What’s in Your Fridge? 6 Apps to Help You Manage the Refrigerator

Fresh Box Adding and keeping track of everything that comes into your fridge can be a tiring task. Fresh Box addresses the mundane task by allowing users to simply snap a photo and upload it into their own virtual ice box. They call this their “what you see is what you get” feature, and the beautifully illustrated interface makes stocking the fridge a fun process similar to updating your Instagram. Once photos are uploaded, users can set an expiration date so the milk doesn’t go sour, produce doesn’t go bad. Easy!

Fridge Pal Fridge Pal is a little less visually polished than Fresh Box above, but the app has a lot more functions for grocery management, including barcode scanning and the option to create grocery lists. The app allows users to scan groceries while shopping, with Fridge Pal notifying you if any designated staples need refilling/replacing.

Best Before Some of you reading this are probably thinking right now all these grocery/refrigerator apps seem more hassle than help. But Best Before’s barcode scanning features cuts down the hassle, as once items are scanned in, the app automatically discovers the name and expiration date of each item; if it’s produce, Best Before will calculate the average lifespan for you, offered in a clearly labeled and color-coded notification system.

Grocery Hero Pop quiz: There is half a head of lettuce and diced tomatoes leftover, soon to expire. What can you make for dinner using these leftover ingredients? Need some inspiration? Grocery Hero offers recipe suggestions using a barcode system or via quick search, even calculating the estimated nutrition information for selected recipes. Reviews of this app are overwhelmingly positive, but with some users noting some barcode reading issues.

Keezeen Windows Phone’s Metro UI is in full effect here with the Keezeen app, an app with a simplified color palette and easy to navigate menus for itemizing ingredients in your fridge. A barcode scanner is par for the course, alongside the option to add ingredients to your shopping list for suggested meal ideas offered by the app according to ingredients in your fridge and by breakfast, lunch, or dinner designation.

Whaz in the Fridge Despite the flippant name, Whaz in the Fridge is an otherwise servicable fridge management app. College students on a budget can input leftovers or ingredients to track expiration date to stretch their food budget further, with a notification system and ability to log which part of the fridge groceries are kept, alongside a helpful food preservation basics information list.