Trovva See how it works

The paint code, when you are standing in the shop.

Trovva is a practical memory for your home — paint codes, part numbers, measurements, service history and what is inside which box. It lives on your phone unless you share a household, and there is no account and no server either way.

See how it works

Half a tin is still on the basement shelf, but the shop needs the code. The entry holds Alcro Bestå, Linneväv, S 0502-Y and a matte finish — and the code sits above the plate with a button that copies it.

  • No account
  • No server
  • No analytics
  • The colour code for the hallway, and the finish, long after you stopped being able to picture either.
  • The cartridge the kitchen filter takes, in a shop with four that look identical.
  • The width of the hallway window, while you are standing in front of a rail of blinds.
  • Which box the winter clothes went into, and which shelf that box is on.
  • The switch port the hallway access point is plugged into.
  • What you forgot to pack last time.

None of these is worth a spreadsheet. All of them are worth ten minutes of a Saturday when you cannot find them.

The hallway paint entry, with the colour code S 0502-Y promoted above the plate over a button that copies it, and the brand, colour name and finish on the plate below.
The hallway paint entry, with the colour code S 0502-Y promoted above the plate over a button that copies it, and the brand, colour name and finish on the plate below.
An entry for the hallway paint, with the colour code promoted to the top of the screen.
The hallway paint entry in light mode, with the colour code S 0502-Y promoted above the plate over a button that copies it, and the brand, colour name and finish on the plate below.
The hallway paint entry in light mode, with the colour code S 0502-Y promoted above the plate over a button that copies it, and the brand, colour name and finish on the plate below.
An entry for the hallway paint, with the colour code promoted to the top of the screen.

One record

One kind of record, doing several jobs

A paint code, a filter, a measurement and a box of outgrown clothes are the same kind of thing in Trovva: an entry. Each one holds fields, photos, a history of what has happened to it, and reminders. Starting points fill in the fields that usually matter — a paint entry knows it wants a colour code, a stored box knows it wants a shelf — and after that they are all just entries.

That is why the box below is not a separate feature. Things go inside other things, and the things inside are entries in their own right.

Winter box

Vera’s winter clothes, in the basement, on shelf B3 — in size 86/92, put away at the end of last winter. It holds five kinds of thing, and the box itself carries no count: the contents count themselves.

  • Long-sleeve tops 5 items
  • Sleepsuits 3 items
  • Wool base layers 3 items
  • Jumpers 2 items
  • Bibs 5 items

In the box 18 items · 5 kinds

Two of the five kinds have photographs, because nobody photographs everything — and the box is not “in the basement” but on a named shelf, in size 86/92, with eighteen things listed inside it.

The sleepsuits are not a line of text on the box. They are an entry: their own photo, their own count, a note that two of the three are the thicker winter weight, and a reminder to check the box before autumn. You can find them without knowing the box exists.

The Winter box, scrolled past its title: Shelf B3 promoted above the plate, and a total of eighteen items across five kinds, worked out from the five things listed inside it — long-sleeve tops, sleepsuits, wool base layers, jumpers and bibs.
The Winter box, scrolled past its title: Shelf B3 promoted above the plate, and a total of eighteen items across five kinds, worked out from the five things listed inside it — long-sleeve tops, sleepsuits, wool base layers, jumpers and bibs.
A box that counts itself: five kinds listed inside it, and the total worked out from them.
The browse screen listing everything in one alphabetical list, each row naming which room or collection it belongs to — an access point in the Workshop, the boiler service in the Utility room, a camping run in Camping kit, the hallway paint in the Hallway.
The browse screen listing everything in one alphabetical list, each row naming which room or collection it belongs to — an access point in the Workshop, the boiler service in the Utility room, a camping run in Camping kit, the hallway paint in the Hallway.
Everything in one list — an access point, a boiler service, a camping run, a tin of paint.
A camping packing run, eight of twelve items ticked and struck through, with the ones still to pack listed unticked below them.
A camping packing run, eight of twelve items ticked and struck through, with the ones still to pack listed unticked below them.
A run from the packing list, eight of twelve in. The master list it was started from is untouched.

Finding things

Search tells you where, not just what

Searching for the sleepsuits finds the sleepsuits. What makes it useful is what comes with it — how many there are, which box they are in, which room that box is in, and which shelf.

How many 3 items

Inside Winter box · Basement · Shelf B3

The 3 is how many sleepsuits there are, not how many things are in the box. Walk to the basement, find shelf B3, open that box.

