Frequently asked questions

What Freeza does, what it costs and what happens to your data. Something missing? Write to hi@freeza.app.

Getting started

What is Freeza?

A photo album for your freezer. When something goes in, you take a picture. Freeza records when, shows you how long it has been in there, and lets you check from the couch what is actually still down in the chest freezer. No typing, no categories, no barcodes. The photo is the entry.

Freeza is an app for iPhone and iPad. With Freeza Plus, everything is also available in the browser.

Do I need an account?

To use Freeza on your iPhone or iPad alone, you need no sign-up, no email address and no account. Your data stays on your device.

You only create an account when you subscribe to Freeza Plus or join a freezer somebody shares with you. Even then it is just your email address — there is no password.

Is it really free?

Yes. Local use on your iPhone or iPad is free and stays free: photos, compartments, storage times, reminders, trash, export. Two freezers of your own. You can also join freezers you are invited to at no cost. No expiry date, no ads, no trial that runs out.

Freeza Plus costs money because sharing your own freezers, syncing between your devices and the web app all need a server. Read on for what that costs and why.

Which devices does it run on?

iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later. With Freeza Plus you can also use the web app in any current browser. People you invite can join through it for free as well — on Android or on a computer.

There is no Mac app and no Android app. See Sharing and households for what that means in practice.

Which languages?

German and English. More will follow once Freeza is available in more countries.

Free and Freeza Plus

What do I get for free?

For your own, local use on one device:

Photos as entries, straight from the camera or your library
Freezing date recorded automatically, age on every tile
Colour badges — amber when something should be used soon, red when its date has passed
"Use up by …" dates and a weekly reminder
Compartments and the freezer map: drawers, baskets, chest layers
Quantities: one photo, several portions or packs — the count goes down as you take them out
Notes: label your things and find them again with the note search
Trash with restore for 30 days
Export of all photos and data as a ZIP
Works without a signal — in the basement, in the garage
Two freezers of your own
Join shared freezers for free (with an account)

What does Freeza Plus add?

For your own freezers and devices:

Sync between your iPhone, iPad and the web app
Sharing your freezers with others via link or QR code
The web app at freeza.app/web
Up to 10 freezers instead of two

Why does sharing need a subscription?

Because sharing needs a server, and a server costs money every month. When you share a freezer, your photos have to live somewhere both of you can reach them — that somewhere is a machine in Germany that we pay for.

Local use stays free. You only need a subscription when you want to share your own freezers or sync between your devices. Anyone you invite joins with a free account and no subscription of their own.

How much does Freeza Plus cost?

€9.99 a year. That is about 83 cents a month — less than one forgotten pack of salmon. In other currencies Apple sets the equivalent.

There is no monthly plan and no lifetime purchase. See below for why.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. The first month is free. You get everything in Plus, including sharing freezers, and can cancel at any time during the month at no charge. iOS Settings shows when your trial ends, under Subscriptions. If you do nothing, it continues at €9.99 for the year.

One trial per Apple Account.

Why no monthly plan?

Freezing is about weeks and months, not days. A monthly subscription would mostly produce people wondering why they were charged again. One payment a year, done.

Why no lifetime purchase?

Because the server bill is not a one-time cost. A lifetime price would be a bet that you stop using Freeza before the hosting costs outgrow the purchase price.

Freeza Plus supports Apple Family Sharing. One subscription covers everyone in your Apple Family — up to five more people. Each of them then has Plus for their own household and their own freezers too, not just for yours.

You turn it on in iOS Settings under your Apple Account → Family Sharing → Subscriptions.

I was given a code. How do I redeem it?

Open the App Store app, tap your picture, then Redeem Gift Card or Code. Enter the code; Plus activates in Freeza the next time you open it.

Open the freezer, tap Share, and send the link — or show the QR code to the person standing next to you. Whoever opens it enters their email address, gets a sign-in code, and is in. You see the same freezer, and who put in or took out what, and when. Renaming, sharing and deleting a freezer is reserved for its owner with Plus.

A tip: a sticker with the QR code on the freezer door opens the app with that very freezer.

Does my partner need to pay?

No. Whoever wants to share a freezer of their own needs Freeza Plus. Everyone invited joins for free — adding food, taking it out, moving it and viewing the activity. All they need is a free account with an email address.

If your partner wants to share a freezer of their own too, they can also use Plus through Apple's Family Sharing.

How many people can share one freezer?

Ten, you included. If that is not enough, write to us.

Can someone on Android join?

Yes, through the web app in their browser. There is no Android app, but the web app does the same job: see the freezer, add photos, take things out. On Android you can add freeza.app/web to the home screen and it behaves like an app.

