QuickPin User Guide (Beta)
QuickPin helps you capture where you are, what you're thinking, and what you're looking at — in one fast flow. Talk while the camera is live, tap the shutter when ready, and QuickPin saves a pin. GPS is included when it can get a fix; if it can’t, you can Save without GPS and add a location later. Everything saves on your phone first, so it works offline.
This guide matches QuickPin 1.0.0 on Android build 37+ and iPhone TestFlight build 27+.
Beta website: https://quickpinapp.com
(also https://quickpin-beta.web.app)
Table of contents
- Getting the beta app
- First launch & permissions
- Capture Mode — creating a pin
- Photo watermarks
- Saved pins — list, map & folders
- Pin details — view, share & markup
- Feedback
- Settings
- QuickPin Cloud & web dashboard
- Free vs Pro
- Tips & troubleshooting
- Quick reference
Getting the beta app
| Platform | How to install |
|---|---|
| Android | Open quickpinapp.com/download → enter your name and email → tap Download latest APK. |
| iPhone | Open the same download page in Safari → enter your name and email → tap Download for iPhone (TestFlight). |
iPhone note: The website link opens TestFlight — it is not a direct APK-style download. You need Apple's TestFlight app.
First launch & permissions
When you first use QuickPin, allow these when asked:
| Permission | Why QuickPin needs it |
|---|---|
| Location | Places the pin on the map and fills in the address |
| Microphone | Records your spoken note |
| Speech recognition (iPhone) | Turns speech into text |
| Camera | Attaches a photo to the pin |
If location doesn't work later: Settings → Privacy → Location Services → On, then find QuickPin → While Using the App.
If the mic doesn't work: Check that QuickPin has microphone access in your phone's app permissions. On iPhone, speech recognition must also be allowed.
Capture Mode — creating a pin
Tap + Pin (or open the app — if Start in Capture Mode is on in Settings, you land here immediately).
Every plan uses the same Capture Mode: one live screen where GPS, the camera preview, and speech recognition start together. Talk and shoot in either order.
What you'll see
Top bar
- Cancel — leave capture and return to Saved pins without saving.
- ⚡ Flash — toggle flash for the next shot (visible while the shutter is shown).
- Listening… / Processing… / Mic paused — speech status.
- GPS line — e.g.
±8m excellent,Getting location…, or Retry location / Save without GPS if GPS failed.
While capturing
- Your live transcript appears above the controls.
- Clear — erase the transcript and dictate again (mic restarts).
- Pause mic / Start mic — stop listening without losing the note, then pick up where you left off. Auto-save waits until the mic is running and speech has finished.
- Hint line — e.g. Talk naturally · tap shutter when ready.
Camera & zoom
- Tap the preview to focus on a point (a square marks the spot).
- Tap the shutter (large orange button) to take a photo.
- Zoom presets — 1×, 1.5×, 3×, 5× on the bar above the shutter.
- Swipe up or down on the preview, or left or right on the zoom bar, for smooth zoom between presets. A live badge (e.g. 2.3×) shows the current level.
- Thumbnails appear after you shoot; Retake removes the last photo (or Undo last when you have multiple).
Category
- After your first photo, category chips appear (Personal, Idea, Work, or your custom categories on Pro). QuickPin picks your last-used category by default.
Saving
- QuickPin auto-saves about 3 seconds after all of these are true: at least one photo, speech has finished (and you have not paused the mic), and GPS is ready.
- Tap Save anytime after a photo to save immediately.
- If GPS fails, the button becomes Save without GPS. You can add a location later from the pin.
- A photo is required — voice-only pins are not supported in Capture Mode.
- While saving you'll see Saving pin…; then you return to Saved pins.
Pro-only capture extras
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Photos per pin | 1 | Up to 4 |
| Add photo button | — | ✓ (lock the current note onto the last photo, then record a new note for the next shot) |
On Pro, you can keep talking after each photo. Use Add photo to start a fresh note for the next shot without leaving capture.
Android voice shortcut
Say "Hey Google, create a Quick Pin" to open capture with voice ready (when Google Assistant is set up).
Photo watermarks
Every plan gets photo watermarks on Android and iPhone. Watermarks are part of the core pin — not a paid upgrade.
New pins keep the original photo on disk. The app draws the watermark live on:
- Saved pins list thumbnails
- Pin detail photos
- Zoom
The overlay shows:
- QuickPin branding (top)
- Location and capture date/time (top)
- Your note (bottom, when there is one)
Edit the note or add a location later — the overlay updates immediately. Share and photo export burn a JPEG with the current overlay. Markup still edits the original photo.
Pins saved in older builds already have the watermark burned into the JPEG. Those stay as-is (no second overlay).
