Quick answers to the questions we hear most. If you don’t find yours here, email us at support@kidneypal.app — we’re happy to help.
About the AI Analysis
Is KidneyPal a replacement for my doctor or dietitian?
No — it’s a tracking tool to help you stay on top of your diet between appointments. Always follow your healthcare team’s advice. If your doctor gives you different limits than the app suggests, you can set custom limits in Settings → Custom Limits. See Nutrient Limits.
How accurate is the AI analysis?
Photo scans give informed estimates — they’re great for knowing whether a meal is generally safe or risky, but the exact milligram values are approximations. For precise numbers on packaged foods, use label or barcode scanning, or enter values manually with Add Food → Manual.
Why does my kidney score differ for the same food?
Two reasons. First, the score is personalized — the same meal can score very differently for early-stage CKD than for someone on dialysis. Second, photo scans estimate portion sizes from the image, so two photos of the same plate can read slightly differently. After a scan, you can tell the AI details like “this is a half portion” and it adjusts the numbers. See Scanning Meals.
The app says my photo isn’t food — what do I do?
This usually happens with blurry or dark photos. Try again with better lighting and the whole plate in frame, or skip the photo entirely and describe your meal with Quick Log instead.
How many AI analyses do I get for free?
Free accounts get 5 AI analyses per day — photo, label, barcode, and voice/text combined. The counter resets at midnight, local time. KidneyPal Pro removes the limit. See Subscription & Billing.
Can I ask follow-up questions about a meal?
Yes — after logging a meal you can chat with the AI about it (“Can I eat this every day?”). Free accounts get 2 chat messages per meal; Pro is unlimited. You can also remove any food the AI detected incorrectly before saving.
Does KidneyPal help with kidney stones?
Yes. Choose Kidney Stones as your kidney status (during onboarding or in Settings → Kidney Status) and the app adapts: the AI’s advice focuses on what matters for stone prevention — hydration, sodium, and oxalate — instead of the potassium and phosphorus rules written for CKD, and your daily fluid target goes up, since drinking more is the best stone prevention. Pro members also get oxalate tracking turned on automatically. See Nutrient Limits.
What is oxalate, and why doesn’t it affect my kidney score?
Oxalate is a compound in foods like spinach, nuts, chocolate, beets, and tea that can contribute to calcium-oxalate kidney stones. KidneyPal Pro members can track it as an optional nutrient — it’s on automatically with a 50 mg daily limit if your kidney status is Kidney Stones, and every meal, label, and barcode analysis includes an oxalate estimate. It’s display-only by design: the kidney score is built around the CKD nutrients (sodium, potassium, phosphorus, protein), so oxalate informs you without skewing the score. See Nutrient Limits.
Why does star fruit always get the worst score?
Star fruit (and its relative bilimbi) contains a natural toxin that’s dangerous for people with kidney disease, even though its nutrient numbers look harmless. KidneyPal flags it deliberately: it always scores 100 with an “avoid” verdict, in every language, no matter how it’s prepared. That one is worth discussing with your care team.
Managing Your Diary
How do I delete a food I logged?
Swipe left on the entry in your diary and tap the trash button. To delete several at once, long-press an entry to enter selection mode, tick the ones you want, and delete them together. See Your Daily Diary.
I ate less than I logged — how do I fix the portion?
Tap the entry to open it and adjust the servings. One serving equals the full meal as analyzed, so if you only ate half, set it to 0.5 and all the nutrients scale down automatically.
Can I log meals for yesterday?
Yes. Tap yesterday’s date on the week calendar strip at the top of your diary and add entries as usual. Free accounts can view and edit the last 7 days; older history requires KidneyPal Pro.
How do I log the same meal without scanning it again?
Three shortcuts: tap the heart on an entry to add it to Saved Foods for one-tap logging later; swipe left and copy the entry to another day; or tap Repeat This Day at the bottom of the diary to copy a whole day’s entries. See Your Daily Diary.
Why do my nutrient totals look high even though I haven’t eaten much?
Check your fluids! A glass of juice or a bowl of soup can add a surprising amount of potassium or sodium — KidneyPal counts those automatically. Also double-check your kidney status in Settings → Kidney Status, since later stages have much lower limits.
My doctor gave me different limits than the app shows. What do I do?
Use them — your care team’s numbers always win. Go to Settings → Custom Limits and enter the values from your doctor. Custom limits override the automatically calculated ones everywhere in the app, including fluid.
Subscription & Billing
What’s the difference between free and Pro?
Free includes meal scanning (5 AI analyses per day), the full diary and fluid tracker, saved foods, recipe browsing, and 7 days of history. KidneyPal Pro adds unlimited analyses and chat, nutrient trend charts, AI insights, the doctor report, weight trends, Apple Health sync, the binder tracker, optional nutrients, recipe import and creation, and full history. Details in Subscription & Billing.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Open Settings → Manage Subscription. If you subscribed through the App Store or Google Play, this opens your subscription management screen — you can also cancel anytime from your phone’s subscription settings. If you purchased on the KidneyPal website, it opens the Paddle customer portal instead. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
I got a new phone — how do I restore my purchase?
Install KidneyPal, sign in with the same account, and your data syncs automatically. If Pro doesn’t unlock on its own, tap Restore Purchases in Settings.
Can I use my subscription on multiple devices?
Yes. Sign in with the same account and everything syncs. If Pro features don’t appear, tap Restore Purchases in Settings.
What happens to my data if I cancel Pro?
Nothing is deleted — all your diary entries, meals, and recipes stay in your account. You just lose access to Pro features until you resubscribe.
Account & Data
How do I change my CKD stage?
Go to Settings → Kidney Status and update your condition. Your daily nutrient limits recalculate automatically. It’s worth doing whenever your diagnosis changes.
Is my health data private?
Your diary, meals, and profile are stored in your private account, and only you can access them. We don’t show your data to other users, and you can permanently erase everything at any time with Delete Account. For the full details, see Account & Privacy and our privacy policy.
How do I delete my account?
Go to Settings → Delete Account. This permanently removes everything — your profile, meals, diary entries, recipes, weight history, and photos. It cannot be undone. Note that deleting your account does not cancel an active subscription — cancel that first (see above).
Does KidneyPal work in my language?
KidneyPal works in 13 languages — English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, and Chinese (Traditional). Everything switches over, including what the AI says about your meals. Change it anytime in Settings → Language.
Does KidneyPal work on iPad and Android tablets?
Yes. KidneyPal lays out comfortably on iPad and Android tablets — content sits in a centered, readable column instead of a phone screen stretched wide. It’s the same app and the same account, so everything stays in sync with your phone.
Is there a web or desktop version?
Yes — KidneyPal Pro includes a web app at web.kidneypal.app. Sign in with the same account to log meals, view trends, browse recipes, and work with your doctor reports in a desktop browser, all in sync with your phone. In the app, Settings → KidneyPal on the Web will send you the link. See KidneyPal on the Web.
Troubleshooting
Why did my scan fail?
The usual culprits: a blurry or dark photo, the food not clearly visible, or no internet connection (AI analysis needs to be online). Try better lighting with the whole plate in frame, or describe the meal with Quick Log instead. If scans keep failing, email us.
I’m not getting meal reminders — how do I fix it?
First check Settings → Notifications in the app and make sure the reminders you want are toggled on. Then check your phone’s notification settings to confirm KidneyPal is allowed to send notifications. One more thing to know: reminders intentionally stay quiet if you’ve already logged that meal. See Notifications.
How do I contact support?
Email support@kidneypal.app, or use Settings → Feedback / Support in the app — that pre-fills an email with your app version so we can help you faster. We read everything.
