CardLens Support

How do I scan a card?

Point the camera at it and tap Scan with Camera. Edge detection finds the card and straightens it; if it gets the edges wrong, drag the corners in the preview before you keep the shot.

The card is already an image on my iPhone.

Two ways in, depending on where it sits. Choose a Photo covers a card someone emailed you, or a screenshot of a signature, from your photo library. Import from Files covers one saved out of Mail, iCloud Drive or a scanner app, with no trip through Photos — and you can pick several files at once, which the batch queue then reviews one at a time.

Can I do a whole stack at once?

Yes. Photograph several cards in one go and each becomes its own contact, reviewed and saved one at a time.

Will CardLens create a second copy of someone I already have?

No, and that is rather the point. Before it writes anything, CardLens checks the card against your address book. If the person is already there it tells you first, and shows you field by field what updating them would change.

What happens to a detail I already have, but different?

New details are ticked and ready to add. Anything that would overwrite a value you already have starts switched off, shows both versions side by side, and says what accepting it costs. CardLens writes only what you agreed to.

I declined the contacts permission. Can I still use it?

Yes. CardLens hands the finished card to the Contacts app’s own save sheet instead: no duplicate check, but the card still gets in. If you change your mind, the permission lives in Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts → CardLens.

A field came out wrong. How do I fix it?

Everything left over from the card waits in a tray at the bottom. Tap a line to file it under the right field. Press and hold to split a line holding two facts, or to join one that wrapped across two lines. Clearing a field puts its text back in the tray rather than throwing it away, so nothing is lost while you rearrange.

How do I tell whether the card was misread or just mislabelled?

Tap Recognized Text. The card comes back with every line CardLens read drawn over it, numbered, beside what each line became. If the line is right but sitting under the wrong heading, move it in the tray; if the line itself is wrong, scan the card again with more light and the frame filled.

What do the confidence marks mean?

Each field shows how sure CardLens is of the value, so you know where to look before saving. VoiceOver reads the confidence along with the field, and it is never signalled by colour alone.

My device does not have Apple Intelligence.

Email, phone, address and website are read straight off the card either way. Name, company and title are the three that Apple Intelligence works out on-device; without it, the tray is how you label those three yourself. Everything else behaves the same.

The card has a QR code.

If it carries contact details, CardLens reads them straight off it rather than guessing from the printed text.

The card lists three phone numbers.

They come in labelled mobile, work and fax rather than as three identical entries, and each is saved exactly as the card prints it, extension and all.

Where did the LinkedIn address go?

A link to LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube is filed as a social profile on the contact, not dumped in with the websites. Look under the social profile section of the entry in Contacts.

The card has a company but no person on it.

It is saved as an organization, not as a nameless record.

Can the contact photo be the person rather than the card?

Yes, if the card carries a headshot: CardLens can crop to just the face and use that. It is optional and off by default — a photo of somebody’s card is more than the details printed on it — so turn it on in Settings if you want it.

Where are the card images kept?

Nowhere. CardLens keeps no library of its own. The contact goes into Contacts, and nothing about the card stays behind. One tap opens the new contact there.

What is free, and what does the purchase cover?

Your first 10 saved contacts are free. After that, a single purchase unlocks unlimited scanning for good. There is no subscription and no account to create.

I paid, but CardLens is asking again.

Tap Restore Purchases. Purchases follow the Apple Account that made them, so check that you are signed in with the same one — a different Media & Purchases account genuinely has to buy it again.

How do I get a refund?

Refunds are handled by Apple rather than by me. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com and sign in with your Apple Account.

Is anything uploaded?

No card image, and nothing printed on a card, ever leaves your device — the reading all happens on it, and there is no account or sign-in. CardLens does send anonymous usage statistics and crash reports so that problems get found and fixed, and you can turn that off in Settings. Neither ever includes card images, contact details, or anything read off a card. The privacy policy sets out the whole of it.