Help & support

Need help?

Email support@arv.theill.com with questions, problems or ideas.

Please include your iPhone model, iOS version and a short description of what happened.

How do I get scans without glare?

Put the print on a dark, matt table under an ordinary ceiling light. Choose “No glare”, hold the phone over the print and tap once. Then move the phone so the white ring covers the dots one by one – Arv takes a photo at each dot by itself and combines them, so the glare disappears. Prints in plastic album sleeves can stay in the sleeve.

When should I use “Quick”?

For matte prints, backs and anything else that doesn’t shine. “Quick” takes a photo by itself as soon as a new print lies still, so you can get through a pile fast.

Can I scan a whole album page?

Yes. Turn on “Several photos on one album page” under ••• in the scanner, and Arv finds each print on the page and straightens it.

What about the back?

With “Take the back afterwards” turned on, just turn the print over once the front is done: Arv takes the back by itself and files it with the right front. If there’s nothing on it, tap “Skip the back”. If a back ends up in the wrong place, tap it to move it.

How sharp should the print be?

Each print has a Sharpness setting: “Off”, “Sharp” or “Extra sharp”. “Sharp” uses Apple’s own model and happens by itself when you scan. “Extra sharp” redraws what the print has lost – fabric, wood, hair, furniture, the room – with an AI model on your iPhone, while the faces stay as they were scanned. It takes a couple of minutes per print, needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, and the first time Arv downloads the model (about 1 GB) from Apple’s servers. You can switch for each print at any time, and the original scan is never changed.

Where does the date come from?

From the handwriting on the back, from the orange digits many cameras printed in the corner, from what is said in Tell – or from you. If it’s an estimate, turn on “Approximate”: the photo goes under that year in Photos, and the file remembers that the date isn’t certain.

Which handwriting can Arv read?

Clear handwriting and printed text in Latin letters, best in Danish and English. Faint pencil and very joined-up writing may not be read, and Arv can’t read Japanese or Korean writing yet. You can always type or correct the caption yourself.

How do I name the people?

Open a print, tap a face and type the name. Arv suggests names it found on the back or in a story. It finds where the faces are, but never who they are – there’s no face recognition. Everyone you name gets their own page under “People”.

How does Tell work?

Tap Tell, choose who’s telling and in which language, and swipe through the prints while they talk. Afterwards Arv writes the recording down on your iPhone and files each part with the photo that was on the screen. Names, places and years it picks up are shown as suggestions for you to accept.

Which languages can Tell write down?

Danish, English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Korean, on iPhones that support them. The first time, iOS may download Apple’s speech model for the language. If your iPhone can’t write a language down, the recording is still kept with the photo – you just won’t get the text.

How do I build the family?

Tap Tell, choose “The family” at the top and enter the name of the person telling. Read the questions aloud and swipe on when you’re ready. Afterwards Arv shows the people who were mentioned, with how they’re related and their years, so you can correct them and tap Add. Years aren’t needed. You can also open a person under People and add parents, a partner, brothers and sisters and children yourself.

Can I take the family into a family tree program?

Yes. The folder for the family includes a family.ged file in GEDCOM 7 format with the people, their years and birthplaces, who are parents, children and partners – and which photos each person is in. Most family tree programs can open it.

Why is my photo under 1968 in Photos?

Because that’s when it was taken. Arv saves each photo under its own date and place – not the day you scanned it – so it sits with everything else from that summer, and on the map. The caption and names are written into the photo too, so you can search for “Grandma” in Photos.

How does the family open the folder?

Tap the share button in the archive and choose “Make a folder for the family”. Send the zip file by AirDrop, put it on a USB stick or keep it in Files. On a computer, double-click the zip file to unpack it and open index.html: the photos, backs, dates, names and stories appear in the browser – no internet and no Arv needed. Each photo is also an ordinary JPEG file with the details inside.

Where is my archive kept, and how do I back it up?

In Arv on your iPhone. The archive is included in the iPhone’s normal backup (iCloud Backup or a backup on your computer). It’s a good idea to make a folder for the family now and then and keep it somewhere else too. Remember: if you delete the app, the archive on the iPhone is deleted with it.

Is anything sent anywhere?

No. Arv has no server and no account, and scanning, reading and writing down all happen on your iPhone. The only downloads come from Apple: its models for speech and sharpening, which iOS may fetch once, and the “Extra sharp” model if you choose to download it.

What does it cost?

$1.99, once. Every feature and every update is included, and so are the extra app icons. No ads and no subscription.