Homeshift help

Every box automatically gets a number. You can also add a title, a room and notes. The status shows how far along the box is: Open, Packed, Arrived or Unpacked. You can mark fragile boxes so that they stand out on the label and in the list.

How to do it in the app

1. Open the “Boxes” tab and tap “+” at the bottom.
2. Choose a room or create a new one right here.
3. Swipe right in the box list to advance the status.

You can name rooms freely, and every room has its own icon. On first launch Homeshift suggests the usual rooms. You can add more at any time. If you delete a room, its boxes are kept. They are simply no longer assigned to a room.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Inventory → Rooms.
2. Or create a new room directly while adding a box, a piece of furniture or a defect.

Items always belong to a box. Tap an item to edit its quantity, notes and any labels you choose. For quick entry, “4 plates” is enough. The quantity is recognized and the name is cleaned up.

How to do it in the app

1. Open a box, tap the input field at the bottom.
2. Enter a name and press Return. The field stays open for the next item.
3. Tap the row to edit it, or swipe left to delete it.

Above the input field in a box there are two shortcuts. The camera photographs the contents of the box and suggests the recognized items as tappable chips. The sparkle icon next to it suggests typical items for the room of the box, even without a photo.

Both run entirely on the device. No image and no text leaves your iPhone. On devices with Apple Intelligence the suggestions get more natural names; without Apple Intelligence the app uses a built-in list. Recognition is a help, not a perfect list. You decide what is added.

How to do it in the app

1. Open a box → camera icon above the input line.
2. Take a photo and then tap individual suggestions or “Add all”.
3. For suggestions without a photo, tap the sparkle icon next to it.

The live scanner recognizes text with the camera. Tap a recognized word in the camera image and it is added as an item. This is useful for boxes that are already labeled, or for product labels. The menu entry only appears on devices that support the live scanner.

How to do it in the app

1. Open a box → “…” menu → “Scan text/label”.

As soon as a box has contents, Homeshift can suggest a short title, for example “Kitchen: plates, cups, pots +2 more”. With Apple Intelligence this becomes a shorter term such as “Kitchenware”. The suggestion is entered in the title field, and you can still change it before saving.

How to do it in the app

1. Open a box → “…” menu → “Edit”.
2. In the title field, tap “Summarize from contents”.

While packing and unpacking you rarely have a hand free. That is why you can also use Homeshift through Siri: Siri tells you which box something is in, marks a box as packed, puts an item into a box or reads out your next tasks.

Search on the Home Screen also finds boxes by their contents. If you type “kettle”, the box opens directly. On moving day you can turn on a live view on the Lock Screen. It shows how many boxes have already arrived at the new home, and it ends by itself once the last box is there.

How to do it in the app

1. “Hey Siri, what is due in Homeshift?” or “Where is my thing in Homeshift”.
2. Swipe down on the Home Screen and search for an item.
3. On moving day, tap “Live view” on the overview.

The tasks are split into three sections. Tap the circle and the task is done. Tap the row and you can edit the due date and who is responsible.

How to do it in the app

1. “Tasks” tab → “+”.
2. Set a due date so that the task appears in the countdown.

You record furniture separately from the boxes. For each piece you decide what should happen to it: take it with you, sell it or dispose of it. That way you know before moving day what is actually coming along.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Inventory → Furniture.

Storage is kept separate from the moving boxes. An area (the cellar, for example) contains spots (Shelf A, for example), and a spot contains boxes with their items. You can put a moving box into storage. Its items and photos come along, and the moving box is archived. Taking it out does the opposite.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Inventory → Storage.
2. Put a box in storage: open the box → “…” menu → “Put in storage”.
3. You can import larger lists as CSV (name,quantity,unit,notes).

Record damage with severity, status, room, location, description and photos. With “Export as PDF” you create a printable report of all recorded defects. That is the usual proof when moving in and out.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Planning → Defect report.
2. Take photos right in the defect or pick them from the library.

A handover record documents the condition a property was handed over in: address, date and the people involved, the meter readings, the keys handed over, the defects from the defect report and the photos that go with them. When you move out, it protects your deposit. When you move in, it protects you from accusations that only come up at the next move-out. As a PDF with signature lines it is the document that both sides sign.

You enter the values of your items, furniture and storage things in their respective forms. The “Inventory” export adds them up per room. That is the basis for your contents insurance.

How to do it in the app

1. Defects → Handover records → “+”: move-out or move-in.
2. Enter the meter readings and keys, take photos, and set “Signed” once both sides have signed.
3. “As a PDF” creates the document with signature lines, on A4 or Letter depending on the country of the move.

