Help

Creating an Account

Sharp Cooking offers both guest access and free accounts. While you can use many features without signing up, creating a free account gives you cloud sync, recipe backup, and access to community features.

This guide explains what you get with an account, how to create one, and what happens to your data.

Do I Need an Account? {#need-account}

You can use Sharp Cooking without an account for basic recipe management:

  • Add recipes from photos, URLs, and text
  • Organize with tags and categories
  • Use Cooking Mode with voice commands
  • Search your recipe collection

An account unlocks:

  • Cloud sync - Access recipes on any device
  • Automatic backup - Never lose your recipes
  • Meal planning - Weekly meal calendar
  • Shopping lists - Auto-generate from recipes
  • Communities - Share recipes with groups
  • Recipe sharing - Send recipes to friends and family
  • Cookbook collaboration - Build shared collections

Guest vs Account Comparison

FeatureGuest UserFree Account
Add recipes✅ Yes✅ Yes
Cooking Mode✅ Yes✅ Yes
Tags & organization✅ Yes✅ Yes
Cloud sync❌ No✅ Yes
Multiple devices❌ No✅ Yes
Meal planning❌ No✅ Yes
Shopping lists❌ No✅ Yes
Communities❌ No✅ Yes
Recipe sharing❌ No✅ Yes
Recipe limitUnlimitedUnlimited

Creating Your Free Account {#create}

From the App

  1. Open Sharp Cooking
  2. Tap your profile icon in the top-right corner
  3. Select Sign up
  4. Choose your signup method:
    • Email and password
    • Google account
    • Apple ID (iOS/macOS only)
  5. Follow the prompts to complete signup
  6. Verify your email if using email signup
  7. You’re ready to go!

From the Website

  1. Go to sharpcooking.com
  2. Click Sign up in the top-right corner
  3. Choose your signup method
  4. Complete the signup process
  5. Open the app and sign in with the same credentials

Email Verification

If you sign up with email:

  • Check your inbox for a verification email
  • Click the verification link
  • Your account is now active
  • You can start using cloud features immediately

Didn’t receive the email?

  • Check your spam/junk folder
  • Make sure you entered the correct email
  • Request a new verification email from account settings

What Gets Saved to Your Account {#saved-data}

When you create an account, Sharp Cooking syncs:

Your Recipes

  • All recipe content (ingredients, instructions, notes)
  • Photos you’ve added
  • Tags, categories, and cuisines
  • Source information
  • Favorites and recently viewed

Your Organization

  • Custom tags you’ve created
  • Saved searches and filters
  • Recipe collections
  • Cookbook organization

Your Activity

  • Meal plan entries
  • Shopping list items
  • Cooking history (which recipes you’ve made)
  • Recently viewed recipes

Your Preferences

  • Unit preference (metric/imperial)
  • Language settings
  • Notification preferences
  • App customizations

What’s NOT Synced

  • Guest recipes (before you signed up)
  • Browser cookies and local storage
  • Temporary files and cache
  • Device-specific settings

Converting from Guest to Account {#convert}

If you’ve been using Sharp Cooking as a guest and want to create an account:

What Happens to Your Recipes?

When you sign up, you have two options:

Option 1: Keep Guest Recipes (Recommended)

  1. Sign up for an account
  2. You’ll see a prompt: “You have X recipes as a guest. Import them?”
  3. Tap Yes, import my recipes
  4. All your guest recipes move to your new account
  5. They’re now backed up and synced across devices

Option 2: Start Fresh

  1. Sign up for an account
  2. Tap Start with a clean slate
  3. Your guest recipes remain on this device only
  4. Your new account starts empty
  5. You can manually add recipes you want to keep

Can I merge later? No. Once you choose to start fresh, guest recipes can’t be imported to your account. If you’re unsure, choose Import — you can always delete recipes later.

Account Security {#security}

Password Requirements

If signing up with email:

  • Minimum 8 characters
  • At least one number or special character
  • Not a commonly used password
  • Not the same as your email address

Password tips:

  • Use a unique password you don’t use elsewhere
  • Consider a password manager like 1Password or Bitwarden
  • Enable two-factor authentication (coming soon)

Signing in with Google or Apple

Benefits:

  • More secure (uses OAuth 2.0)
  • No password to remember
  • One-tap sign-in
  • Faster account creation

Privacy:

  • We only receive your email address and name
  • We don’t see your Google/Apple password
  • You can revoke access anytime from your Google/Apple account settings

Changing Your Password

  1. Go to Settings → Account
  2. Tap Change password
  3. Enter your current password
  4. Enter your new password twice
  5. Tap Update password

If you forgot your password:

  1. On the login screen, tap Forgot password?
  2. Enter your email address
  3. Check your email for a reset link
  4. Click the link and create a new password

Managing Your Account {#manage}

Account Settings

Access account settings from the app:

  1. Tap your profile icon
  2. Select Settings
  3. Choose Account

From here you can:

  • Update your email address
  • Change your password
  • Update your name
  • Manage connected accounts (Google, Apple)
  • View account activity
  • Download your data

Deleting Your Account

To permanently delete your account:

  1. Go to Settings → Account
  2. Scroll to the bottom
  3. Tap Delete account
  4. Review what will be deleted:
    • All your recipes
    • All meal plans and shopping lists
    • All community memberships
    • All shared recipes
  5. Type “DELETE” to confirm
  6. Tap Permanently delete my account

This action cannot be undone. We keep data for 30 days in case you change your mind, then it’s permanently deleted.