Yes. As the owner you can remove any member and revoke an invite link at any time. Members can also leave on their own. Someone who is removed loses the freezer from their device the next time it is online.

Do invite links expire?

No. Links don't expire on their own — handy for the household, where the link sits in a chat thread and gets used again when someone reinstalls the app. You can deactivate a link at any time; the next invitation then uses a different one.

What do people see before they join?

The freezer's name, a shortened version of the owner's email address (like d•••@example.com), and how many members it has. Link previews in messengers contain no names.

What happens if the owner's Plus ends?

Nothing dramatic. For 30 days the freezer is read-only for members: you still see everything, you just can't change it. After that it moves to an Archived section on your device, where you can export or remove it.

If the owner re-subscribes, the freezer simply comes back for everyone — no re-inviting.

Data and privacy

Where is my data stored?

Without an account: your photos and freezers stay on your iPhone or iPad and are stored locally only.

With an account: when you use Freeza Plus or are invited to a freezer, your account data and the synced or shared freezer data are stored on Hetzner servers in Germany (Falkenstein). Emails are sent through mailbox.org, also from Germany.

Do you sell my data?

No. Freeza shows no ads, builds no usage profiles and sells no data — not in the app, not in the web app, not on the website. We don't look at your photos, analyse them, or use them to train anything. The website sets only strictly necessary cookies.

The full privacy policy is written in plain language.

What happens to my photos?

When you upload a photo to a shared or synced freezer, we strip all metadata — location, camera, time taken — and keep a reduced version, a thumbnail and a blurred placeholder. The original is not kept. For members of that freezer, Freeza serves photos through random, time-limited addresses that expire within two days.

With purely local use without an account, your photos never leave your device.

What happens to my data if I stop using Freeza?

Without an account: your data is on your iOS device. Delete the app and it is gone from there; you can restore it from an existing backup.

When your Plus subscription lapses: everything stays on your iOS devices, editable. The server keeps your data so that you can come back without starting over.

If you stop using your account: after a year without any use and without Plus, we delete it, together with your freezers on the server — we email you two months before.

If you delete your account: we delete the account and its active data immediately — your registered devices, your freezers with their items and photos, and your memberships. Items you added to other people's freezers stay there, no longer linked to you.

Can I export my data?

Always, with or without Plus. Settings → Export data gives you a ZIP with every photo and a JSON file describing your freezers, compartments and items. For a local export, the share sheet opens; for a server export we email you a download link that is valid for 24 hours.

The door stays open.

Is my data backed up?

Local use: Freeza's data is part of your normal iPhone backup (iCloud or your computer). If you restore your phone from a backup, your freezers come with it. If you have backups turned off, export now and then so you don't lose your data.

Synced freezers: a copy lives on the server, and with your account you can fetch it on further devices. The same goes for freezers you have been invited to.

Who can see what in a shared freezer?

All members see the freezer's items, the activity (who did what, when) and the other members' names. You choose your name in Settings; without one, others see the part of your email address before the @.

Subscription and account

In the Freeza app: go to Settings and tap "Subscribe to Freeza Plus". Apple's purchase sheet appears — confirm with Face ID or Touch ID, done. The subscription itself is handled by Apple. We never see your payment details.

Freeza then asks for the email address to attach the subscription to — it doesn't have to match the email address of your Apple ID.

How do I cancel?

In iOS: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Freeza Plus → Cancel. Or in the App Store app under your picture. Plus stays active until the end of the period you have paid for.

Cancelling during the free month means you are never charged.

What happens when my subscription ends?

Your data stays on your phone, complete and editable. Sync with the server stops.
If you have more than two freezers, you keep them. You just can't add another without Plus.
Freezers you share: members can still view them for 30 days, then they have an archived copy on their device.
The server keeps your data as long as you use your account.

Re-subscribe and everything is back as it was — sharing included, without re-inviting anyone — and what you changed on your phone meanwhile syncs.

I got a new phone. How do I get my data back?

With an account: install Freeza, sign in with the same email address, and your synced or shared freezers download.

With purely local use: restore the new phone from your old phone's backup, as you would for any app.

I subscribed on my iPhone — can I use the web app?

Yes. The email address you entered after purchase is your account. Sign in at freeza.app/web with it and you have access to the same freezers as in the iOS app. You can't buy or manage the Plus subscription there.

Restore purchases — when do I need it?

If Freeza doesn't recognise your subscription — after a reinstall, on a second device, or because you signed in with a different email address than the one you attached the purchase to. Settings → Freeza Plus → Restore purchases asks Apple again. If the purchase belongs to another Freeza account, the app tells you which email address that is.

