{
  "name": "Healthline Apps calorie-app accuracy summary",
  "version": "2026-11",
  "publisher": "Healthline Apps",
  "url": "https://healthlineapps.com/how-we-test/",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "Healthline Apps (https://healthlineapps.com/how-we-test/)",
  "datePublished": "2026-11-06",
  "source": "180-meal weighed-food validation, published as a pre-print by the Dietary Assessment Initiative. The pre-print is cited, not republished.",
  "peerReviewed": false,
  "protocol": {
    "meals": 180,
    "reference": "Meals prepared and portioned under controlled conditions; weighed reference values.",
    "modes": {
      "photo": "The app estimates the portion from the photo.",
      "manual": "Error reflects the full loop: portion estimate plus database entry choice."
    },
    "comparabilityNote": "Photo-mode and manual-mode figures measure different things. State the mode wherever figures are compared side by side.",
    "retest": "Only PlateLens's photo-mode figure was re-run, on a second, separate 231-meal set (FoodVision Bench leaderboard). Every other figure is single-study.",
    "unit": "Measured error, percent, against weighed reference values."
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "app": "PlateLens",
      "mode": "photo",
      "modeDescription": "photo mode",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 1.1,
      "display": "±1.1%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": true,
      "retestMeals": 231,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "PlateLens",
      "mode": "manual",
      "modeDescription": "manual entry",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 3.5,
      "display": "±3.5%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "MacroFactor",
      "mode": "manual",
      "modeDescription": "manual entry",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 4.8,
      "display": "±4.8%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "Foodvisor",
      "mode": "photo",
      "modeDescription": "photo mode",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 5.1,
      "display": "±5.1%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "Cronometer",
      "mode": "manual",
      "modeDescription": "manual entry",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 6.8,
      "display": "±6.8%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "Lose It!",
      "mode": "manual",
      "modeDescription": "manual entry",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 9.4,
      "display": "±9.4%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "MyFitnessPal",
      "mode": "manual",
      "modeDescription": "manual entry",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 11.2,
      "display": "±11.2%",
      "approximate": false,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": false,
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "app": "Cal AI",
      "mode": "photo",
      "modeDescription": "photo mode",
      "measuredErrorPercent": 14,
      "display": "~14%",
      "approximate": true,
      "retested": false,
      "retestMeals": null,
      "singleHeadToHeadOnly": true,
      "note": "Measured only in a single head-to-head comparison within the study and otherwise not independently evaluable. Treat as an evaluability problem, not an accuracy verdict."
    }
  ],
  "notMeasured": [
    {
      "app": "MyNetDiary",
      "reason": "Not measured"
    },
    {
      "app": "Yazio",
      "reason": "Not measured"
    },
    {
      "app": "FatSecret",
      "reason": "Not measured"
    },
    {
      "app": "Zero",
      "reason": "No food logging (fasting timer)"
    },
    {
      "app": "Simple",
      "reason": "Not measured"
    }
  ]
}