Support

Trust the pack, not the app. Barcodes get reused between products and packaging gets redesigned, so a match can be wrong. Tap Not the right product on the result and the app will drop the match and let you search by name instead. That also tells us which barcode was wrong so we can correct it.

If the medicine was dispensed to you and the pack has a pharmacy label, the label is the definitive record of what you were given.

Please tell us. Every result has a feedback button, and the notes box goes straight to us. Say which medicine it was and what looked wrong. Clinical guidance changes and our wording is not perfect, so this is the most useful thing you can send us. Please leave out any personal or medical details about yourself.

Usually one of these:

• Light and distance. Barcodes need even light and about 10 to 15 cm. Move out of your own shadow and hold steady for a second.
• Curved or crumpled packs. Blister foils and tubes distort the bars. Flatten the surface if you can.
• No barcode at all. Dispensed boxes often have only a pharmacy label. Use the photo option instead and point it at the printed name.

If the camera does not open at all, check that PlainScript has camera permission in your phone's settings. The camera is used only to scan; nothing is recorded.

The app recognises UK medicines and a wide range of retail health products, but not everything. Unfamiliar imports, very new packs and some own-brand products may not be found. You need a connection for a new lookup, so it is worth checking your signal. Medicines you have already looked up stay readable for about a week without one.

Because the information is checked and updated centrally rather than shipped inside the app. That way a change in national guidance reaches you without waiting for an app update. It also means nothing clinical is served from a stale copy on your phone. Results you have already seen are cached for a short time so the app is still useful offline.

There is no account, no analytics and no advertising, and your saved medicines, doses and reminders never leave your phone. Scans are looked up and not retained, and photos of packaging are discarded once the text has been read. The full detail is in the privacy policy.

Almost everything is on your phone, so deleting a medicine in the app, or deleting the app, removes it. We hold nothing else about you unless you sent feedback, or emailed us to be told when the app launches. If you sent feedback and want it removed, email us with roughly when you sent it and which medicine it concerned, and we will delete it. If it is the launch list, just ask and we will delete your address.

Not reliably, and we would rather you did not. PlainScript describes UK packs using UK sources, and some clinical guidance it shows is licensed for UK use only. Brand names, strengths and advice differ between countries, so the information could be wrong rather than merely missing.

You can read about a product, and that can help you ask better questions. But PlainScript knows nothing about the person taking it, and it should not be used to make decisions for anyone. If you care for someone, their pharmacist can go through their medicines with you properly, and will.

Yes. Every size of text in the app scales with your phone's text size setting, including the largest accessibility sizes, and the screens are labelled for VoiceOver and TalkBack. If something is unreadable or unlabelled, that is a bug and we want to hear about it.

Speak to a pharmacist or your GP. You can also report it directly to the UK regulator through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme, which is how safety problems are spotted. Do not report it to us; we cannot act on it.

Please ask a pharmacist. Any pharmacy will answer a question about your medicines for free, without an appointment, and they can see your record. We are not clinicians and cannot advise you. For urgent advice call 111, and in an emergency call 999.