Common questions
This page collects the questions that come up most. The exact wording shown in the app can change over time — where a detail here disagrees with what’s on screen, trust the app.
FAQ
Is PixWork free to use?
There is a free plan, but it is limited to a fixed lifetime number of scans and shows ads on some screens. Google Sign-In is required even on the free plan. Upgrading to Plus raises the allowance and removes ads.
Can the AI reading be trusted as-is?
No. The reading is designed to be checked before saving. Cards that are unclear, or fields the AI misreads, do happen — confirm the name, company, and contact details visually before saving, every time. The AI does not fill in information that is not printed on the card; a field it could not read stays blank.
Can I use PixWork without Google Sheets?
Yes. The Google Sheets connection is optional. Scanning a card, reviewing and correcting the reading, and saving it on the device all work without it. You turn the connection on when you want the data shared across devices or a team, or kept when you change phones.
Can I migrate existing contact data?
A spreadsheet you already use cannot be connected as-is — it has to match the layout PixWork expects (a Contacts sheet and a Companies sheet). The steps are on "Migrating existing data". Make a copy of the original sheet before you start.
Sync says "There is a problem with this sheet’s structure."
The selected sheet’s column names or order don’t match what PixWork expects. The Companies sheet in particular triggers this from a column shift alone. Check the correct names and order in "Google Sheets schema," then fix the sheet or start a new one. Nothing is written to the sheet while this error is showing.
Sync ended with "Stopped because other members kept editing."
This is a safety stop that happens when other team members were editing the same sheet at the same time — nothing is written. Wait a moment and sync again. No data has been lost.
After a device change, my Plus plan isn’t showing up.
Use "Restore purchases" in Settings. This requires signing in with the same Google account (or Apple ID on iOS) the purchase was made with.
Can a card be scanned while offline?
Save Only mode saves just the photo to the device without running AI analysis, so it works without a connection. Reading a card with AI (Single or Batch mode) requires a network connection.
Can I save contacts to the device contact app?
Yes. Turning it on in Settings writes saved contacts out to the phone’s contact book — under a dedicated PixWork account on Android, and in a PixWork contact group on iOS. It is a one-way save from PixWork into the phone; edits made in the phone’s contacts app do not come back. The App Store version is not published yet, so in practice this is usable on Android today.
What columns are used in the Google Sheets integration?
Twenty columns on the Contacts sheet and fourteen on Companies. Contacts columns are matched by name, so they can be reordered; the first fourteen Companies columns must match position for position. The exact names and order are on "Google Sheets column layout".
Can I charge clients for helping them set up PixWork?
Yes. You may use these guides and templates to provide setup help, Google Sheets configuration, data migration, training, and ongoing support as a paid service. There is no application, registration, review, or certification process, and no referral fee or revenue share is owed to PixApps. The terms are on "Commercial use".
Can I describe my service as an official PixWork partner?
No. PixApps runs no scheme that certifies or endorses third parties, so official, certified, endorsed, or agency wording would be untrue. Describe it as what it is — for example, "an independent service using PixWork". See "Commercial use" for the details.
Which contacts actually get synced?
Only contacts updated within the last 90 days are synced (a rolling window). Anything older stays untouched unless it’s edited directly in the sheet.
Company Brief says I have no tickets left.
Company Brief consumes purchased tickets — neither the Free nor the Plus plan includes a monthly allowance. Purchasing more tickets makes it available again.
Where does the card photo get stored or sent?
The image is stored on the device. Only when AI analysis is run is it briefly sent, through a proxy, to an external AI service for that processing. It is not "never sent anywhere" and not "fully local" — neither description matches the implementation.