What you'll see when
| Screen | Watermark? |
|---|---|
| Capture preview | No — raw camera image |
| Saved pin detail, list thumbnail, zoom | Yes — live overlay on new pins; burned-in on older pins |
| Share and export photos | Yes — baked into the file at share/export time |
iPhone testers
TestFlight builds before 19 often saved photos without a watermark due to an iOS bug. Build 20+ burned the watermark at save. Build 27+ keeps the original and overlays live.
If a shared photo has no watermark:
- Open that pin on the phone that created it.
- No watermark in the app either → update the app and save a new test pin.
- Watermark in the app but not in Messages → rare; report via Feedback.
Saved pins — list, map & folders
Open Saved pins from the main tab bar, after Cancel on capture, or set Startup to open Saved pins first (Settings).
Recent pins by default
Saved pins loads your most recent 30 days first so the list stays fast as your library grows.
- The header shows something like 12 pins · last 30 days.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Load older pins (N) to bring in the next 30-day chunk.
- Archive and Deleted tab counts reflect your full library, even when the list shows a recent window.
Folder tabs
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Saved | Active pins |
| Archive | Pins you've archived — Free auto-archives the oldest Saved pin after 100 |
| Deleted | Soft-deleted pins — remove forever or clean out in bulk |
Free: Saved holds 100 pins. Capture warns you after 90. Saving past 100 auto-archives the oldest pin (open Archive to find it). Pro keeps unlimited pins in Saved.
To bring an archived pin back, open it and tap Move to Saved. If Free Saved is already at 100, QuickPin warns you first — restoring will auto-archive your oldest Saved pin.
List actions
- Tap a pin → full detail view.
- Tap the thumbnail → zoom the photo.
- Long-press a pin → a Delete button appears next to that row.
- On Saved and Archive, delete moves the pin to Deleted.
- On Deleted, delete removes the pin permanently.
- Tap the dimmed area elsewhere to cancel.
Use category chips below the folder tabs to filter (All, Personal, Idea, Work, or custom categories on Pro).
In the Deleted folder, Clean out Deleted permanently removes every pin in that folder at once.
Map view (Pro)
Tap Map view to see loaded pins on a map (same time window as the list — load older pins first if you need them on the map). Tap a marker for a quick preview, then Tap for full details. Toggle Satellite / Map at the bottom. + New pin starts capture from the map.
Pin details — view, share & markup
From any pin:
- Photo gallery — swipe between photos (Pro: up to 4). Tap Zoom.
- Share — system share sheet with the watermarked photo (when the pin has one) and a Google Maps link when the pin has GPS. No photo → map link only.
- Markup — draw on the photo:
- Free: pen only.
- Pro: arrows, text, zoom, crop, rotate (enable tools in Settings → Photo markup).
- Pro text labels: Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, or XL (default in Settings → Photo markup → Text size).
- Note — your transcribed text. Tap Edit to change it; the photo overlay updates on new pins.
- Location — address, coordinates, accuracy. Open in Google Maps (Apple Maps on iPhone). If the pin was saved without GPS, tap Add location to use current GPS or tap a map.
- Category — tap a chip to change it.
- Move to Saved — on archived pins, returns the pin to Saved. Free warns you if Saved is already at 100.
- Delete — moves the pin to Deleted.
Cloud status (Pro, when cloud sync is not Off):
- ☁️ Backed up to cloud — synced.
- 📱 Saved locally · will sync when online — waiting for network or manual sync.
Feedback
Every screen (except the splash) has a Feedback button in the lower-left corner.
Tap it to email contact@quickpinapp.com with:
- Subject
QP feedback/{page}(e.g.QP feedback/pins,QP feedback/capture) - App version, build number, and platform pre-filled
Add your notes in the body and send. If no mail app is installed, the app shows the address to copy.
Settings
Open ⚙ Settings from Saved pins.
About
- App version and build number.
- Open beta website — quickpinapp.com.
Plan
- See what's included in Free, Pro, Team, and Enterprise.
- Beta builds let you switch plans to preview features.
Appearance (Pro)
- Light, Dark, or Same as device.
Startup
- Start in Capture Mode — On opens ready to pin; Off opens Saved pins.
Categories (Pro)
- Add, rename, recolor, or delete categories beyond the three defaults.
Photo markup
- Choose which tools appear in the editor (pen, arrows, text, etc.).
- Pro: set default color, stroke size, and text size (Tiny → XL).
QuickPin Cloud (Pro)
- Cloud sync (default Off):
- Off — pins stay on this device only.
- On — upload and sync when online.
- Manual — upload only when you tap Re-sync pins to cloud.
- Sign in or create an account, then use Re-sync when needed.
Local backup (Pro)
- Export range — Last day (default), Last week, Last month, All pins, or Custom.
- Export pins and photos as a ZIP.
- Import a previous backup ZIP to restore pins.
QuickPin Cloud & web dashboard
Pro feature — backs up pins and lets you verify sync in a browser.