The box is called Winter box, and Vera’s winter clothes are what is in it — her name is a field on the box, alongside the size and the season.

This is the difference between knowing you wrote something down and being able to act on it. A record that tells you a thing exists but not where it is has done half a job.

A search for sleepsuits returning one match. The result shows the sleepsuits' own count, three items, and beneath it where they are: inside Winter box, in the Basement, on Shelf B3.
A search for sleepsuits returning one match. The result shows the sleepsuits' own count, three items, and beneath it where they are: inside Winter box, in the Basement, on Shelf B3.
A search result for the sleepsuits, showing the box, the room and the shelf on one line.
The sleepsuits as an entry in their own right: their own count of three items, the Winter box they are inside with actions to move them or take them out, and their own photograph.
The sleepsuits as an entry in their own right: their own count of three items, the Winter box they are inside with actions to move them or take them out, and their own photograph.
And opening it: the sleepsuits' own count and photograph, and the box they are in, with ways to move them or take them out.

Upkeep

Maintenance that stays attached to the thing

A reminder in Trovva belongs to an entry, so when it arrives you are already looking at the part number, where the thing is, and every time it has been done before.

Under the sink, left-hand cartridge, BRITA MAXTRA PRO. Three changes are logged against it, and the next one counts from the last change rather than from the calendar.

A repeat can count from the calendar or from the last time you actually did it. The distinction matters more than it sounds: a filter changed three weeks late should push the next change three weeks out, while a chimney sweep booked for a date should stay on that date.

Alerts are local to the phone. Nothing is sent over a network to produce them, and if you would rather not have them at all, the dates keep working inside the app.

The kitchen water filter entry, showing its part number, that it was last changed in July and has been logged three times, and when it is next due.
The kitchen water filter entry, showing its part number, that it was last changed in July and has been logged three times, and when it is next due.
The kitchen water filter, with its logged changes and the next one due.
The Trovva home screen. A Needs attention section shows one overdue reminder, to replace the ventilation air filter. Below it, favourites including the camping packing list, marked as a template of twelve items with one run started from it, and recently opened entries.
The Trovva home screen. A Needs attention section shows one overdue reminder, to replace the ventilation air filter. Below it, favourites including the camping packing list, marked as a template of twelve items with one run started from it, and recently opened entries.
The home screen, with the one overdue reminder named rather than counted.

Your phone

Trovva keeps it on your phone unless you share it

Trovva has no server to talk to. Your records are kept on the phone, and Trovva sends them nowhere unless you share a household — which is off until you turn it on, and goes through your own iCloud rather than through us — or you send a copy yourself.

Nothing to sign into

No account, no password, no email address. Open the app and your records are there — including in a basement with no reception. Sharing, if you ever want it, uses the iCloud account your phone already has.

Nothing to discontinue

There is no service of ours behind the app, so there is nothing of ours to switch off. Sharing, if you turn it on, goes through your own iCloud. What you have saved does not depend on anything of ours continuing to run.

Backups you make yourself

Export a backup whenever you like and keep it wherever you keep things. Trovva copies nothing off the phone unless you send it. The file holds your records as readable JSON, with the photos and files on the phone alongside them.

Straight answers

Do I need an account?

No. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to sign into. Trovva opens straight into your own records.

What does it cost?

One-time purchase. No subscription.

Does it work without a signal?

Yes. Everything you save is stored on the phone itself, so a basement with no reception is the same as anywhere else.

Does it sync between my phone and anyone else's?

Only if you share a household, and that is off until you turn it on. Share one and its records reach the phones of the people you add by Apple ID, kept in step through your own iCloud rather than through us — updating when you open Trovva rather than in the background. With sharing off, each phone keeps its own records and Trovva sends nothing anywhere.

What happens if I lose my phone?

You can export a backup at any time: Trovva writes a file and hands it to the share sheet, and where you keep it is up to you. Trovva copies nothing off the phone unless you do that. The file holds your records as readable JSON, with the photos and files on the phone alongside them in an ordinary zip you can open with anything. If your iPhone backs up to iCloud, that backup includes Trovva too; it is Apple’s, and follows your phone’s settings.

Is it in Swedish?

Yes. Trovva is in English and Swedish, and starts in whichever one your phone is set to. If you would rather it spoke the other, Settings has a Language row.

Is this a to-do list or a notes app?

No. Reminders exist, but they attach to a thing you have saved — the boiler, the filter, the box — rather than living in a separate list of tasks. If nothing is worth keeping a record of, there is nothing to remind you about.