Support

Updated 3 October 2026 · We usually reply within a day.

Need a hand, found a bug, or have an idea? Email support@cardlio.app — a screenshot of the card that misbehaved (if you're comfortable sharing it) makes fixes much faster.

Prefer a manual? The cardlio handbook (PDF) walks through every feature on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Guides: no subscription · scan a stack at once · trade shows · cards into your CRM · private and offline.

Frequently asked questions

What does cardlio cost, and where can I get it?

cardlio is a free download for iPhone and Mac, and your first 10 cards are free. One purchase — not a subscription — then unlocks unlimited cards, every export, Google Contacts and Office 365 sync, the team library, and NFC and Apple Wallet for your own card. The iPhone and Mac apps are unlocked separately; your library syncs between them either way. It is available worldwide on the App Store, which shows the price in your local currency.

A card scanned with a wrong name or company — what now?

Tap the field on the review screen and correct it; the fix saves immediately. Fields the app wasn't sure about are flagged, and tapping one zooms the card photo to the spot it was read from. Your corrections carry over: the next card from the same company reuses the company name and office address you saved. Already-saved cards can be re-parsed on the Mac with the wand button next to the address.

Which AI does cardlio use, and do I need a key?

Recognition itself is on-device and needs nothing. Three optional helpers polish hard cards: Apple Intelligence on your device (iOS 27 / macOS 27), Apple Private Cloud Compute — pick it as the provider in Settings, no key, no account, Apple keeps nothing, with a daily allowance per person — and your own Claude or Gemini key for the hardest cards. Company Insights (the news about a company) needs Claude or Gemini, because Apple's model cannot browse the web; with Apple selected, Settings shows a Company Insights row where you choose which of the two fetches it.

Which languages can cardlio read?

cardlio reads the text of a card in 28 languages, all of it on your device, nothing uploaded: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Romanian, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Arabic, Hindi and Marathi. A card that mixes two of them, such as English on one side and Japanese on the other, is fine. Sorting the text into name, company and address is best on cards in Latin script, Chinese, Japanese and Korean; on Arabic, Thai and Hindi cards the text is read but the fields may need more correcting. Handwritten notes are recognised in Latin script. The list is Apple's on-device text recognition on iOS 27 and macOS 27.

How do I sync my cards to Google Contacts?

Connect your Google account under Settings → Google (on iPhone/iPad it's in Settings). On Google's permission screen leave the contacts option ticked — without it sign-in completes but nothing can sync. Then choose Sync to Google Contacts from the Export menu. The sync is one-way: new cards are added, edited ones updated, deleted ones removed from Google too. Each contact carries a hidden cardlio identifier, so syncing again never creates duplicates, even after a reinstall. cardlio only ever reads back the contacts it created itself and never touches the rest of your address book.

I connected Google but the sync fails with a permission error.

Google lets you untick contacts on its sign-in screen and still finish signing in, which leaves cardlio with a token that can't reach your contacts. Disconnect Google in Settings, connect again, and leave contacts ticked. If the option is missing or greyed out, a Google Workspace administrator restricts the app and cardlio can't change that.

How do I sync my cards to Outlook / Office 365?

Connect your Microsoft account under Settings → Office 365 (on iPhone/iPad it's in Settings), then choose Sync to Office 365 from the Export menu. cardlio adds new cards, updates changed ones, and removes deleted ones in your own Outlook contacts. Each contact is matched by a hidden identifier, so running the sync again never creates duplicates — even after a reinstall. Your contacts go only to your own Microsoft 365 mailbox; we never see them.

Which export formats are supported?

vCard (.vcf) for Apple/Google/Outlook contacts, a generic CSV, an Outlook-ready CSV, and a Salesforce-ready CSV that maps automatically in Salesforce's Data Import Wizard. You can also sync directly to Google Contacts or Office 365, post every saved card to your CRM through a webhook, or back up the whole library as one zip — see below.

Can cardlio send cards straight to my CRM?

Yes. cardlio can post every card you save to a web address you choose — a Zapier or Make webhook reaches Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho and most other systems, or point it at your own server. Set it up under Settings → CRM (Mac) or Settings (iPhone/iPad), paste the address, and use Send test, which posts a made-up contact so you can map the fields. This is the only feature that sends your cards to a destination you choose, and it is off until you switch it on. The card photo is never sent. Step-by-step recipes for Zapier and Make — HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Google Sheets — with every field cardlio sends.

How do I back up my library?