On your phone (Settings → QuickPin Cloud)
- Set Cloud sync to On or Manual (defaults to Off).
- Enter email and password (6+ characters).
- Tap Create account or Sign in.
- With On, local pins upload when online. With Manual, tap Re-sync pins to cloud.
You don't need to sign in to capture — everything saves locally first.
On the web
- Go to https://quickpinapp.com/dashboard.
- Sign in or Create account with the same email and password as the app.
- Browse synced pins — list, map, and detail.
- Use Search and category tabs to find pins.
- Show deleted includes pins in your Deleted folder.
The web dashboard is for reviewing sync during beta — not for creating or editing pins.
Free vs Pro
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Capture Mode (talk & shoot together) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zoom presets & swipe zoom (1×–5×) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Flash toggle | ✓ | ✓ |
| Voice + photo + GPS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Photo watermarks (live overlay; bake on share) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Photos per pin | 1 | Up to 4 |
| Add photo in capture | — | ✓ |
| Default categories | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom categories | — | ✓ |
| Map view | — | ✓ |
| Archive folder | ✓ (auto-archive oldest after 100 saved) | ✓ |
| Deleted folder (soft delete) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Share pin (photo + map link) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Photo markup — pen | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced markup + text sizes | — | ✓ |
| Light / dark theme | — | ✓ |
| Cloud backup & sync | — | ✓ |
| Export / import backup | — | ✓ |
Tips & troubleshooting
GPS is slow or stuck on "Getting location…"
- Wait a few seconds after opening capture — accuracy improves over time.
- Step outside or near a window.
- Check Location Services is on and QuickPin is While Using.
- Tap Retry location on capture if it failed.
- Or tap Save without GPS, then open the pin and Add location (current GPS or tap the map).
- Fully close and reopen the app if location was denied earlier.
Voice note is empty or wrong
- Speak after Listening… appears.
- Tap Clear to erase and dictate again, or Start mic if listening stopped.
- On Android, Google speech recognition must be available.
Camera won't open
- Grant camera permission when prompted, or enable it in phone Settings → QuickPin.
- Tap Retry camera if the preview failed to load.
Pin won't save
- You need at least one photo. GPS is preferred, but if location failed you can Save without GPS.
- Wait for speech to finish, or tap Save after shooting.
- If auto-save seems stuck, tap Save manually.
Shared photo has no watermark
- The in-app overlay is live; Share bakes it into the file. Update to the latest build and try a new test pin.
- On iPhone, use TestFlight build 27+.
- If the overlay is missing in the app too, tap Feedback with your build number.
Capture preview has no watermark
- Normal — watermarks appear after the pin is saved (list, detail, zoom), not on the live camera preview.
I don't see old pins in Saved pins
- The list shows the last 30 days first. Scroll down and tap Load older pins.
Cloud sync not working
- Confirm Pro, signed in, and Cloud sync is On (or Manual + Re-sync).
- Check internet connection.
- Verify on the web dashboard with the same account.
Android APK won't install
- Enable Install unknown apps for Chrome or your file manager.
- Advanced Protection may block sideloading — adjust device policy or use a non-protected profile.
iPhone TestFlight link says beta unavailable
- External testing may be in Beta App Review — wait for approval in App Store Connect.
- Open the link in Safari, not an in-app browser.
App shows "Quick Pin hit a problem"
- Fully close the app and reopen.
- On Android, if the map broke after a dev reload, a full restart usually fixes it.
Can't tap pins after going back from pin detail
- Update to the latest beta APK from the website.
Quick reference
| I want to… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Create a pin | + Pin → talk & tap shutter → wait for auto-save or tap Save |
| Save without GPS | Capture → Save without GPS (when location fails) |
| Add a location later | Open pin → Add location |
| Edit a note | Open pin → Edit on the note |
| Restore from Archive | Open archived pin → Move to Saved |
| Zoom while capturing | Presets 1×–5× or swipe on preview / zoom bar |
| Clear my note | Clear during capture |
| Leave without saving | Cancel |
| Find recent pins | Saved pins (last 30 days load automatically) |
| Find older pins | Scroll list → Load older pins |
| Delete a pin | Long-press row → Delete, or open pin → Delete |
| See pins on a map | Map view (Pro) |
| Send beta feedback | Feedback (lower-left) |
| Back up to the cloud | Settings → Cloud sync On or Manual → sign in (Pro) |
| Check sync in a browser | quickpinapp.com/dashboard |
| Permanently remove deleted pins | Deleted tab → long-press → delete, or Clean out Deleted |
| Share a pin | Open pin → Share |
| Change theme | Settings → Appearance (Pro) |
| Export recent pins only | Settings → Local backup → Last day / week / month / custom (Pro) |
QuickPin beta — questions or bug reports: tap Feedback in the app or email contact@quickpinapp.com.