How to log a meal from a photo in Mouve
Tap the camera in Mouve, photograph your plate, check the foods and amounts on the review screen, then add it. Free accounts get 5 photo estimates per 24 hours.
To log a meal from a photo in Mouve, open Nutrition, tap the camera in the "Search, describe or scan" bar and photograph the plate. Mouve lists the foods it sees with an amount for each. You check them, fix anything that's off, and tap Add. A free account gets 5 photo estimates per rolling 24 hours, and Mouve+ removes that limit.
Mouve is the fitness and nutrition app made by Mouve Technology OÜ in Tallinn. Here's each step, how to fix a wrong result, and what a photo scan does badly.
How do I scan a meal in Mouve?
Open the Nutrition tab. At the bottom is one bar that reads "Search, describe or scan". The round camera button on its right opens the scanner. Point it at the plate and take the photo, or pick one from your gallery.
It's one screen for food, barcodes and nutrition labels, and it works out which one you meant, so there's no mode to switch. If it reads a barcode, it goes to that product. If it sees a plate, it estimates the foods on it.
What does the review screen show?
After the photo you get a review sheet, not a diary entry. The top says which meal and time the food will go to, for example "Dinner, Today 18:40, from your photo", with a Change button.
Under that is each food it found, with an amount in grams, and at the bottom the total for the meal. Nothing is in your diary until you tap Add. The result is labelled an estimate on purpose: it's a reading of a photo, not a weighed meal.
How do I fix a wrong food or amount?
Each food has the same controls:
- Amount: a minus and plus stepper around the grams, plus a few quick amounts. A packaged product offers its pack size.
- Not right?: shows the scan's other guesses for that food, then search, so you can swap in the correct one.
- Remove: takes the food off the meal.
- Add a food: the last row, for something the scan missed.
The sheet also has an "Also in view" row for foods the scan noticed next to what you meant. They aren't counted unless you tap them. More on corrections in correct a wrong food scan in Mouve.
What if Mouve isn't sure?
When two foods look alike, Mouve asks instead of picking one. You'll see "Which one is it?" with each choice and what it would log at your amount, plus "Something else" to find the food by hand. Add waits until you answer, and you can change your answer later.
We ask because a confident wrong answer costs you more than one extra tap. If you'd rather not answer, remove the food and search for it.
How many photo scans are free?
Free accounts get 5 AI photo estimates per rolling 24 hours, not per calendar day. The window moves with you, so there's no midnight reset to time. Mouve+ has no daily limit on estimates. Search and barcodes stay free either way.
The limit could change, so trust the number you see in the app. Plans are on the pricing page, and what is free and what Mouve+ adds lists every row.
What does the photo scan get wrong?
A photo shows the surface of a meal, not what's inside or underneath. The usual trouble:
- Hidden ingredients. Oil, butter, sugar and the filling of a wrap or casserole are invisible.
- Portion size. A flat photo doesn't show how deep the bowl is, so the grams are a guess. That's why the stepper is on the first screen.
- Mixed dishes. A stew or curry is one colour. The scan may name it right and still get the amount wrong.
- Look-alikes. Two plain products in similar packs, or two similar foods, can swap places. That's what the question above is for.
If you weigh your food, weigh it and set the grams yourself. The photo scan is for the times you don't.
We don't claim an error percentage for the scan. We replay recorded scans against every change to make sure fixed cases stay fixed (how we test the scanner). That tells us a change didn't break a known case. It doesn't tell you your dinner is exact.
Does Mouve keep my photo?
Your scan photos are part of your data and are in your data export. Deleting your account removes your scan history. A separate, optional setting lets you allow photos to be used to improve the scanner; it's off unless you turn it on. Details are in the privacy policy and in where your food photos go.
Quick checklist
- Nutrition, then the camera in the bottom bar.
- Photograph the plate.
- Check each food and its grams.
- Fix with Not right?, the stepper, Remove or Add a food.
- Tap Add.
If a photo isn't right for a meal, log food without a photo or scan a barcode. Questions go through the help centre.
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Scanning a barcode in Mouve, and what to do when a product is missing
Barcode scans in Mouve are free. Point the camera at the code and the product's label data is logged. If the product is not found, search for it or add it by hand.