Author
system Submitted
Jul 31, 2026 5:13pm Reviewed
Jul 31, 2026 5:13pm Summary
Imported from the mobieusHealth knowledge base, rebranded for this tenant
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Meal photo AI logs a whole plate from a picture. Take or upload a photo of your food, and mobieusAI reads the portions and estimates the calories and macros. It is the quickest way to log a mixed meal you would otherwise have to break into parts. This feature needs mobieusAI to be on for your community.
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'''Photograph a plate and Loopa reads it as a list of foods you can correct.''' It is a starting point that saves typing, not a measurement. You decide what goes in your log.
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''General wellness tracking, not medical advice. Photo estimates are approximations.''
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'''Meal photo is a Loopa Premium feature.''' Everything else on this page about logging food, including searching, scanning a barcode and typing an entry, is free.
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== Where to find it ==
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== Taking the photo ==
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Open '''Meal photo''' from the Nutrition menu, then use the '''Estimate from a photo''' card. (The same page also has [[Barcode scanning]] for packaged food.)
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# Open '''Health › Food''' and tap the '''camera''' on the add-food screen. On the web, use the '''Photo''' button on the food page.
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# Frame the whole plate. Straight down from about a foot away works better than an angle.
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# Tap the shutter.
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== Give it a photo ==
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A few seconds later you get the review screen: your photo, a one-line description of the plate, and one card per food it recognized.
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You have three options:
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Good conditions help more than a good camera. Even light, no shadow across the plate, and everything visible rather than stacked.
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* '''Take a photo''' with your phone's camera.
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* '''Choose a file''' you already have.
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* '''Use your phone''': on a desktop, scan a one-time QR code to shoot the photo on your phone. The estimate then appears on your desktop.
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== What comes back ==
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'''Tip: put a fork in the frame.''' mobieusAI uses it as a scale guide to judge portion size. If there is no fork, it still works, but the portion is a rougher guess and the estimate is marked lower confidence.
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'''A list, not a verdict.''' Each food is its own line with its own portion and its own calories, and every line is editable. Adjusting, removing and adding are covered in [[editing-your-meal-photo|Editing your meal photo]].
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== Add a hint (optional) ==
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'''One short sentence about the plate.''' Something like "Grilled chicken breast with a serving of broccoli and rice pilaf." It describes what it saw. It does not judge the meal.
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Before you upload, you can add a one-line hint like "grilled chicken, not tofu". A quick hint helps mobieusAI tell apart look-alike foods, such as rice versus cauliflower rice, and sharpens the result.
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'''Nothing is logged yet.''' The photo estimate is read-only. Your food log changes when you tap '''Log meal''', and not before.
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== Review the estimate ==
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== How the numbers are worked out ==
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After you upload, mobieusAI reads your plate and offers one or more '''candidate interpretations''' as cards. Each card shows:
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Every calorie on the screen is computed on Loopa's side from the food and the portion, never sent up from your phone. When you change a portion, the calories and macros for that line are recalculated from the same figures. Doubling the rice doubles the rice.
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* The estimated calories and protein, carbs, and fat.
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* A breakdown of the items it spotted, with grams and calories each.
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* A confidence note.
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That is also why a food you '''add''' yourself has to be chosen from the food database rather than typed as a bare name: Loopa needs a food it holds nutrition for before it can put a number beside it.
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== Adjust and log ==
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== What it is good at, and what it is not ==
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Pick the card that matches your meal, then:
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'''Reasonable at:''' identifying common foods, separating the components of a plate, and giving a portion in the right neighborhood for something with a familiar size.
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# Set the '''Portion''' if the estimate looks high or low (from a quarter up to double).
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# Choose the '''Meal''' (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and more).
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# Tap '''Log this meal.'''
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'''Unreliable at:''' anything it cannot see. Oil in the pan, butter under the fish, sugar in the sauce, and the size of a bowl it has no reference for. A mixed dish photographed in one pile is a harder problem than the same food laid out.
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The whole plate lands in your diary as one entry and your day totals update. See [[Logging food]] and [[Calorie and macro tracking]].
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'''Treat the portions as a first draft.''' The review screen exists because correcting a number is faster than typing a meal, not because the first number is right.
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== If it cannot read the photo ==
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== Privacy ==
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If mobieusAI cannot identify the food, try a sharper, better-lit photo, or add the meal manually from [[Food search]]. Good light, a clear top-down angle, and a fork in frame give the best results.
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'''The photo is not kept.''' It is read, sent to the model that identifies the food, and gone when the request finishes. Loopa stores no copy and no reference to one, on your phone or on the server.
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== See also ==
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'''What is stored is the food.''' The estimate itself is held for '''24 hours''' so you can come back to a plate you photographed and got interrupted on, and it is encrypted with your own key like the rest of your food log. After that it expires and the app offers to look at the photo again.
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* [[Logging food]]
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* [[Barcode scanning]]
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* [[Food search]]
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* [[Meal planner]]
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* [[Calorie and macro tracking]]
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'''Your corrections are recorded.''' What the estimate said and what you logged are both kept, encrypted, so the feature can be measured against what people actually eat. This is named in the privacy policy.
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Progress photos are a different feature with different rules. See [[progress-photos|Progress photos]].
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== When it does not work ==
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* '''"That photo estimate has expired."''' More than 24 hours have passed. Tap to re-check the same photo.
