Questions, answered plainly.

Nivala is a dinner-decision app for households where not everyone eats the same way. Each day it shows three dinners that fit everyone's dietary rules and allergens, says why it picked each one, and tells you when to start cooking so dinner is ready on time. More about Nivala.

Yes. Nivala is free and supported by Google AdMob banner and interstitial ads. Ads are non-personalised, and in the EEA and UK Google's consent prompt runs first. The terms say it is free today and that could change with reasonable notice.

No. Nivala works fully without one and keeps everything on your phone. Add an email in Settings if you want your household, dishes and meals to follow you to a new phone. There is no password: you sign in with a six-digit code sent to that email.

Yes. The suggestion engine runs on your phone, so suggestions, your household and your diary all work without a connection. Restaurants, weather, dish photos, backup and ads need one.

Halal (avoid haram only, or haram and doubtful), no beef, vegetarian, eggetarian, vegan, Jain, pescatarian and kosher screening, plus ten allergens including hidden sources like cashew paste in korma. Set them once for the whole household and every suggestion is checked against all of them.

No. It checks dishes against the rules you set and tells you what it decided. It is not a certifying body. For a strict observance or a medical allergy, confirm independently before you eat.

No. Rules decide, and a model never does. Nivala checks every ingredient against a fixed table of rulings. An AI can explain a ruling afterwards, but it cannot change one. How Nivala decides shows the whole pipeline.

The dish is held back and marked uncertain. Nivala never assumes an unknown ingredient is safe, because a wrong “this is safe” is worse than an honest “we're not sure”. For anyone who keeps a dietary rule, that dish is left out.

They are worked out from each dish's ingredients and shown as estimates, not measurements. Calories have not been checked by a dietitian. If you set a calorie target that is unsafe, Nivala refuses it and explains why, rather than quietly changing your number.

On the welcome screen tap “Already have an account? Restore your data”, enter the email you added on your old phone, then the six-digit code we send. It only works if you added an email before switching.

Only when you tap to add one. A photo on a dish or fridge ingredient is uploaded so its background can be removed. A meal photo stays on your phone unless you turn on backup. “Estimate calories from photo” and “Recipe from a photo” ask first, then send the photo to xAI through our server. We do not store it.

No. If you allow it, it is used while the app is open to suggest dishes common where you live, find restaurants and check the weather. It is never used in the background.

No. Nothing is sold to data brokers, and there is no analytics SDK beyond ad delivery. Ads are non-personalised, and Google's ad requests are kept separate from your household and meal data.

In the app, go to Settings → Delete account. It erases your account and everything backed up, and clears your phone. No phone to hand? Email us from the address on the account and we will delete it within 30 days. Step by step.