Sparky Cooks helps you create, organize, edit, share, and cook from your recipes. You can use the Cooking Assistant to format recipe text, ask cooking questions, create grocery lists from selected recipes, manage recipe photos, and share recipes privately or with public read-only links.

Open the Cooking Assistant from the purple sparkle button and choose Create a Recipe. You can paste recipe text, paste a recipe URL where importing is permitted, or start from the recipe editor and use the formatting tools directly.

The Cooking Assistant can help format recipe text, answer cooking questions, search your account recipes when you choose that option, and start grocery-list creation from selected recipes. You can turn off the startup Cooking Assistant prompt in Settings.

Start Cooking creates a focused guide with Plan, Gather, Prep, and Cook phases. In Plan, check the ingredients you already have; on the web, iPhone, and iPad, you can add the remaining needed items to a grocery list. The guide shows equipment, temperatures, and timers relevant to each step while keeping session progress separate from the saved recipe.

Sparky Cooks may need to prepare a cooking guide the first time you use Start Cooking or after cooking-related recipe content changes. A current guide is reused until the recipe changes again.

No. Gather, Prep, ingredient, and current-step progress belongs only to your Cooking Session. It stays separate from the saved recipe, but it can synchronize across your participating web, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV devices.

Yes. When Sparky Cooks finds an active Cooking Session, choose Continue Cooking to join it on the web, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. The current stage, checklists, cooking step, Cooking Notes, and timer state synchronize across participating devices. You can instead choose Start New Session when you want to cook separately.

Note This opens Cooking Notes so you can record timestamped ingredients, amounts, timing changes, corrections, or other observations without leaving the Cooking Guide. Notes synchronize across participating devices. You can type on every platform, use on-device voice transcription on supported iPhone and iPad devices, or use Apple TV system dictation. Sparky Cooks does not save or upload the raw iPhone or iPad voice recording.

Cooking Notes require Cooking Assistant permission and enough available Cooking Assistant allowance to reserve processing for the session. If processing cannot be reserved for a saved recipe, you can still use the ordinary cooking guide, but Note This is unavailable for that session.

Finish ends the Cooking Session on its connected devices. If you recorded Cooking Notes, Sparky Cooks prepares a result for review. On the web, iPhone, or iPad, a saved recipe can be updated, saved as a variation, or receive an appended cooking note; you can also retry or discard the result. Apple TV can show proposed changes for an existing recipe, but complete those recipe changes on the web, iPhone, or iPad.

Yes. Choose Cook From Scratch, use Cooking Notes to record ingredients, amounts, techniques, temperatures, timing, and changes, then review the recipe draft when you finish. The draft can be accepted and saved from the web, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. Cook From Scratch requires available Cooking Assistant allowance because preparing the recipe draft is part of the workflow.

Timer state synchronizes with the Cooking Session, including remaining time, pause or resume, added time, cancellation, and completion. The actual alarm is local to each platform: iPhone and iPad use Apple system alarms, Apple TV shows an in-app full-screen alarm, and web timers use browser sound and notifications subject to browser settings.

After connecting Apple TV with the code shown on the television, you can browse recipes, start or continue synchronized Cooking Sessions, cook from scratch, use Plan, Gather, Prep, and Cook, dictate Cooking Notes, ask cooking questions, view the full recipe, and use timers. Apple TV can save an accepted scratch recipe; complete proposed changes to an existing recipe on the web, iPhone, or iPad.

You can add photos directly in the recipe editor by pasting or dropping a supported image, or by using the plus menu where you want the image and choosing an image upload option. Images are stored with your Sparky Cooks photos.

Yes. You can paste or drop supported image files into the recipe editor. Pasted images use the same upload and validation path as regular image uploads. Some browser and device formats may vary; if a HEIC photo is not supported on your device, export it as JPEG or PNG first.

Yes, you can embed photos hosted on another website or cloud storage by choosing Embed from the image dialog. Make sure you have permission to use the image. If the original hosted image is removed or blocked, it will no longer display in your recipe.

No. Imported recipes from external websites do not include source-site photos. Add your own photo after you make the dish, paste a supported image into the recipe, upload an image file, or embed an image URL if you have the rights to use it.

Not every recipe website allows automated importing. If a site blocks imports with paywalls, robots.txt, or other technical restrictions, Sparky Cooks respects those rules. In those cases, describe the recipe in the Create Recipe input box and the Cooking Assistant will attempt to create something similar.

Sparky Cooks provides two default templates, one for recipes and one which provides examples of the various types of formatting you can use. You can create additional templates and save them for later use.

Yes. You can share a recipe with a registered Sparky Cooks user or create a public read-only link for anyone. Public links can be copied from the recipe share dialog and managed later in the Sharing Center.

Yes. You can share a folder with another registered Sparky Cooks user. Recipes added to that folder or its subfolders later are included in the folder share.

You and account admins can update recipes you own. Shared recipes are read-only for recipients; they can save a copy if they want to make their own changes.

You can create grocery lists from selected recipes, add the ingredients you still need from Start Cooking's Plan phase, add items manually, or import a pasted list, plain-text file, or CSV file. Review items before choosing an existing list or creating a new list. You can also check items off while shopping, duplicate lists, delete lists you own, and share lists with other registered users. Grocery lists have offline support, so recently synced lists can still be used when your connection is unavailable and changes sync later.

