Where we were before this
The app could catalog and that was all it could do. Everything went through the same door: photograph, keep, add, and the thing was in your collection forever, or until you deleted it.
Two problems came out of that, and they looked unrelated until we lined them up. People kept using the app for things that were not cataloging, and people kept finding results in their collection that they did not fully trust. This release is one answer to each.
Why can you now price something you do not own?
Because that is what people kept doing anyway, and the app was making them pay for it. Standing at a flea market, sorting an attic box, helping a friend value a shelf: all of those are "what is this and is it worth anything", and none of them are "add this to my collection".
The only route through those jobs was to add everything permanently, spend item allowance on things you had not decided to own, and then delete what you did not want. That is slow and it makes a mess of a collection you were trying to keep tidy.
Look up mode is a second setting on the same camera. Results go to the Look up box instead of your collection, and you decide later: keep it, with a location, or discard it and leave nothing behind. Bulk keep and bulk discard are there too, because after a market you have twenty decisions rather than one.
Why does the app now tell you what it got wrong?
Because we made a deliberate trade earlier and this release pays the other half of it. We decided that nothing may stand between the photo and the saved item, which keeps cataloging fast. The cost of that decision is that uncertain results land in the collection looking exactly like confident ones.
The review queue is where that cost gets paid back. Everything the analysis was unsure about, everything missing a field the category depends on, and every job that failed now shows up in one list, each row saying in plain language why it is there. Most resolve in a couple of taps without opening the item.
It is free on every plan, and that was not a close call. Being able to trust your own catalog is not a feature to sell back to you.
What else is in this release
- Undecided look-ups expire after 14 days so the Look up box stays a list of decisions rather than a second attic
- Keeping a look-up prompts for a location and prefills the one you used last in that session
- Failed analyses persist rather than vanishing when the app is closed, and can be retried
FAQ
Do I need to update the app?
Yes, both features ship in the app. Update from the App Store and the mode toggle appears on the Add camera.
Does a look-up count against my item limit?
No. A look-up lives in the Look up box and only becomes an item when you keep it. It does draw on your monthly scan allowance, because the analysis behind it is the same work.
Is the review queue on the free plan?
Yes. Confirm, correct, retry and dismiss are all free on every plan.
Are the values in Look up mode reliable?
They are estimates based on comparable items, for informational purposes rather than professional appraisals. Use them to decide, not to price.
