Recipe apps redux

[resonant]

Years ago I asked the hive mind for advice on digitizing recipes. I ended up using Evernote, and it worked for me for a while, and then I think I got sufficiently accustomed to having a smartphone that my standards ratcheted upwards, and quite suddenly the drawbacks of Evernote as a cooking app became intolerable.

Specifically: it goes to sleep really fast, and every single time it goes to sleep it restarts, and every single time it restarts it loses its place and I have to run a search again to find whatever recipe I was looking at. At this point it is actually *less* convenient than emailing myself the recipe and working off the email — that goes to sleep too fast, too, but at least it wakes up on the same page!

Is anyone working with a recipe app (or a database-y text-storage app of any sort) that works well on a smartphone? Bonus points for Android, because this phone is going to have to be replaced before too long and my soul recoils at the price of iphones these days.

Or is there a way to control how long an app stays awake? I’ve noticed the Kindle app doesn’t go to sleep for quite some time.

Comments

[hesychasm]

I like Paprika. I think the fullest featured version of the app (v3) costs a few bucks. Pretty easy and intuitive to use with ingredients/directions sections, user-friendly photo capturing and crediting (for recipes sourced online), tagging, star rating, and nutrition info. It even has functions for scaling up ingredients and converting units.

[resonant]

This is so funny -- when I first asked (which might have been ten years ago) there was no consistency at all, no single app that got even two recommendations. And this time around there's a complete consensus in favor of Paprika.

[niqaeli]

I use Paprika ever since Pepperplate went to a subscription model in a way that really pissed me off. I don't know how the Android version specifically is, but I do have the Windows, MacOS, and iOS versions and find it very convenient, especially with their syncing service (you have to sign up for an account, but that service is free--you pay for the individual apps, instead).

I don't remember how long it takes for the app to go to sleep on my phone or if it actually does, though. *pulls up app on phone to check* ...right, well, it's not gone to sleep within ten minutes, so. Not super quickly, anyway!

[isilya]

Yes I use paprika too, and love the syncing, the recipe import, the meal planning calendar, and the automated shopping lists!

[the_shoshanna]

A third vote for Paprika! (link: http://www.paprikaapp.com/) I love it. On the iOS version, at least, there's a preference setting to let the screen go to sleep, or not (time to sleep is a device-wide preference).

The Mac version is half-price right now; it would be worth checking on the Android version!

[bkwyrm]

Fourth vote for Paprika! I miss Pepperplate, but I wasn't about to pay that kind of money for a recipe app.

[via_ostiense]

Or is there a way to control how long an app stays awake? I’ve noticed the Kindle app doesn’t go to sleep for quite some time.

One way to do this is to change your device settings to lengthen the amount of time before your screen turns off. The downside is that this is a global setting, but it's what I do for my ipad, for a similar reason (I use it a lot for showing recipes while I'm cooking).