How to use Cut Loose

Your home screen

Each collection has its own tile: Books, DVD / Blu-ray, VHS, CD / Cassette, Vinyl, and Video & board games. Tap a tile to see everything in it. Below the tiles you'll find Favorites, Wish, Wait and Loaned, then what you're reading, watching or playing right now under In progress.

Want to look around before adding your own things? Settings → Load sample collection adds 34 real items to try things out. Settings → Delete everything clears them when you're ready to start fresh.

Free for 30 days

Every feature works during the trial, with no card needed to start. After that it's $0.99 a month or $19.99 once for lifetime, which covers everything the app does on your phone (future online services like sync will be an optional add-on). See Settings → Cut Loose plan.

1. Scan a barcode

Tap Scan and point the camera at the barcode. Cut Loose fills in the title, author or artist, year, format and cover. Check it over, then tap Put it on the shelf.

Wrong match? Tap Not this item? Search by title, or Fix the details first to correct it before saving.

2. No barcode? Take a photo

Older records, VHS tapes and paperbacks often have no barcode. On the Scan screen, tap the No barcode? Photo… button and photograph the front cover, or for a record the center label or album jacket. Cut Loose reads the words on it, or recognizes the picture, and shows the best matches.

For vinyl, the center label usually works best because it often shows the catalog number. If one is found, tap Search catalog number to find the exact pressing.

3. Type it in

Type barcode or search title searches online catalogs by title, or by the numbers under a barcode. Searching title and artist together works well, like "Let It Be Beatles". Manual add lets you enter anything yourself, even things no catalog knows about.

Open anything to see and edit it

Tap an item for its full page. Tap Edit to change anything. Some things worth filling in:

• Location: where it lives, like "Living room shelf" or "Basement box 3".
• Progress: Not started, Reading / Watching / Playing, or Finished.
• My ratings: rate the story, acting, sound, gameplay and more.
• Condition, price paid and market value: the home screen adds up what you paid and what it's worth today.
• Favorite: tap the heart on anything you own.

Set up your own locations, genres and conditions in Settings, so they're ready to pick from.

Search, filter and sort out

• Tap the magnifying glass on the home screen to search everything at once.
• Inside a collection, use the search box, or the chips: Owned, Favorites, Wish list, Wait list and All.
• Tap Location to see only what's on one shelf, or what has no location set yet.
• Games can be narrowed to video, board, card or yard games.

Keep track of what you want

Every item is Owned, on your Wish list, or on your Wait list (for things you're waiting on, like a library hold or a preorder). Change it near the top of an item's page. Inside a collection, pick the Wish list or Wait list chip first, and anything you add lands right there.

When you finally get something on your wish list, open it and change it to Owned.

Send your wish list

Birthday coming up? On My lists → Wish, tap Send my wish list, then Text it, Email it or Other apps. Your list opens in Messages or Mail, grouped and sorted, ready for you to pick who gets it. A single collection's wish list can be sent from its Wish list chip.

Know who has it

Open an item and tap Lend it out. Type a name or pick one from your contacts, and add a due date if you like. It shows up under Loaned on the home screen. When it comes back, tap It's back. Every loan is kept in the item's loan history.

Send a friendly reminder

Add the borrower's phone or email when you lend, or pick them from your contacts (later, use Add/Edit phone or email). Then tap Text a reminder or Email a reminder, and a kind note opens in Messages or Mail. Use Send another way for WhatsApp, TextNow, Messenger or any other app. Nothing is sent until you tap Send.

Each reminder is listed on the loan with its date and time. If you backed out without sending, tap the × to remove it. If your texting app opens empty, tap the message box and choose Paste: the reminder is copied for you.

Pick a look

Settings → Make it yours offers three styles, Clean & Simple, Vinyl Lounge and Retro Video Store, each in Light, Dark or Match phone.

Your collection stays on your phone

That keeps it private, and it means a backup is your safety net. In Settings → Backup:

• Back up my collection saves a file to your phone, a USB drive or a cloud drive.
• Send a backup to… sends it to OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or email.
• Restore from a backup brings it back, even on a new phone. Backups work between iPhone and Android.
• Export to Excel (.xlsx) makes a formatted spreadsheet; Export as .csv makes a plain list.

Turn on Remind me to back up, and the home screen will nudge you when it's been a while.