Getting Started with Shelf Companion for iPhone

Shelf Companion is the free iOS app for your Shelf workspace. It puts the field-side workflows of Shelf — scanning, kits, audits, custody, bookings — directly on your iPhone. The web platform stays your source of truth for workspace setup, configuration, billing, reporting, and admin work.

This guide walks through downloading the app, signing in, and using each of the core flows.

What You Need First

Before installing Shelf Companion:

An existing Shelf account. The app does not create a separate account or workspace — it connects to your current Shelf workspace using the same login. If you do not have one yet, sign up free at app.shelf.nu/join.
iPhone running iOS 15.1 or later.
Optional: assets in your workspace already labelled with Shelf QR codes (or registered Code 128, Code 39, EAN-13, DataMatrix, or external QR codes). If you do not have labels yet, you can still browse and act on assets manually — see Printing QR labels.

The app is free with any Shelf plan, including the free Personal tier. Nothing is sold through the app. If your workspace does not have an add-on enabled (for example, the Audits add-on), the app shows an informational message rather than a paywall.

1. Download the App

Search the App Store for "Shelf Companion" or open the direct link:

Download Shelf Companion on the App Store

The app is published by Shelf Asset Management, Inc., in the Productivity / Business category, age rating 4+. Global App Store propagation can take up to about a day after a release — the direct link works immediately.

Open the app and tap Sign in. Use the same email and password you use at app.shelf.nu — same workspace, same data, same permissions.

If your team uses SSO, tap Sign in and the app opens your organization's SSO flow in a secure in-app browser — the same login screen you use on the web. Your identity provider handles the password, one-time code, and any multi-factor step, then returns you to the app signed in. This works on both iPhone and Android. If you have not configured SSO yet, see User roles and their permissions and the SSO setup guide.

After sign-in, your session is held securely on the device using iOS Keychain. Signing out clears the token.

3. Switch Workspaces (if you have more than one)

If you belong to multiple Shelf workspaces, tap Settings in the app and choose the workspace you want to act in. You can switch at any time. The app respects each workspace's role-based access — base user, self-service member, admin, owner — so you only see and do what you are entitled to do.

4. Scan a QR Code or Barcode

Tap the Scan action from the home tab. Point the phone camera at a Shelf QR label or any registered barcode (Code 128, Code 39, EAN-13, DataMatrix, external QR).

If the code is linked to an asset in your workspace, the app jumps straight to the asset detail screen.
If the code already belongs to your workspace but is not linked to an asset yet (a sticker you claimed earlier, or a code whose asset was deleted), the app offers Create Asset. Tap it and the asset creation screen opens with that code attached, so the asset you save is linked to the physical label straight away. You need asset-creation permission in the workspace to see the button.
If the code has not been claimed by any workspace yet (a fresh sticker off a new label sheet), what happens depends on your role. Admins and owners claim it without leaving the app: the app offers Create New Asset and Link Existing Asset, and either one claims the code into the workspace you are currently in before continuing. Base and self-service members cannot claim codes at all, in the app or on the web, so they get Link in Browser and an administrator has to claim the sticker before it can be used. Codes that belong to a kit open in the browser for everyone.

Where a scan happened. From version 1.3.0 the app can record the phone's location on a scan, so an asset's record shows where it was last seen. The app asks for location permission once, the first time you open the scanner. It is entirely optional: decline and scanning works exactly as before, just without coordinates. The app only uses location while you have it open, never in the background, and a scan is never delayed waiting for a fix. This brings the app in line with the web scanner, which has always recorded the browser's location. You can change your mind at any time in your phone's settings.

Can't scan a label? Tap Enter code to type a QR ID, barcode value, or sequential ID (a SAM, such as SAM-0001) by hand. This is handy when a label is damaged, hard to reach, or printed on packaging the camera can't focus on. Typed SAM IDs resolve to their asset on both the general and audit scanners; the lookup itself needs no add-on (running a full audit still requires the Audits add-on).

Scanning several items for one action. When you scan a run of assets for a bulk action (assign or release custody, or update location), the app gathers them into a list. If any scanned item can't take that action, the app shows a per-item blocker card you clear with one tap, and keeps the submit button disabled until every item is eligible. This mirrors the web scanner, so you never push a batch that would half-fail.

5. Find an Asset Without Scanning

The Search assets box on the Assets tab matches the same fields the search on the web does: name, SAM ID, description, category, location, tags, the current custodian's name, QR ID, barcode value, and any custom field value. Separate several terms with commas and the list returns anything matching any of them.

If searching your phone by tag or by a word from the description used to come back empty while the same search worked on the web, that gap is closed. The search runs on the server, so the app you already have picks it up with no update to install.

6. View Asset Detail

The asset detail screen shows the asset image, current status, category, location, who currently has custody, and recent activity history. From here you can:

Update the asset's location — useful when you move an asset between rooms, buildings, vehicles, or job sites.
Assign or release custody — hand the asset to a teammate, or release custody when it comes back.
Open the asset's full activity history — a permanent, timestamped record of every check-out, return, and transfer.

Workspace permissions apply: what you can edit depends on your role.