A passkey lets you sign in using Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello, or your device's screen lock instead of typing a password. Sparky Cooks stores only the public verification record; the private passkey stays on your device or in your device account's passkey sync service.

Yes. Password sign-in remains available, and we recommend keeping your password as a backup in case you lose access to your device or need to sign in somewhere that does not yet support passkeys.

Once you're signed in, go to the user menu from your picture or person icon and open Settings. From there you can add a new passkey on your current device or remove existing passkeys linked to your account.

Open the user menu from your picture or person icon. Profile is where you manage your name, phone number, profile picture, and default folder. Settings is where you manage passkeys, password changes, Cooking Assistant startup behavior, search behavior, and notification preferences.

Free includes the core recipe, photo, grocery-list, sharing, import, export, and Start Cooking features for one person. Plus is $3.99 monthly or $39.99 annually for one person and adds the paid Cooking Assistant features, automatic photo tagging, and unlimited active Cooking Guides under normal use. Family is $5.99 monthly or $59.99 annually for up to 5 people in one account. Extended Family is $7.99 monthly or $79.99 annually for up to 10 people. Family plans include a larger shared Cooking Assistant allowance.

Free accounts receive a one-time introductory Cooking Assistant allowance. Paid plans receive an ongoing allowance that refreshes each subscription month, including during an annual subscription. The app warns you when the account is near its limit and tells you when the allowance will refresh. Unused allowance does not roll over. Recipe and document auto-tagging does not use the allowance, and core non-Assistant features remain available if the allowance is used.

No. Family and Extended Family members share one account allowance. There is no fixed per-person share, so any eligible member can use the allowance that remains for the account. The account owner can review account usage.

No. Recipe and folder sharing work across Sparky accounts and are available on every plan. Family and Extended Family plans are for multiple people collaborating inside one Sparky account, where members already share that account's recipe library.

The account owner manages the subscription for everyone on the account. Web subscriptions are changed or canceled from the Subscription section of the Sparky Cooks Account page. Apple-billed subscriptions are managed through the owner's Apple subscriptions. Other account members can view their access but cannot change the account's billing.

The account owner can change an eligible web plan, cancel automatic renewal, or restore renewal from the Subscription section of the Account page. Eligible upgrades generally take effect immediately; eligible downgrades and billing-schedule changes are scheduled for the next renewal. Link through Stripe provides payment details, receipts, and payment support for live web purchases, but plan changes and cancellation are handled in Sparky Cooks. Subscriptions purchased through Apple must be managed in the user's Apple subscriptions. Canceling stops automatic renewal; paid access continues through the end of the current paid billing period.

Your current plan and paid features remain available until the end of the billing period you already paid for. For an annual subscription, this means the annual renewal date, not the next monthly Cooking Assistant allowance refresh. Cancellation stops the next renewal and does not itself trigger a refund. The account then moves to the Free plan unless another valid entitlement applies. Your recipes and other account data are preserved, but the resulting plan's limits apply. If the account has more people than that plan allows, the owner remains active and additional members are suspended at the end of the paid period. Their data is not deleted, and access can be restored when the account has enough eligible seats again.

An eligible web subscription downgrade takes effect at the next renewal, after the current paid billing period ends. You keep your current plan and its features until then. The lower plan and its confirmed price begin at renewal; scheduling the downgrade does not refund or credit unused time. Changes between monthly and annual billing on the same web plan also take effect at renewal. An annual subscription stays on its current plan until the annual period ends. You can cancel a scheduled change before it takes effect from Account > Subscription. Apple-billed changes follow the effective date shown by Apple. Applicable consumer rights and billing-provider refund policies still apply.

A plan cannot be selected when the account currently has more people or active invitations than that plan allows. Remove unneeded invitations or members first, or choose a plan with enough seats. If a billing-provider change later leaves the account over its limit, Sparky Cooks preserves all data, keeps the owner active, and suspends excess members until eligible seats are available again.

Subscription payments are nonrefundable. Sparky Cooks does not provide prorated refunds or credits for unused time, partial billing periods, cancellation, downgrades, or non-use, except where required by applicable law or under the billing provider's policies. Cancellation or a scheduled downgrade does not itself trigger a refund. Apple purchase refund requests must be submitted to Apple. Web-purchase refund requests may be submitted through Link support, and Stripe may issue refunds under its Managed Payments policies, including without our approval. Requests are not guaranteed to be approved. Your statutory consumer rights remain unaffected.

Paid access may continue for up to 16 days while Apple or Stripe attempts payment recovery. For a web subscription, the account owner can open the Subscription section of the Account page and choose Resolve payment to continue securely with Stripe. The account returns to normal if payment succeeds. If it does not, the account moves to the Free plan when the grace period ends. This grace period does not apply when the account owner voluntarily cancels.

The widescreen view in Sparky Cooks optimizes the display of recipes on larger screens with a layout that shows Ingredients, Directions, and Images side by side. This view facilitates easier reading and interaction, especially on larger devices.

To ensure your recipe displays correctly in widescreen view, make sure it includes a header for 'Ingredients' and one for 'Directions' or 'Instructions'. Widescreen view assumes that anything between these headers are ingredients, and anything after is directions. If you are still having issues, please contact support.

Sparky Cooks supports importing recipes and documents in formats including plain text, Markdown, HTML, and—where permitted—directly from a recipe URL.

Sparky Cooks offers versatile export options, allowing you to save and share your recipes in formats such as PDF, plain text, rich text, and HTML.