Mac: File → Library → Back Up Library…. iPhone/iPad: More menu → Library → Back Up Library…. The backup is one .zip with every field, both card photos and a vCard per contact — readable without cardlio. Restore from Backup… in the same menu skips cards already in your library, so restoring twice changes nothing. A backup covers what iCloud can't: a mistaken delete that has already synced everywhere.

What is the team library, and how do colleagues join?

A team is one shared pile of cards for a fair or a project: everyone on it can add cards, read them in full, and claim the ones they will follow up. It's part of the one unlock. Create a team (Mac: the Team toolbar button; iPhone/iPad: More menu → Team Library…), then add each colleague by the email address or phone number of their Apple Account and send them the invite link. The link only opens for people on the list, so a forwarded link lets nobody else in. Nothing is shared automatically — a card reaches the team only when you send it. Colleagues without an iPhone or Mac can join and work in a browser at team.cardlio.app, on any computer or phone. Everything lives in the team creator's own iCloud; we run no server for it.

I accepted a team invite but the team doesn't show.

Apple's shared database can take a few seconds to list a newly joined team; cardlio keeps it on screen from the invite and re-checks for a short while. If it still doesn't appear, tap Refresh in the team library, and check that you accepted the invite with the same Apple Account the team owner added — the invite is tied to that address or number.

How does Caller ID work?

When someone whose card you scanned rings your iPhone, their name and company appear on the incoming call — without adding anyone to your Contacts. Two switches are needed: in cardlio, Settings → Caller ID → Name incoming calls; then in iOS, Settings → Apps → Phone → Call Blocking & Identification → switch on cardlio Caller ID. That second step is iOS's own permission and no app can do it for you. Your Contacts always win, so to test it, call from a number that is not in your Contacts. Nothing leaves your iPhone.

What do “Ask your network” and the Siri features need?

Apple Intelligence, i.e. iOS 27 or macOS 27 on a supported device. On an older system the Ask button isn't shown. Ask answers a question in plain language — “who did I meet in Singapore who works in shipping?” — and lists every card it names underneath, because your device does the searching and the answer can only name cards you actually have. Siri knows your cards as people on iOS 27 too: “text the person from Tristar” goes straight to Messages. All of it runs on your device and is free.

Can I scan an email signature or a screenshot instead of a paper card?

Yes. Share a screenshot or a photo of a signature, chat message or contact card into cardlio (iPhone: the share sheet or the Photos import; Mac: drag it in), and it is read like a card. Handwritten notes on a card — “met in Shanghai”, a booth number — are recognised as handwriting and go into Notes rather than being mistaken for the title.

I forgot to start Event mode at the conference.

Tag the cards afterwards, in bulk. Mac: select them in the gallery, right-click, Tag Event…. iPhone/iPad: More menu → Select Multiple…, tick the cards, then Tag Event. The tag becomes a search filter, appears in follow-up drafts and goes along to your CRM.

Which NFC tags work for sharing my card?

Use NTAG216 tags — they have enough memory for your card link. Smaller tags (NTAG213/215) usually don't fit and the app will tell you. A written tag works when tapped by both iPhones (XS and newer) and Android phones. cardlio can also read a tag or a QR code that someone hands you — More menu → Tap NFC Card…, or scan the code — and adds the contact; a link to a hosted contact page is fetched only after you agree.

Someone tapped my tag / opened my link and saw a placeholder avatar instead of my photo.

That's by design: NFC tags and QR codes carry a compact version of your card without the photo (tags are tiny). Links you share from the Share Link button include your photo.

My cards aren't syncing between iPhone and Mac.

Check that both devices are signed into the same Apple ID with iCloud switched on for cardlio. Sync usually catches up within a minute of opening the app; a Mac that has been asleep for a while can take a few minutes to receive a day of changes. If it still doesn't move, quit and reopen the app on the device that lags.

How do I get my card into Apple Wallet?

Open My Card, fill in your details, and tap Add to Apple Wallet. Creating the pass needs an internet connection; the pass itself works offline forever after, and shows on a paired Apple Watch.

Does cardlio work offline?

Yes — scanning, recognition, and your library are fully offline. Only address verification (Apple Maps), the optional cloud AI and Private Cloud Compute, the Google, Office 365 and iCloud syncs, the team library, and Wallet pass creation need a connection.

Where is my data stored?

On your devices and in your private iCloud. See the privacy policy — the short version is: we run no servers that ever see your contacts.