Common questions
Common questions and what to do about them. See the individual feature pages for the full walkthroughs.
FAQ
Is PixWork free to use?
There is a free tier. The number of scans it allows is capped, and Google Sign-In is required even on it. Check the plan screen in the app or the store listing for the current details and prices.
Can the AI reading be trusted as-is?
What you see after analysis is the contact record extracted from the card — name, company, job title, phone number, email address and so on. Cards can be unclear and fields can be picked up wrongly, so check the name, company, phone number and email address, and use Edit to correct anything that needs it.
Can I use PixWork without Google Sheets?
Yes. The Google Sheets connection is optional. Scanning a card, reviewing and correcting the reading, and saving it on the device all work without it. You turn the connection on when you want the data shared across devices or a team, or kept when you change phones.
Can I migrate existing contact data?
Yes. If the existing sheet’s column layout matches PixWork’s, you can select it from the picker as it is. If it does not match, either adjust the columns or move the data into a new PixWork sheet. The steps are on "Migrating existing data". Make a copy of the original sheet before you start.
Sync says "There is a problem with this sheet’s structure."
The selected sheet’s column names or order don’t match what PixWork expects. The Companies sheet in particular triggers this from a column shift alone. Check the correct names and order in "Google Sheets schema," then fix the sheet or start a new one. Nothing is written to the sheet while this error is showing.
Sync ended with "Stopped because other members kept editing."
This is a safety stop that happens when other team members were editing the same sheet at the same time — nothing is written. Wait a moment and sync again. No data has been lost.
After a device change, my paid plan isn’t showing up.
Use "Restore purchases" in Settings. This requires signing in with the same Google account (or Apple ID on iOS) the purchase was made with.
How much of my saved data carries over when I change phones?
Picking the same Google Sheet on the new device pulls the text data already synced to it back into the app. Card images, fields outside the synced columns, and contacts that were never synced to the sheet do not carry over. "Where records go and how data is handled" lists what does and does not come across.
Can a card be scanned while offline?
Save Only mode saves just the photo to the device without running AI analysis, so it works without a connection. Reading a card with AI (Single or Batch mode) requires a network connection.
Can I save contacts to the device contact app?
On Android, yes. OS contact export is not currently available on iOS. Turning it on in Settings on Android writes saved contacts out under a dedicated PixWork account in the phone’s contact book. It is a one-way write-out from PixWork into the phone; edits made in the phone’s contacts app do not come back. Only contacts that have a phone number are written out. A failed write-out does not undo the save on the device. What changing a row’s Status in the sheet does is covered on "Saving to Android contacts".
What columns are used in the Google Sheets integration?
Twenty columns on the Contacts sheet and fourteen on Companies. Contacts columns are matched by name, so they can be reordered; the first fourteen Companies columns must match position for position. The exact names and order are on "Google Sheets column layout".
How do I use My Card?
Save your own details and PixWork can show them on screen as a vCard QR code. Someone scans it there and then, and they have your details without you handing over a card. You can also save or share the QR code as an image, or copy the vCard text. The screen lists exactly what the other person will receive, so edit your profile first if something should not go out.
Can PixWork read QR codes made by other apps?
Often, yes. PixWork reads standard vCard and MECARD codes, and MECARD is the format Android’s own contacts app produces. It works the other way too: the QR code PixWork shows is a standard vCard, so most phone camera and contacts apps can read it — though which fields come across, and what happens next, varies by device, OS and app.
Does scanning a QR code need AI or a network connection?
No. QR scanning happens entirely on the device. With no AI and no network call involved, it works in a trade-show hall with no signal, and it does not use up a scan allowance.
Can I edit a contact taken from a QR code?
Yes. A contact from a QR code is saved directly without going through AI analysis, but you can edit it at any time afterwards. Anything the QR code did not carry — job title, address, notes — can be filled in later, and anything wrong can be corrected with Edit. Note that if the same person is already saved, the two are merged automatically with no confirmation step.
How does a team share one Google Sheet?
The sheet’s owner grants edit access to each member’s account through Google Sheets’ own "Share" feature. Each member then picks that same shared sheet from Settings via "Select from Google Drive", and everyone’s PixWork syncs with it. View-only access cannot be saved as a sync target.
Which contacts actually get synced?
In PixWork 1.0.2, contacts updated within the last 90 days are synced (a rolling window). An older contact becomes eligible again once it is edited in the sheet.
Company Brief says I have no tickets left.
Company Brief runs on purchased tickets. Check the plan screen in the app or the store listing for the current details and prices.
Can I bring in a card photo from my phone’s photo library?
No. Card analysis works on photos taken in PixWork’s own camera screen. There is no route for picking an image out of the photo library and analysing it.
Where does the card photo get stored or sent?
The image is stored on the device. When a card is read by AI, the card image is sent through PixWork’s proxy to an external AI service. QR scanning does not use this path and runs entirely on the device. See the Privacy Policy for how the data is handled.