Questions, answered

What it is

What does Passée actually do?

Passée tracks the things you already own and tells you when they're reaching the end of their useful life. Skincare, makeup, pantry items, medicine, supplements, household supplies, and replaceables like contact lenses and CPAP cushions all live in one quiet, beautiful catalogue. You get a gentle reminder before something expires, a record of what you finished, and an honest read on cost-per-use.

It's a companion for considered purchases, not a grocery list. The intent is to help you use what you have more intentionally, not to nag you about every jar in the cabinet.

PAO

What is "PAO" and why does Passée care about it?

PAO stands for Period After Opening. It's the small jar icon you see on cosmetics, often labeled "12M" or "6M", that tells you how many months a product stays good once you've broken the seal. Most products print both a manufacture/use-by date AND a PAO; whichever clock comes first determines when the product reaches passée.

Passée tracks both clocks for you. You enter the PAO once (or pick from a sourced default for that product type), mark when you opened it, and the app figures out the rest.

Why "passée"

Why is the app called that?

"Passée" is a French word meaning past its best. We use it as the brand name and as the concept word: a product reaches passée the moment it's no longer at its best. The accent matters; the styling matters. It's editorial, not technical.

Where data lives

Does my information go anywhere?

By default, no. Your items, your photos, and the name you enter during onboarding all stay on your iPhone, stored locally via Apple's SwiftData framework. There is no Passée account, no Passée server holding your shelf.

Two narrow exceptions, both spelled out in the privacy policy: barcode lookup (always on, anonymous, only the barcode digits go to Open Food Facts / Open Beauty Facts) and the optional AI features (off by default; you choose if and when to enable each one).

AI features

What do the AI features do?

Three of them, all opt-in, all off until you turn them on:

• Photo auto-fill. Take a photo of a product. The app removes the background on-device, sends only the masked image to Anthropic's Claude, and gets back the brand, name, type, size, and PAO so the form fills itself. Plus only.
• Receipt cost capture. Take a photo of a receipt. Claude finds the line item that matches the product you're adding and returns the price. Plus only.
• AI Roast Mode. Free Roast Mode uses a fixed pool of templated lines that never leave your device. Plus subscribers can enable AI-personalized roasts: Claude reads the item's context and writes one-of-one observations specific to it.

Each of these shows a consent sheet the first time you turn it on, explaining exactly what gets sent and what does not. You can turn each one off any time in Settings ▸ AI features.

Analytics

Do you track me?

No. No Google Analytics, no Firebase, no Mixpanel, no third-party SDKs of any kind. We don't know which buttons you tap, how often you open the app, or what's on your shelf.

Apple's device-level App Analytics is the only telemetry, and it's aggregated by Apple before it reaches us. It's also only on if you consented at the iOS level (the "Share Analytics with Developers" setting). You can turn it off in iOS Settings any time.

What's free

What does the free tier give me?

Up to 30 active items across most categories (Skincare, Makeup, Specialty Pantry, Personal Care, Home), photo capture with on-device background removal and OCR chips for auto-fill, barcode scanning, locations, the home dashboard, reminders, seasonal nudges, cost-per-use math, the Buy Again list, and a 90-day finished history. Roast Mode runs free with templated lines. Earned It celebration moments fire for everyone.

What's Plus

What do I get with Plus?

Plus is for users who want the app to do more of the work for them, and for medical-supply users who need the full set. It includes:

• Unlimited items
• All medical categories (Medicine, Supplements, Medical Supplies) with sourced replacement schedules
• HSA / FSA Export (PDF and CSV) for tax time
• AI photo auto-fill, receipt cost capture, and personalized Roast Mode
• Full Insights with currency, finishers, by-category, your patterns, anniversaries, and personal bests
• Yearly Wrapped recap and an annual roast
• Earned It share cards (the moment fires for everyone; the exportable image is Plus)
• Per-item purchase URL with one-tap reorder
• Extended history beyond 90 days, CSV export, daily rituals, smart restock reminders, Apple Calendar integration
• Apple Family Sharing inheritance, Share-to-contact reminders

How much

What does Plus cost?

$6.99 per month or $49.99 per year (about $4.17 a month, a 40% discount). Both include a 1-month free trial. After the trial, the plan you chose auto-renews unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends.

The trial is once per Apple ID. Subscribing through Apple Family Sharing means everyone in your family group gets Plus on their own device.

Cancel

How do I cancel?

iOS Settings ▸ your name ▸ Subscriptions ▸ Passée. Apple owns subscriptions, so we can't cancel one for you. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; your features stay active until then.

If you need a refund for an App Store purchase, request it at reportaproblem.apple.com. We can't issue refunds for App Store transactions.

Adding items

Do I have to type everything?

No. Free users get camera capture with on-device background removal plus OCR chips that suggest the brand, name, and size from the photo. You pick the right chip and edit if needed. Barcode scan is also free and accurate.

Plus users get the magic version: take one photo, and Claude reads the brand, name, product type, size, and PAO and fills the form for you. No chip-picking, no typing.

Multi-unit purchases

What if I buy a box of 30 contact lenses?

Set the price to what you paid for the box, then enter 30 in the pack count field. Cost-per-use math divides correctly: $40 for 30 lenses reads as $1.33 per pair, which is what HSA Export and the cost-per-use hero will show.

If you have more than one of the same item with different expiry dates (two boxes purchased months apart, for instance), add them as separate items. One Item, one PAO clock.

Reminders

When does Passée notify me?

Default: a few days before something reaches passée, at a time of day you set in Settings ▸ Reminders. Plus users can customize multiple notification times per item (advance warning + day-of, etc.). All scheduling happens on your device; we don't use push notifications, so nothing leaves your phone to deliver a reminder.

Devices and sync

Does it sync across my devices?

iCloud sync is on the roadmap but not turned on yet. When it ships, your items will sync to your private iCloud account, which is yours, not ours. Until then, Passée is a single-device app.