Route 1: take a photo
- Open the add screen and take or choose a photo. The photo is shrunk on your phone before it is sent.
- Wait for the result. PotPal sends the photo to its server for AI identification and shows the species, with alternatives when it has them.
- Confirm and add details. Give the plant a name and tell PotPal about light, pot and location.
Route 2: pick a common plant in one tap
No photo needed. PotPal offers a short list of eight everyday plants, including pothos, succulents, snake plant and monstera. Tap one and the plant is set up, and you can add a photo later.
Route 3: choose by hand
If identification fails or comes back empty, PotPal takes you straight to choosing the species yourself, and the photo you took comes along.
What happens to the photo
Identification needs the photo to leave your phone. According to PotPal's privacy policy, it is used only for that one request and is not retained or used for training. Identification is limited to 10 per day on the free plan. Anything else in the app works on your device without a connection.
How many species does PotPal know?
PotPal's built-in watering baseline table covers 25 plants, such as pothos, succulents, cacti, snake plant, aloe, monstera, spider plant, ficus and orchids. For a plant not on the list, PotPal still works, using more cautious defaults, and your soil checks do the rest. Some popular plants such as roses and lucky bamboo are not in the table.