Common questions
Common questions and what to do about them. See the individual feature pages for the full walkthroughs.
FAQ
Is PixWork free to use?
There is a free tier. The number of scans it allows is capped, and Google Sign-In is required even on it. Check the plan screen in the app or the store listing for the current details and prices.
Can the AI reading be trusted as-is?
What you see after analysis is the contact record extracted from the card — name, company, job title, phone number, email address and so on. Cards can be unclear and fields can be picked up wrongly, so check the name, company, phone number and email address, and use Edit to correct anything that needs it.
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 use the customer list I already keep?
If it is a Google Sheet, you can connect it as it is — its columns do not have to be rebuilt. On connecting, PixWork shows how your own headers pair up with its fields; you check that and press "Connect with this mapping". The mapping is stored in a _pixwork_map tab inside the same spreadsheet and can be edited directly in Google Sheets. An Excel or CSV file goes into Google Drive first and is re-saved as a Google Sheet, then connected. The steps are on "Bringing in existing data". Make a copy of the original sheet before you start.
Sync reports an error about "_pixwork_map".
_pixwork_map is the tab that pairs your column headers with PixWork’s fields. Sync stops when a column it names is not in the data tab, or when nothing is mapped to the name field. PixWork does not guess at a column — it stops and says why. Open the _pixwork_map tab in Google Sheets and line the column cells up with your real headers. 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 paid 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.
How much of my saved data carries over when I change phones?
Picking the same Google Sheet on the new device pulls the text data already synced to it back into the app. Card images, fields outside the synced columns, and contacts that were never synced to the sheet do not carry over. "Where records go and how data is handled" lists what does and does not come across.
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. OS contact export works on both iOS and Android. Turning it on in Settings writes saved contacts out to the phone’s own contact book. They land under a dedicated PixWork account on Android, and in a "PixWork" group on an iPhone. It is a one-way write-out from PixWork into the phone; edits made in the phone’s contacts app do not come back. Only contacts that have a phone number are written out. A failed write-out does not undo the save on the device. What changing a row’s Status in the sheet does is covered on "Saving to your phone’s contacts".
What columns are used in the Google Sheets integration?
Twenty columns on the Contacts sheet and fourteen on Companies, in a sheet PixWork creates. On a sheet you connected yourself, your own contact headers can be anything — the mapping in _pixwork_map ties them to those twenty fields. Either way, the first fourteen Companies columns must match position for position. The exact names and order are on "Google Sheets column layout".
How do I use My Card?
Save your own details and PixWork can show them on screen as a vCard QR code. Someone scans it there and then, and they have your details without you handing over a card. You can also save or share the QR code as an image, or copy the vCard text. The screen lists exactly what the other person will receive, so edit your profile first if something should not go out.
Can PixWork read QR codes made by other apps?
Often, yes. PixWork reads standard vCard and MECARD codes, and MECARD is the format Android’s own contacts app produces. It works the other way too: the QR code PixWork shows is a standard vCard, so most phone camera and contacts apps can read it — though which fields come across, and what happens next, varies by device, OS and app.
Does scanning a QR code need AI or a network connection?
No. QR scanning happens entirely on the device. With no AI and no network call involved, it works in a trade-show hall with no signal, and it does not use up a scan allowance.
Can I edit a contact taken from a QR code?
Yes. A contact from a QR code is saved directly without going through AI analysis, but you can edit it at any time afterwards. Anything the QR code did not carry — job title, address, notes — can be filled in later, and anything wrong can be corrected with Edit. Note that if the same person is already saved, the two are merged automatically with no confirmation step.
How does a team share one Google Sheet?
The sheet’s owner grants edit access to each member’s account through Google Sheets’ own "Share" feature. Each member then picks that same shared sheet from Settings via "Select from Google Drive", and everyone’s PixWork syncs with it. View-only access cannot be saved as a sync target.
Which contacts actually get synced?
In PixWork 1.1.2, contacts updated within the last 90 days are synced (a rolling window). Anything older than that is not. Falling outside the window removes nothing that is already saved — it only means the next sync leaves it alone.
Company Brief says I have no tickets left.
Company Brief runs on purchased tickets. Check the plan screen in the app or the store listing for the current details and prices.
Can I bring in a card photo from my phone’s photo library?
No. Card analysis works on photos taken in PixWork’s own camera screen. There is no route for picking an image out of the photo library and analysing it.
Where does the card photo get stored or sent?
The image is stored on the device. When a card is read by AI, the card image is sent through PixWork’s proxy to an external AI service. QR scanning does not use this path and runs entirely on the device. See the Privacy Policy for how the data is handled.