Can I change my email address?

Yes. In Settings, tap "Change email address" and enter the new one. We send a confirmation code there — enter the code and you are done. You stay signed in, and your subscription and all data stay with the account.

I used Freeza without an account, then subscribed. Does my data come along?

Yes. After you sign in, Freeza offers to bring the freezers from this device into your account and uploads them — photos included — in the background. You see the progress; you can close the app and it continues.

Can I delete my account?

Yes, in Settings. We email you a link and a code (valid 30 minutes); confirm, and the account and everything in it is gone. Note that deleting the account does not cancel your subscription with Apple — do that in iOS Settings.

"Sign in with Apple" can hide email addresses, which makes it harder for members to recognise each other. So Freeza has one single way to sign in: your email address and a code we send you. No extra password to remember.

Using Freeza

Can I use Freeza for a fridge?

For the freezer compartment of a fridge-freezer combination, yes. We don't currently offer fridge types or fridge compartments. Freeza is built around frozen food, but in principle nothing stops you from using it for a fridge.

What are compartments?

Your freezer, as it actually is: drawers, shelves, baskets, chest layers, door bins. Pick the appliance type — upright, chest, fridge-freezer, French door, side-by-side, drawer — and Freeza lays out the compartments to match. Up to 16 per freezer.

The freezer map shows the appliance and what is where. Tap a compartment to see only its contents. Move things between compartments with drag and drop.

Compartments are optional, and some people prefer the simpler setup without them.

How do expiry reminders work?

Every item has a date by which it should be used up: six months after freezing unless you set one. In the last quarter of that time, at most 30 days before the date, its badge turns amber ("Use soon"); past the date it turns red. If you want something used sooner, give it a Use up by date: pick a period or a specific day in the calendar.

If you turn reminders on in Settings, Freeza sends one notification a week, Saturday at 10:00, listing what is due that week — batched per freezer.

Items already past their date are shown in red on screen and are not announced again.

Reminders are scheduled on the device, so they arrive even if the phone hasn't seen the internet in a while.

Can I use it without internet?

Yes. Almost everything works offline too. Photos you took offline are uploaded, and your changes are synced with other devices, automatically as soon as you are back online.

How many items can a freezer hold?

250 items per freezer, plus a trash of the same size. Up to 99 identical packages behind one photo. Ten freezers of your own with Plus, two without.

I took something out by mistake.

Tap Undo in the brief notice that appears afterwards. Or open the trash — everything you take out stays there for 30 days and comes back with one tap.

What do the colours mean?

The badge on each photo shows how long the item has been in the freezer. Its colour shows how close it is to its use-up date:

Blue "new": went in less than a day ago.
White: no hurry.
Amber with an hourglass: use soon. The last quarter of its time has begun, at most 30 days before the date. Something meant to keep six months turns amber a month ahead, something meant for three weeks five days ahead.
Red with an exclamation mark: the date has passed.

The use-up date is six months after freezing unless you give the item its own Use up by date. Open an item to see the date and the status in words. How long bread or Bolognese really keeps in your freezer is your call.

How long does frozen food keep, actually?

Freeza can't know what is in your bag. But the item screen has a short storage guide: what −18 °C means, what the stars on the freezer compartment stand for, and guide values from Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). Treat them as what they are — guide values.

What is the QR code on a freezer for?

Every freezer has its own link. Print the QR code and stick it on the door; scanning it opens that very freezer in Freeza.

Does Freeza work on iPad?

Yes, with a sidebar: freezers on the left, photos on the right, and All freezers shows everything in one grid. Drag a photo to another compartment, another freezer or the trash.

Will Freeza stop working on my old iPhone?

Freeza needs iOS 17 or later. Occasionally a very old version of the app has to be updated before it can talk to the Freeza server — the app will tell you when that is the case.

Feedback

I have a feature idea.

Write to hi@freeza.app. Freeza is small enough that your email lands with the person who builds it. Not everything can be built, but we look at every good idea.

I found a bug.

Same address: hi@freeza.app. Tell us what you did, what you expected, what happened instead, your iOS version and whether you use Plus. A screenshot helps. If it looks like data has disappeared, don't sign out or delete the app before writing — the data is usually still there.

I want to report something in a shared freezer.

abuse@freeza.app, with the freezer's link if you have it. We review every report and tell you the outcome.

Who built this?

Daniel Hopp, an independent developer in Berlin. A while ago his friend Frank was looking for a simple app to keep track of what was in his freezers, using photos. A first prototype grew into Freeza — simple to use, but a full-grown app.

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