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* '''"That meal is already in your log."''' It was logged, probably on another device. Look at today's log before logging it again.
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* '''The list is wrong enough to be useless.''' Tap '''Retake''', or close it and use [[food-search|Food search]] or [[describe-a-meal|Describe a meal]] instead. Typing "chicken thigh and a cup of rice" is often faster than fixing five lines.
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* '''A plate can hold at most 25 items.'''
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== Related ==
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* [[editing-your-meal-photo|Editing your meal photo]]
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* [[describe-a-meal|Describe a meal]]
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* [[estimate-a-food-with-ai|Estimate a food with AI]]
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* [[food-search|Food search]]
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* [[barcode-scanning|Barcode scanning]]
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* [[food-data-quality|Food data quality]]
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* [[what-loopa-basic-includes|What Loopa Basic includes]]
[[Category:Food and nutrition]]
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[[Category:mobieusHealth]]
Meal photo AI logs a whole plate from a picture. Take or upload a photo of your food, and mobieusAI reads the portions and estimates the calories and macros. It is the quickest way to log a mixed meal you would otherwise have to break into parts. This feature needs mobieusAI to be on for your community.
''General wellness tracking, not medical advice. Photo estimates are approximations.''
== Where to find it ==
Open '''Meal photo''' from the Nutrition menu, then use the '''Estimate from a photo''' card. (The same page also has [[Barcode scanning]] for packaged food.)
== Give it a photo ==
You have three options:
- '''Take a photo''' with your phone's camera.
- '''Choose a file''' you already have.
- '''Use your phone''': on a desktop, scan a one-time QR code to shoot the photo on your phone. The estimate then appears on your desktop.
'''Tip: put a fork in the frame.''' mobieusAI uses it as a scale guide to judge portion size. If there is no fork, it still works, but the portion is a rougher guess and the estimate is marked lower confidence.
== Add a hint (optional) ==
Before you upload, you can add a one-line hint like "grilled chicken, not tofu". A quick hint helps mobieusAI tell apart look-alike foods, such as rice versus cauliflower rice, and sharpens the result.
== Review the estimate ==
After you upload, mobieusAI reads your plate and offers one or more '''candidate interpretations''' as cards. Each card shows:
- The estimated calories and protein, carbs, and fat.
- A breakdown of the items it spotted, with grams and calories each.
- A confidence note.
== Adjust and log ==
Pick the card that matches your meal, then:
Set the '''Portion''' if the estimate looks high or low (from a quarter up to double).
Choose the '''Meal''' (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and more).
Tap '''Log this meal.'''
The whole plate lands in your diary as one entry and your day totals update. See [[Logging food]] and [[Calorie and macro tracking]].
== If it cannot read the photo ==
If mobieusAI cannot identify the food, try a sharper, better-lit photo, or add the meal manually from [[Food search]]. Good light, a clear top-down angle, and a fork in frame give the best results.
== See also ==
- [[Logging food]]
- [[Barcode scanning]]
- [[Food search]]
- [[Meal planner]]
- [[Calorie and macro tracking]]
[[Category:Food and nutrition]] [[Category:mobieusHealth]]
Meal photo AI logs a whole plate from a picture. Take or upload a photo of your food, and mobieusAI reads the portions and estimates the calories and macros. It is the quickest way to log a mixed meal you would otherwise have to break into parts. This feature needs mobieusAI to be on for your community. ''General wellness tracking, not medical advice. Photo estimates are approximations.'' == Where to find it == Open '''Meal photo''' from the Nutrition menu, then use the '''Estimate from a photo''' card. (The same page also has [[Barcode scanning]] for packaged food.) == Give it a photo == You have three options: * '''Take a photo''' with your phone's camera. * '''Choose a file''' you already have. * '''Use your phone''': on a desktop, scan a one-time QR code to shoot the photo on your phone. The estimate then appears on your desktop. '''Tip: put a fork in the frame.''' mobieusAI uses it as a scale guide to judge portion size. If there is no fork, it still works, but the portion is a rougher guess and the estimate is marked lower confidence. == Add a hint (optional) == Before you upload, you can add a one-line hint like "grilled chicken, not tofu". A quick hint helps mobieusAI tell apart look-alike foods, such as rice versus cauliflower rice, and sharpens the result. == Review the estimate == After you upload, mobieusAI reads your plate and offers one or more '''candidate interpretations''' as cards. Each card shows: * The estimated calories and protein, carbs, and fat. * A breakdown of the items it spotted, with grams and calories each. * A confidence note. == Adjust and log == Pick the card that matches your meal, then: # Set the '''Portion''' if the estimate looks high or low (from a quarter up to double). # Choose the '''Meal''' (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and more). # Tap '''Log this meal.''' The whole plate lands in your diary as one entry and your day totals update. See [[Logging food]] and [[Calorie and macro tracking]]. == If it cannot read the photo == If mobieusAI cannot identify the food, try a sharper, better-lit photo, or add the meal manually from [[Food search]]. Good light, a clear top-down angle, and a fork in frame give the best results. == See also == * [[Logging food]] * [[Barcode scanning]] * [[Food search]] * [[Meal planner]] * [[Calorie and macro tracking]] [[Category:Food and nutrition]] [[Category:mobieusHealth]]
