Help & Support

Subscriptions are managed by Apple, so you cancel on your iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap your name at the top, then Subscriptions.
3. Tap Sprout Scout, then Cancel Subscription (or Cancel Free Trial).

You can also get there from Sprout Scout: Settings › Manage subscription.

Cancel at least 24 hours before your trial or current period ends to avoid the next charge. After you cancel, you keep access until the end of the time you've already paid for. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.

The yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. If you allow notifications, we remind you on day 5, two days before it ends. If you don't cancel, the yearly subscription ($19.99 in the US, shareable with your family) starts on day 7. The monthly plan ($3.99 in the US) has no free trial. Before subscribing you can also try a free sample scan and 3 real scans. Free trials are for new subscribers, as determined by Apple.

1. Make sure you're signed in with the same Apple Account you used to subscribe.
2. Open Sprout Scout, go to Settings and tap Restore purchases. You'll also find Restore on the subscription screen.

Your subscription works on any iPhone signed in to that Apple Account. Your Leafdex follows you too, through iCloud; see "Where is my Leafdex stored?" below.

Apple handles all payments and refunds; we never see your payment details, so we can't refund you directly. Request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in, choose the Sprout Scout charge and select "Request a refund". Apple decides refund requests.

Yes, a generous one, so the service stays fast and affordable: up to 40 identifications a day, including during the free trial. Limits reset every 24 hours.

• One leaf, filling the frame. Pick one clear leaf (or flower) and fill most of the photo with it, on a plain background if you can.
• Use daylight. Indirect daylight is best; avoid harsh shadows and coloured indoor lights.
• Show the leaf edge and veins. Smooth, toothed or lobed edges and the vein pattern are big clues.
• For trees, add a bark photo. Scan a leaf first, then a second photo of the bark (or a flower, fruit or the whole tree shape).
• Get close and sharp. Tap to focus so the details are crisp, and hold still.
• Try another angle if the confidence is low, or scan a different leaf or part of the plant.

Admire plants where they grow: you never need to pick anything to scan it.

Sprout Scout uses AI to identify plants from a photo, and it does best with clear photos of common plants. But a photo can't show everything: many plants look nearly identical, and season, age, damage and garden cultivars can fool any camera. That's why every result shows:

• a confidence level, so you know how sure it is;
• "Could also be" look-alikes, with how to tell them apart;
• a "Safe to touch?" note, which is a general hint and never a guarantee.

Think of a result as a well-informed starting point. For anything important, check with a field guide, a botanic garden, a nursery or a local expert.

Rescan in daylight with one leaf filling the frame, showing the edge and veins, or add a bark photo for a tree. If it's still wrong, email us the photo and tell us what the plant actually was. We use reports like this to improve how Sprout Scout explains and checks its answers. (We don't use your photos to train AI models.)

Never use Sprout Scout to decide whether a plant, berry, seed, nut or mushroom is safe to eat, taste, touch, use as medicine, or give to a pet. An identification can be wrong, and plants look alike. Never eat wild plants, berries or mushrooms.

• Some common plants are poisonous to children, cats and dogs. Examples: foxglove, oleander, yew and lily of the valley. Lilies are dangerous to cats.
• Some plants irritate or burn skin: poison ivy, poison oak, stinging nettle and giant hogweed.
• The "Safe to touch?" note is only a general hint. If you're not sure, don't touch.
• If a child or pet may have eaten a plant, contact Poison Control (US: 1-800-222-1222), your vet or emergency services immediately.

Sprout Scout gives no medical advice. Please also respect local rules: in parks and protected areas, look and photograph, but don't pick.

Sprout Scout identifies thousands of plants, trees and flowers. The Leafdex is your collection: the 60 plants every family can find, plus any bonus plants you discover, with 24 badges to earn along the way. As you scan and learn, Sprig the acorn grows from a Sleepy Seed all the way to a Mighty Oak. Everything in it lives on your iPhone.

Your Leafdex (photos, results, notes and favourites) is stored on your iPhone and is never uploaded to us. If you're signed in to iCloud, it also backs up to your own iCloud and syncs to every iPhone signed in to the same Apple Account, including a new phone: install Sprout Scout, open it, and your finds arrive in a minute or two. We never see that copy.

Not syncing? Check that you're signed in to iCloud (iPhone Settings › your name), that Back up finds to iCloud is on in Sprout Scout's Settings (the line under it says what's happening), and that your iCloud storage isn't full. A change to that switch applies the next time you open Sprout Scout. Sync covers devices on the same Apple Account; it doesn't share finds between family members' accounts. With backup off, your Leafdex stays on that phone only (it's still in your normal iPhone backup), and deleting the app deletes it.

To identify a plant, the photo is sent securely to our server, which passes it to an AI service (Google's Gemini, on a paid plan) and returns the result. Our server doesn't keep your photo, and it isn't used to train AI. There's no account, no ads and no tracking. The full details are in our Privacy Policy.

No. There's no sign-up or login. Your subscription is tied to your Apple Account by Apple.

Go to iPhone Settings › Notifications › Sprout Scout and turn off Allow Notifications. The trial reminder is the only notification Sprout Scout sends.

The finds map is optional. If you turn it on and allow location access, Sprout Scout notes roughly where you made a find and shows it on your map. The location stays on your iPhone and is never sent to us or the AI service. You can switch it off any time in iPhone Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Sprout Scout.

You can browse your Leafdex and the things you've learned offline, but identifying a new plant needs an internet connection. Out on a hike without signal? Take the photo with your camera and scan it from your photo library later.