Before deleting:

  • Export your recipes if you want to keep them
  • Remove yourself from any communities you’ve joined
  • Let community members know if you’re an admin

Privacy and Data {#privacy}

What We Collect

When you create an account:

  • Email address
  • Name (optional - you can use a pseudonym)
  • Password (encrypted - we never see it)

When you use the app:

  • Recipes you add
  • Tags and organization
  • Meal plans and shopping lists
  • Usage analytics (anonymous)

We never collect:

  • Your contacts
  • Your photos (except recipes you explicitly add)
  • Your location (unless you explicitly share it)
  • Browsing history outside the app

How We Use Your Data

Your data is used to:

  • Provide the recipe management service
  • Sync across your devices
  • Back up your recipes
  • Improve the app experience
  • Send you important updates (opt-out available)

We never:

  • Sell your data to third parties
  • Show you targeted ads
  • Share your recipes without your permission
  • Use your data for AI training without consent

Data Export

You can download all your data anytime:

  1. Go to Settings → Account
  2. Tap Export my data
  3. Choose format:
    • JSON (complete data, machine-readable)
    • CSV (spreadsheet format)
    • PDF (human-readable cookbook)
  4. Tap Export
  5. Download the file to your device

Exports include:

  • All recipes with full details
  • All photos
  • Tags, categories, and organization
  • Meal plans and shopping lists
  • Account metadata

Common Scenarios {#scenarios}

Scenario 1: Family Recipe Collection

Your situation: You’re digitizing your family’s recipe collection and want to share it with relatives.

Best approach:

  1. Create a free account
  2. Add all family recipes
  3. Create a “Family Cookbook” community
  4. Invite family members to join
  5. Everyone can access and contribute recipes
  6. All recipes are backed up forever

Scenario 2: Trying Before Committing

Your situation: You want to try Sharp Cooking but aren’t ready to create an account.

Best approach:

  1. Use as a guest to start
  2. Add a few recipes to test features
  3. Try Cooking Mode and organization
  4. When you’re ready, create an account
  5. Import your guest recipes
  6. Everything transfers seamlessly

Scenario 3: Multiple Devices

Your situation: You cook on your phone but browse recipes on your tablet.

Best approach:

  1. Create an account on your primary device
  2. Sign in on your other devices with the same credentials
  3. All recipes sync automatically
  4. Add a recipe on your tablet, cook from your phone
  5. Everything stays in sync in real-time

Scenario 4: Privacy-Conscious User

Your situation: You value privacy and don’t want to share personal information.

Best approach:

  1. Sign up with a pseudonym
  2. Use email forwarding (like Hide My Email on Apple)
  3. Don’t connect Google or Apple if you prefer
  4. Adjust privacy settings to minimal data collection
  5. You still get full features with maximum privacy

Frequently Asked Questions {#faq}

Is Sharp Cooking really free? Yes, the core app is completely free. We may add optional premium features in the future, but recipe management, cloud sync, and basic features will always be free.

How many recipes can I save? Unlimited. There’s no limit on free accounts.

Can I use Sharp Cooking on multiple devices? Yes, with a free account your recipes sync across all your devices automatically.

What if I forget my password? Use the “Forgot password?” link on the login screen to reset it via email.

Can I change my email address? Yes, in Settings → Account → Email address. You’ll need to verify the new email.

What happens if I don’t verify my email? You can still use the app, but some features like password reset won’t work until you verify.

Can I have multiple accounts? Technically yes, but it’s not recommended. You’ll need different email addresses and can’t merge accounts later.

What if I signed up with Google but want to use email instead? You can add an email/password to your account in Settings → Account → Add email signin. Then you can use either method.

Is my data encrypted? Yes. Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest (AES-256). Passwords are hashed with bcrypt.

Can Sharp Cooking employees see my recipes? Only if you explicitly share them or contact support and grant access. Otherwise, no.

What happens if Sharp Cooking shuts down? We’ll give at least 3 months notice and provide data export tools. You own your data.

Can I delete individual recipes instead of my whole account? Yes, delete individual recipes anytime. Account deletion is only for removing everything.

Will I get spam emails? No. We only send:

  • Account verification
  • Password reset requests
  • Critical security alerts
  • Optional product updates (you can opt out)

Can I transfer my recipes to someone else? Not directly, but you can:

  • Export and share the file
  • Invite them to a community and share recipes there
  • Share individual recipes via link

What’s the difference between sharing a recipe and adding someone to a community?

  • Sharing a recipe = They get a copy (one-time)
  • Community = They access your living collection (ongoing)

Do I need an account to receive shared recipes? No, shared recipes open in the app or web even without an account. But you need an account to save them to your collection.

Can I use Sharp Cooking offline? Yes, with an account your recently viewed recipes are cached for offline access. Guest users only have access while online.

How often does data sync? Automatically whenever you make changes. Maximum delay is a few seconds on good internet.

What if I have sync conflicts? The app detects conflicts and shows both versions so you can choose which to keep.

Can I downgrade from an account back to guest? No, but you can delete your account and start over as a guest (you’ll lose all data).

Is there a desktop app? Sharp Cooking is a progressive web app (PWA) that works in any browser. Install it to your desktop for an app-like experience.

Can I access my account from any browser? Yes, go to app.sharpcooking.com and sign in. Works on all modern browsers.

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