Storage is what stays once the move is over. “Home inventory” turns it into the list that contents insurance asks for after a loss: what is in which area, with the current value of each item and a total per area, as a PDF or as a table.

When you move again, you don't have to record the cellar a second time. “Carry storage into a new move” copies areas, spots, boxes and contents into a new move. The previous move is kept as an archive, so you can still prove the handover and any defects later. Sticker codes and photos stay with the old move, because a sticker always belongs to just one box.

How to do it in the app

1. Storage → “…” menu → “Home inventory”.
2. You enter the value on the individual item. Without a value, it is not included in any total.
3. “Carry storage into a new move” creates the next move and copies everything into it.

Every box has a printable label with a QR code, number, title and room. If you scan the QR code, the box opens directly in Homeshift. When unpacking you can see what is inside without cutting the box open.

How to do it in the app

1. All at once: box list → printer icon.
2. One at a time: open the box → “…” menu → “Print label”.
3. Before printing you can choose what goes on the label.
4. Finding boxes again: box list or room → “AR mode”. What is in the box appears above every label.

Bought QR stickers work the other way round from printed labels. With a label you create the box in the app first and print the label afterwards. With a bought sticker the code is already on the box. You walk through the flat with the camera, and every sticker you scan becomes a new box with the next number.

Every sticker has a unique code that says nothing about the contents. It only belongs to a box once you link it. If you scan a sticker that has not been used yet, Homeshift asks whether it should become a new box or belongs to an existing one.

You can detach a sticker from a box at any time and assign it to another one. If the same code ends up on two boxes by mistake, the app tells you when scanning. You then decide which box keeps the code.

You can mix bought stickers and labels you printed yourself. Both open the box in the app, even if you scan them with the normal Camera app.

How to do it in the app

1. Whole roll: box list → “…” menu → “Create boxes from stickers”.
2. One at a time onto an existing box: open the box → “Link a QR sticker”.
3. If the QR code is unreadable, tap “Type the code”. The code is printed as text next to the QR image.
4. Detach a sticker: open the box → press and hold the sticker → “Remove sticker”.

There are three formats, all created directly on the device: a PDF with the inventory by room, a CSV table of all items for Excel or Numbers, and a JSON archive as a complete copy of your data, secured with a checksum. Export is never restricted.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Move → Export → choose the format → check the preview → Share.

By default everything stays on this iPhone. There is no account, no login and no server reading along. Photo recognition and the suggestions also run on the device.

“Private iCloud” additionally saves a copy to your own iCloud account, including photos, in case you switch or lose the device. This is not sharing with other people, only a private backup. You can turn it off at any time.

How to do it in the app

1. Settings → Backup & storage → “Private iCloud”.

You can put a move into the cloud. It is then the same on all your devices, and you can invite helpers by link or QR code, either as an editor or as a viewer. Only you as the owner pay for it. Anyone helping needs nothing but the app.

The cloud is optional and applies per move. Whatever you don't explicitly put into the cloud stays on the device. Photos are only transferred if you switch on “Send photos along”, and they are deleted again after the exchange. With “Stop sharing” you get everything back, and the move continues locally.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Sign in.
2. “Share move” → put it into the cloud.
3. Create an invitation link and pass it on.

Homeshift sells three modules, each on its own and without a subscription:

“Unlimited” lifts the limits on boxes, items, photos and storage, and lets you keep several of your own moves side by side.

“Scanning” unlocks the camera features: set the status of many boxes in one pass, find boxes in the room with AR, capture labels and text as items, and recognize items in a photo. This applies to the move and to storage.

“Planning” contains the task plan from the moving date, reminders, the calendar entry and the packing suggestions.

If you want all three, take “Homeshift Complete”. It is the same thing, but cheaper than buying them separately. All one-time purchases apply to the whole Family Sharing group: one person buys, the whole household uses it.

How to do it in the app

1. More → Unlock.

Without buying anything, one move of your own, 15 boxes, 100 items, 15 photos plus 15 storage boxes and 100 items in storage are free.

When you reach a limit, you simply cannot create any **new** entries. Nothing is deleted or hidden, and you can still export everything, even if you never buy anything or let a subscription lapse. Labels, QR codes, the defect report and the export are never blocked by a purchase.

Moves where you only help out do not count towards your limits.

How to do it in the app

1. Under Settings → About Homeshift → Scope you can see where you stand.

Sharing and syncing between devices needs a server, and that costs money every month. That is why the cloud is only available by subscription, monthly or yearly, with the first seven days free. The subscription also includes all three modules.

When the subscription ends, only the sharing ends. One-time purchases are kept, and the move continues locally, because your data is on the device anyway. You cancel through your Apple ID, not in Homeshift.