Adding items is the thing you'll do most in Grocer, so it's built to be fast — type the way you'd say it, and Grocer works out the amount, the unit, and the aisle for you.
The basics
Open a list and start typing in the add field. When an item is typed, press return — it drops onto the list and the keyboard stays up, ready for the next one.
- One item per line. Press return between items, or separate a few with commas ("milk, eggs, bread") and Grocer splits them out.
- Paste a whole list. Copy a list from Messages or Notes and paste it in — each line comes in as its own item.
Say the amount right in the line
Start a line with a number and Grocer reads it as the quantity:
- 10 Potatoes → 10 potatoes
- 2 milk → 2 milk
A number that's part of the name stays put — 2% milk and 6-pack soda are added exactly as written, not as "2" or "6" of something.
When you're online, Grocer also understands more natural phrasing — a dozen eggs, milk x2, 2 lbs chicken — and pulls out the amount and unit for you. It proposes a sensible unit on its own, too: eggs come in by the dozen, milk by the gallon, bananas by the bunch.
Flag something critical
Add a ! anywhere on the line to mark an item critical — Milk!, !batteries, or even eggs!!. The words critical, important, or high do the same thing. Grocer strips the marker from the name, so it saves cleanly as "Milk" while wearing a red flag — the must-haves stand out at a glance.
Changed your mind? Tap the red flag on the item to clear it.
Fine-tune the quantity
Every item you add carries a quantity chip, and it does more than show a number:
- Tap it to reveal a –/+ stepper and nudge the amount up or down. Counts step by one; weights and volumes (lb, oz, kg, liter…) step by a half.
- Hold it to pick a unit — None, each, dozen, pack, bunch, bag, box, can, bottle, jar, loaf, lb, oz, gallon, quart, liter, ml, g, or kg. Need something unusual? Choose Custom… and type your own, like "case" or "sticks". Picking a unit sets the label without changing your number, so "2" becomes "2 lbs".
If a huge count slips in by accident, Grocer caps it and offers to keep your original number — so a real 1500 lb order goes through while a runaway "1500 milk" gets a second look.
You can also set the quantity and unit later from an item's details — tap the item, then the pencil.
More ways to add
- From a photo. Tap the camera to snap a whiteboard, a handwritten note, or a receipt, and Grocer turns it into items — amounts and all. See Add items from a photo.
- From your history. Tap Add from Previous Items to pull from the things your household buys regularly — one tap re-adds them with the amount you usually get.
- By voice. Use your keyboard's dictation mic and just say the item — spoken text is read exactly like typed text.
Notes and other details
Notes aren't typed inline — anything you put in parentheses or after a dash stays part of the name. To add a note ("the lactose-free one"), change the aisle, or set a repeat schedule, tap the item and then the pencil to open its details. See Recurring items for putting regulars on autopilot.
Everything you add syncs to everyone on the list instantly, so whoever's already at the store sees each item the moment it lands.