Simmer Down Support & FAQ

What does Simmer Down do?

Simmer Down takes the clutter out of online recipes. Paste a recipe URL, and the app extracts just the title, ingredients, and steps — no scrolling past life stories, ads, or "jump to recipe" buttons. Your recipes sync to every device in your family across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

How do I import a recipe?

1. Tap Add recipe… at the bottom of the Recipes tab.
2. Paste the recipe's URL into the Web URL field.
3. Tap Import Recipe. The title, ingredients, and steps will populate automatically.
4. Tap Save.

If you forget to tap Import and hit Save, Simmer Down will try to import in the background before saving — so a URL-only recipe is still likely to come out with content.

What if the import fails?

Some recipe pages don't expose their content in a way Simmer Down can read. If import fails, you'll see an error in the URL field's footer. You can still save the recipe with just the URL and type ingredients/steps in manually.

Sites that usually work well: most major recipe blogs (anything using JSON-LD or the WPRM plugin — that covers a large majority of Pinterest-style recipe sites), Serious Eats, NYT Cooking (with subscription), Bon Appétit, Food52, AllRecipes.

Sites that usually don't work: paywalled content behind aggressive bot blockers, sites that load content via JavaScript only, and any site that uses non-standard recipe markup.

How do I share recipes with my family?

On first launch, choose Create Family and pick a nickname for your device. You'll get a 6-character family code.

Share that code with your family members. Each of them taps Join Family on their device, picks a nickname, and enters the code. Their device is added to your family group, and all recipes and shopping items sync automatically.

Where do I find my family code later?

Tap the gear icon in the top-right of the Recipes or Shopping tab. The code is at the top of the Family section. Tap it to copy.

How do I rotate the family code?

Settings → Family → Rotate Code. The old code stops working immediately — anyone with it can no longer join. Existing family members keep their access (rotation only affects future joins).

Use this if you've shared the code too widely, accidentally posted it, or just want a fresh invite.

How do I remove a family member?

Settings → Members → tap the red person-with-X icon next to the member's name → confirm. They lose access immediately, and their device's synced data is cleared.

Note that any member can remove any other member — there are no admins. If trust within your family is in question, rotate the code as well so they can't rejoin.

What happens if I'm removed from a family?

You'll get an alert: "Removed from Family." After tapping OK, your device's local recipes and shopping items are cleared, and you're returned to the Family Setup screen where you can create or join another family.

Can I be in more than one family?

Not at the same time. Each device belongs to one family group. To switch families, go to Settings → Leave Family, then create or join a new one.

How do I send a recipe's ingredients to the shopping list?

Open the recipe. Below the title you'll see Send to Shopping List. Tap it and every ingredient line is added as a separate shopping item, ready to check off as you shop.

How do I clear items I've already bought?

Items you've checked off appear under a Done section. Tap Clear in the section header to remove them all at once — or swipe an individual done item to delete just that one.

What is Cooking Mode?

Cooking Mode prevents your screen from auto-locking while you're viewing a recipe — handy when your hands are floured and you don't want to tap the screen every 30 seconds. It only activates on recipe detail pages; the rest of the app respects your normal screen-lock setting.

My screen still goes to sleep — why?

• Check Settings → Cooking Mode → Keep Screen Awake is on.
• Make sure you're on a recipe detail page (not the recipe list).
• On macOS, this feature doesn't override your Mac's system display-sleep settings.
• iOS's Low Power Mode may still dim or lock the screen even with Cooking Mode on.

Which devices does Simmer Down work on?

• iPhone running iOS 17 or later
• iPad running iPadOS 17 or later
• Mac running macOS Sonoma (14) or later

Will the iPad version look different?

Yes — on iPad (in landscape or full-screen) and on Mac, the recipe list appears as a sidebar on the left with the recipe detail filling the rest of the window. On iPhone (or iPad split-screen), the list and detail are full-screen pages that push and pop like usual.

How is my data handled?

Simmer Down doesn't collect personal information. There's no name, email, or password. Your recipes and shopping items sync between members of your family group through Firebase. Nothing is shared outside your family. See the full privacy policy for details.

Can I export my recipes?

Yes. Settings → Export → Copy Recipe URLs copies every recipe's title and URL to your clipboard as plain text. You can paste it into Notes, an email, or anywhere else as a backup.

I accidentally deleted a recipe — can I recover it?

Not currently. Deletes are immediate and propagate to all family devices. We recommend using the Export → Copy Recipe URLs feature periodically as an off-app backup of at least the URLs.

The import error says "That URL points to a private or local address"

Simmer Down deliberately blocks recipe imports from private network addresses (like 192.168.x.x, localhost, or 10.x.x.x) to prevent the app from being used to probe your home network. Public recipe sites should always work.

The import error says "Recipe URLs must use https://"

Simmer Down only imports from secure (HTTPS) sites. If you pasted an http:// URL, the app will auto-upgrade it to https:// — but if the site only works over plain HTTP, the import will fail. Most modern recipe sites support HTTPS.

The app is loading but recipes aren't syncing

• Check you're online — Simmer Down needs network to talk to Firebase.
• Force-quit and relaunch the app.
• Confirm you and the other person are in the same family — check the family codes match in Settings.
• If still stuck, send us an email with your family code and what you've tried.