Smart grocery list automation for macOS.
GroceryNote Sorter monitors Apple Notes for grocery items, automatically builds a curated shopping checklist, and organizes items by store aisle for faster and more efficient shopping trips.
The application is designed as a local first macOS app with privacy focused data storage and native integration with Apple Notes.
Many people use Apple Notes as a simple grocery list. GroceryNote Sorter extends that workflow by automatically converting note entries into a structured shopping list.
Features include:
- Apple Notes integration
- Automatic grocery item extraction
- Smart item normalization
- Duplicate item detection
- Shopping checklist management
- Store specific aisle organization
- OCR based aisle recognition
- Shopping history learning
- Local SQLite storage
- Privacy focused architecture
Traditional grocery lists are often:
- Unorganized
- Duplicated
- Difficult to navigate while shopping
- Not optimized for store layout
GroceryNote Sorter transforms simple note based grocery lists into optimized shopping workflows.
Example:
milk
eggs
bread
coffee
bananas
Produce
[ ] Bananas
Bakery
[ ] Bread
Dairy
[ ] Milk
[ ] Eggs
Coffee
[ ] Coffee
Monitor a designated Apple Notes folder.
Example:
Grocery
├── Weekly Shopping
├── Costco Trip
├── Camping Supplies
The application detects new notes and note updates automatically.
Parse note content into structured items.
Input:
milk
2 cans tuna
greek yogurt
bananas
Output:
Milk
Tuna (2 cans)
Greek Yogurt
Bananas
Multiple entries are automatically merged.
Example:
Milk
milk
MILK
Result:
Milk
Each item receives a completion checkbox.
Example:
[ ] Milk
[ ] Eggs
[ ] Bread
[x] Bananas
Support multiple grocery stores.
Examples:
- Kroger
- Walmart
- Publix
- Aldi
- Costco
- Custom Stores
Each store can have its own aisle configuration.
Items can be automatically grouped by aisle.
Example:
Produce
[ ] Bananas
[ ] Lettuce
Dairy
[ ] Milk
[ ] Eggs
Frozen
[ ] Frozen Pizza
This minimizes backtracking while shopping.
Users can take photos of aisle signs.
Example:
Aisle 7
Pasta
Sauces
Rice
The application uses OCR to create store aisle maps.
Supported technologies:
- Apple Vision Framework
- Image preprocessing
- OCR extraction
- Category mapping
The application learns item locations over time.
Example:
Almond Milk → Dairy
Protein Bars → Health Foods
Coffee Beans → Coffee
Future shopping trips automatically benefit from prior mappings.
GroceryNote Sorter
│
├── Notes Monitor
│
├── Grocery Parser
│
├── Shopping List Engine
│
├── Aisle Mapping Engine
│
├── OCR Processor
│
├── Learning Engine
│
├── SQLite Database
│
└── SwiftUI User Interface
- SwiftUI
- AppKit (where required)
- Swift
- AppleScript Integration
- SQLite
- Vision Framework
- Apple Notes
- Apple Events
- File Monitoring
id
item_name
normalized_name
quantity
completed
source_note
date_added
store_id
aisle_id
id
store_name
location
id
store_id
aisle_name
aisle_order
id
store_id
item_name
aisle_id
confidence
source
All data remains local to the user's Mac.
No cloud services are required.
No grocery data is transmitted externally.
No user accounts are required.
- Apple Notes monitoring
- Grocery item extraction
- Shopping checklist
- SQLite storage
- Manual aisle assignment
- Store profiles
- Smart deduplication improvements
- Shopping history learning
- Import and export
- OCR aisle recognition
- Automatic aisle mapping
- Store layout optimization
- iPhone companion app
- iCloud synchronization
- Shared family grocery lists
- AI item categorization
- AI aisle prediction
- Shopping route optimization
Current Status: Planning / Architecture
This repository is under active development.
MIT License
Contributions, bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests are welcome.
Create the best Apple Notes powered grocery shopping assistant for macOS by combining automation, organization, and intelligent aisle based shopping workflows.