Frequently asked questions

Sow needs enough detail to identify something worth remembering. Name the plant and what changed. If the walk has finished without a memory, try a short new walk with that detail.

Keep Sow open and connected until the walk finishes. If it fails, open the walk and choose Retry. If it keeps failing, contact support and include the troubleshooting details.

Yes, but only on the same calendar day. Open a completed walk and choose Continue this walk before midnight. After midnight, the option is no longer available and the walk stays complete.

Yes. Open the memory from Walks or Plants and edit its text. Your correction changes that memory, not the original recording.

Open a finished walk, choose the actions menu, then choose Delete walk and confirm. This removes the walk and its memories. Plants with memories from other walks remain in your journal.

This setting controls how long the original audio stays in your journal on your device, or in your private iCloud account if you use iCloud. The default is 3 days. It does not describe AI processing retention. When the local recording is removed, its transcript and memories stay in your journal.

Yes. Open the memory’s photo options menu to replace or remove its photo. If there is an illustration for that plant, it may appear again after you remove the photo.

Yes. Sow saves its own copy for your journal, so deleting the original from your photo library does not remove the photo from Sow.

The memory does not have a photo yet. Sow uses a built-in illustration when one is available, or a botanical placeholder, so a new walk does not look empty.

Sow has a library of illustrations for common plants, but it is not exhaustive. If a plant unique to your garden or part of the world does not have one, request it from the photo options menu. We will email it to you as soon as it is ready and add it to the next build.

Allow camera or photo library access for Sow in iPhone or iPad Settings, then return to the app. You can still choose a photo from your library if camera access is unavailable.

Sow always keeps a fast display copy for your journal. Choose Small when you only need to view photos in the app. Medium keeps a sharper 3,000-pixel copy. A future version of Sow will let you print your photos in a garden book, so choose Full Size if you plan to use that feature.

Ask about a plant’s care, growth, pests, disease, or a change you have noticed. Include the details that matter to you. Sow uses the selected plant and your question to prepare an answer.

Yes. Add an optional photo before or after you record your question. We encourage you to include one when it shows the problem or detail you are asking about. It gives Sow more context and can lead to a more detailed answer.

Check your connection, then open the saved question and try Ask Sow again. If it still cannot finish, contact support and include the troubleshooting details.

Yes. A successful question and answer become a dated part of that plant’s history. Open Ask or a plant’s Questions section to revisit them.

AI can make mistakes or miss context. Review and correct your transcript before you ask, then treat the answer as a starting point. You can ask another question at any time, and each answer stays in the plant’s history.

Use it as a starting point, not a diagnosis. AI can make mistakes or miss context. Check authoritative local sources before making decisions about pesticides, plant toxicity, or food safety.

Your journal stays on your device by default. If you choose iCloud storage, your journal, photos, and recordings can sync through your private iCloud account.

Yes. Choose This Device Only in Journal Storage. Your journal will not sync, and Sow cannot recover it if the device is lost before you transfer or restore it from a backup.

Choose iCloud storage and sign in to the same Apple Account on both devices. On the new device, choose to open your iCloud garden. The first sync can take a little time.

Confirm that both devices use the same Apple Account and that iCloud is available. Keep a connection while you try again. If prompted, choose Open my iCloud garden instead of starting a separate journal.

Yes. In Settings, open Journal Storage and choose iCloud or This Device Only. Close and reopen Sow for the change to take effect. Switching to This Device Only leaves your existing iCloud journal untouched.

You can read and edit your local journal without a connection. Garden Walk processing and Ask need an internet connection because they send content for AI processing. Weather may also be unavailable.

From Today, open Settings. There you can update your garden details, weather preferences, gallery options, photo storage, and other app choices.

When you save a Garden Walk, its audio and transcript are sent for processing. Ask sends your question and optional photo. Your journal content otherwise stays on your device or, if enabled, in your private iCloud account.

No. Sow does not sell or rent personal information, use garden content to create advertising profiles, or run third-party behavioral advertising in the app.

Your journal is stored on your device or in your private iCloud account if you enable sync. Sow uses limited service records and access controls to operate the service, but no system can promise absolute security.

Sow does not keep your garden entries, photos, recordings, or annotations in its service records. It processes the content you submit for a Garden Walk or Ask request and keeps limited pseudonymous and technical records to operate and secure the service.

This is how long Sow keeps the original audio in your journal on your device, or in your private iCloud account if you use iCloud. The default is 3 days. In Settings, choose 1 week, 30 days, or Keep forever. Removing the local recording does not remove its transcript or memories.

In Settings, choose Permanently Delete Your Data and follow the confirmation steps. This removes your garden, walks, memories, photos, and recordings from this device. If you use iCloud, also review your iCloud data and Apple Account settings.

In Settings, choose Delete Account and Data. Confirm with the Apple Account you use for Sow. This deletes your Sow account and the local garden, walks, memories, photos, and recordings from your device.

They are a privacy-safe technical report for a failed Garden Walk or Ask request. It helps support investigate a problem without including your transcript or question-and-answer text.

Use the contact form on sow.garden and include what happened, what you expected, and the device you use. Add troubleshooting details when the app offers them.