Capsicum by Illuminated Bits

FAQ

Basics

What is Capsicum?

Capsicum is a daily planner for iOS inspired by beautiful paper-based planners. It helps you plan your day, track your habits, and tell your story.

What does the name Capsicum mean?

Capsicum is an alternative name for bell pepper, as it is known in the US. The fruit is known as capsicum in other parts of the world, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, and India. It comes from the Latin root “capsa”, which means box. Similarly, the app uses little independent components (virtual boxes) such as Events, Weather, and To Do, and combines them together to give a fuller picture of your day. We like the name because it is different and a nod to our Australian designer.

Availability

Which platforms is Capsicum available on?

Capsicum is currently available on iOS for both iPhone and iPad. It is not currently available for Apple Watch, Mac, Android, web, or Windows.

Why isn’t Capsicum available in Russia?

We appreciate the interest in using Capsicum in Russia. However, Russia has strict laws prohibiting apps that use encryption. We believe encryption is important for the privacy and security of our customers, so we are unable to offer Capsicum in the Russian App Store at this time.

Will there be an Android app?

We are grateful for the interest of those on the Android platform. We are open to developing Capsicum as an Android app, but have no current date for this at this time.

Will there be a Mac app?

Yes, we plan on releasing a Mac app for Capsicum. Apple is expected to announce tools for developers this June to help bring iOS apps to the Mac. This will assist us greatly in bringing Capsicum to the Mac.

Will there be a web version?

Yes, we plan on having a web version of Capsicum. We do not have a timeline for this at this stage, but it is very much a desire of ours.

Subscriptions

Why do you charge a subscription fee?

We charge a subscription fee to cover our expenses in developing the app, including our labor, cost of software, developer account fees, the weather service, data hosting, and much more. We are a small team who would like Capsicum to stay around for many years, and to do so, it has to be sustainable.

We want you to absolutely love Capsicum and only pay if it is of value to you. We offer a generous free trial for 14 days, that allows you to fully use and experience the app before deciding if you want to commit to a subscription. We do not automatically charge you at the end of a trial, as we do not want you to be charged simply because you forget to cancel. Subscribe only if and when you want to.

What does a subscription provide?

Subscriptions allow you full read-and-write access to the app. Without a subscription, you can only read your existing data, but you cannot edit it. You will also be supporting the continued development of the app.

What are the subscription options?

There are two subscription options, Monthly and Annual. Monthly costs $1.99/month and Annual costs $19.99/year*. There is also a free 14-day trial you can take advantage of, which does not automatically charge you when it expires and does not count unused days against your trial period.

*Prices are in USD and vary according to your currency, check the app for the price in your region.

How do I cancel my subscription?

If you have an active subscription you wish to cancel, inside Capsicum you can go to Settings > Subscription Details > Manage Subscriptions. Tapping this will take you into your device’s iTunes Store. Tap on Capsicum under your Active Subscriptions, you’ll see an option to “Cancel Subscription” which you can tap.

You can also cancel your subscription by going into the iOS Settings app > Your Name > iTunes & App Stores > Apple ID > View Apple ID > Subscriptions.

It’s also accessible from App Store > Today > (Your Profile Pic) > Manage Subscriptions.

I subscribed and the app is still asking me to subscribe, what do I do?

Data Added in Capsicum

Where is my data stored?

We store your data locally on your device and in the cloud using Google Firebase. When saving to the cloud, we encrypt the data for privacy and security. The cloud portion ensures your data syncs between your different devices and also serves as an online backup.

There are a few exceptions of data we do not encrypt, including your email address when you sign up for an account and your Events - which we do not store on our servers or transmit outside of your device

What happens to my data I enter during the trial if I choose not to subscribe?

If you choose to not subscribe, we keep your data, only it becomes read-only and you cannot edit it unless you subscribe. However, we do offer Export, where you can export your existing data as .TXT and .CSV files. Export is available to both subscribers and non-subscribers alike. So, if you tried Capsicum and it was not for you, you can still easily get your data out.

You can also also optionally create an account to keep your data backed up in the cloud and it will available to you in the future if you sign in again.

What happens to my data if I choose to cancel my subscription?

If you choose to cancel your subscription, we keep your data, only it becomes read-only and you cannot edit it unless you re-subscribe.

However, we do offer Export, where you can export your existing data as .TXT and .CSV files. Export is available to both subscribers and non-subscribers alike.

You can also also optionally create an account to keep your data backed up in the cloud and it will available to you in the future if you sign in again.

What happens to my data if I delete the app?

If you delete the app, your data will return when you reinstall. But to be safe, create an account before deleting the app to ensure there is an online backup of your data.

How can I permanently remove my account and all data?

We are sorry to see you go, but understand that Capsicum is not for everyone. Currently, there is no way within the app to wipe your account and all data yourself, but you can write to us on hello@capsicum.app and we will be happy to help.

What should I do to keep my data safe in Capsicum if I get a new device?

If you get a new device, the best thing to do is create an account for Capsicum on your current device before you wipe it or transfer the data. Inside the app, go to Settings > My Account > I’m new to Capsicum, and provide an email and a password. That way your data will be backed up online and accessible even if you delete the app and start afresh. Capsicum is able to bring up your data even without an account, but this adds an extra layer of security.

If you backup your phone to iCloud or iTunes and restore this to a new phone, Capsicum will also keep your data and continue to work as before. We still recommend creating an account as an extra precaution, though.

Notebook Customization

How do I customize my Notebooks?

Capsicum offers a wide range of customizations for your Notebooks. To customize your Notebook, tap the Style button below the Notebook cover of your choice on the main screen. Here, you can change your cover, primary color, default decorative tape, default heading style (font), font color, default date format, visible calendars for Events, and choose whether you want incomplete tasks to be automatically migrated to the next day.

How do I change the weather temperature units?

Capsicum uses your device’s region settings to automatically display the weather temperature units in either Fahrenheit (ºF) or Celsius (ºC). That means if you live in the US, for example, your weather will automatically display in Fahrenheit, and if you live in Australia, your weather will show in Celsius. After many requests to change the units, we added a setting in version 1.1.0 to override the units if you wish. From the main screen, tap the circle Settings button and you’ll see a Units setting right at the bottom, tap to select your choice.

How do I customize the calendars that show in my Notebook?

You may wish to choose which calendars display in a particular Notebook. With the Notebook cover in view on the main screen, tap Style. Scroll down to the bottom, where you will find “Visible Calendars”, tap the “Edit Calendars” to make your selection.

Feature Requests

I want Apple Pencil support, when is this coming?

Apple Pencil support has been a strong request from our customers and is also a strong desire of ours. It is something we hope to ship in the second quarter of 2019. Our plan for Apple Pencil support is for you to have the ability to create sketches or hand-written notes in the Loose Leaf section of your Notebooks and perhaps at a later date, scribbling in the margins of your Notebook.