times with no improvement. Wish it was like it used to be ☹️

What was once a great app is now garbage. Most functions don’t work and developer doesn’t seem to care. I’m looking for a replacement after many years of using this.

I really liked this; however, when I got a new phone or iPad, the process for having my recipes on my devices was difficult. It should have been an automatic process. Consequently, I stopped using it.

I loved this app, but over the last year the ability to share recipes between devices is not working! Also the measurements and numbers buttons in the app no longer work! Please update and fix the bugs.

Some features do not work, such as instant import, couldn’t search recipes the other day. Is the app being abandoned? I have lots of recipes on it. Would hate to lose them. Am thinking of transferring to another app

Seriously don’t waste time or money on this app. No update has been provided in 3 years. There is no support whatsoever. App barely works. No syncing or back option. If you lose a recipe, you have lost it for good. Good luck in recreating again.

App should be taken down from App Store.

I have been using Recipe Box on my iPad for years and complaining no app for iPhone. So, now you have one, purchased it. HORRIBLE. No way to easily transfer my recipes. In fact cannot transfer any.
Support links? Several I tried, one being Email (under construction) said Bad. That’s it-bad.
Huge disappointment.

This used to be the best recipe app available. I loved it! Easily 5 ⭐️.
However the developer has not updated it in over 2 years and it’s just a matter of time before there’s an iOS update that’s not compatible with this version and when that happens, we will lose all our recipes!
This is really too bad, because this was a fabulous app.

I have been using this app for several years and it still seems to work OK, but some bugs are now appearing especially when searching for new recipes. The search window typing is white rather than black and is almost impossible to read. I have been unable to reach Support if it still exists. Looks as though the app has not been updated since 2015.

Was good app now the developers appear to have stopped supporting it. The "instant import" feature no longer exists. Some weird bar at the bottom of the import feature doesn't work in any shape I can figure. The transfer feature between devices now has problems. They should declare that it's done and time for us to get our recipes out before a big crash.

When trying to clear items from the grocery/in the pantry list, they always manage to reload themselves back to the grocery/in the pantry list. When clearing the lists, items should stay deleted until you add them back. Some of the listed websites don't work. Kraft website crashes the app, you can't import from Betty Crocker or pillsbury...needs some updates to fix these issues.

Very rarely works even with major websites. I have had this app for years on several devices. The import function never works and I can't even select and enter most of the time. I have an iPhone 7 so it is not my phone. I gave it two stars because on the rare occasion it is functional it is great. However not being able to save recipes between both my phone and iPad is another draw back. Needs a lot of work.

It appears the developers no longer care about the app. It’s a shame as when it worked it was fantastic. Now none of the shortcut keyboard works (not having to type a”tap” or “diced” each time was great). You can still copy and past, get a grocer list, bookmark or email but the import feature-along with the other features that made app great- no longer work. Apple store should just delete the option. I paid for upgrade for things that don’t work now.

Really hope this is still an “active” app. The developer has not updated for over a year. Would love iPhone X support and fixes for import and copy.

Took the time to add all my family recipes to these, really hope it doesn’t just fade away or become completely inoperable.

Contact the developer stopped working and is marked “under construction”

My advice, find another app and save your current recipes before the app is unusable and they are all lost!