7. Browse and Act on Kits

Kits group assets that travel together (a camera body with its lenses, batteries, and charger, for example). The app gives kits their own screens alongside assets:

On the Assets tab, use the Assets | Kits switcher to list your kits. Each row shows the kit's category and location, and you can filter to My custody.
Tap a kit to open its detail screen: hero image (tap to zoom), the kit's QR card, and full details (category, location, value, and who currently has custody).
From kit detail you can Assign or Release custody of the whole kit and Move location, the same inline actions you use on an asset.
Scanning a kit's QR jumps straight to its detail screen, and you can scan kits into a batch action just like assets. From an asset that belongs to a kit, tap through to open the kit.

Workspace permissions apply here too: the actions you see match your role.

8. Run a Live Audit From the Floor

If your workspace has the Audits add-on enabled and you have been assigned an audit, you can run it from the app:

Open the audit from the audits list.
Walk to the location and start scanning assets.
Watch the Found / Expected / Unexpected / Pending counts update in real time as you scan. Urgency surfaces in the UI as you go.
When the audit is complete, tap Complete audit. The audit creator receives a summary email.

Add evidence as you scan. Tap any row in the scanned-items list to open the evidence sheet for that asset. From there you can write a condition note and attach a photo, either taken with the camera on the spot or picked from the photo library. Each row shows a badge with how many pieces of evidence it carries, so you can see at a glance what has been documented. Notes and photos land on the same audit record the web app writes to.

If your workspace does not have the Audits add-on enabled, the app shows an informational "Contact your admin" message rather than a paywall or upgrade link.

9. Bookings: Create, Build, Check Out and Check In

For workspaces using Bookings, the app now handles a booking end to end — from creating it to checking it back in.

Find the right booking. The bookings list has individual Reserved, Ongoing, and Overdue status filters, keyword search, and a sort menu (by start date, due date, name, or recently created). Each row shows a live countdown, such as "Starts in 2d", "Due in 5h", or "Overdue by 3d", so what needs attention stands out at a glance.

Draft bookings are visible only to the person who created them, exactly as on the web, so an unfinished draft never shows up in a colleague's list.

Create or edit a booking. Tap New booking to set the name, dates, and custodian right on the phone, then reserve it. You can also open an existing booking to edit its details or reschedule it. Availability-aware pickers only offer assets and kits that are free for the window you chose, so you don't reserve gear that's already committed elsewhere. The asset, kit, model, location, and team-member pickers all page through your full inventory as you scroll, so nothing is stranded past the first page.

Build out a booking by scanning. Open a draft booking and tap Scan to Add Assets, then scan the assets and kits you're packing. Kits expand to their member assets automatically.

Reserve by model, then scan the actual units. If your workspace groups identical gear under Asset Models, the booking's Models tab reserves a count rather than specific units: reserve "4x HDMI cable" now, adjust the quantity later, or remove the reservation. The booking detail shows what is still outstanding. When it is time to hand the gear over, tap Scan to assign & check out and the fulfil scanner opens with the reserved models listed and a live "2/4 assigned" counter. Scan the physical units, submit, and Shelf assigns those exact units to the reservations and checks the booking out in one step. If you scan units the booking had not reserved, the submit button names both jobs separately, for example "Assign 4 · add 2 · check out", so you can see what is being added on top of the reservation before you commit. The CTA is there for admins and owners, who are the roles allowed to fulfil a reserved booking. See Book by Model for how the same flow works on the web.

Reserved units that have no physical unit behind them yet are counted on the bookings list too. A row reads "0 assets · 5 reserved" rather than a bare "0 assets", so a booking built entirely from model reservations never looks empty. Those units are genuinely held and unavailable to anyone else.

Manage the booking's lifecycle. Reserve, cancel, archive, delete, or duplicate a booking without leaving the app.

Check out one item at a time or in bulk. You can check out a selected subset of a booking's assets rather than all at once (progressive check-out). A lifecycle progress bar tracks each item through Reserved, Checked out, and Returned, so a half-packed booking reads accurately.

Check items back in. Use the in-app scanner to check items in as they return. Scan-to-check-in only accepts assets that are actually in this booking, expands kit codes to their in-booking members, and won't double-return an item that is already back.

Record what came back for quantity-tracked stock. When a booking includes quantity-tracked assets, checking them in asks how many units came back in what condition. Returnable stock splits across Returned, Lost, and Damaged; consumables split across Consumed, Lost, and Damaged. The sheet defaults every remaining unit to the normal outcome, so the everyday "it all came back" case is a single confirm, and a colour-coded bar shows the split before you submit. You can also check out part of a quantity-tracked line and leave the rest booked. Returned units go back to the pool, while units marked consumed, lost, or damaged are logged against the booking and come out of stock.

Roles apply: self-service members act on their own bookings; admins and owners act on behalf of others. The app enforces the same permission, ownership, and status rules as the web, so you can never do more from the phone than your role allows.

10. Custody Handoffs

For day-to-day custody handovers outside a formal booking flow:

Open the asset (scan or search), tap Assign custody, pick the teammate.
When the equipment comes back, open the asset again and Release custody.

The full custody chain is logged with timestamps. The web app's audit log shows every step.

Quantity-tracked assets. For assets tracked by quantity (cables, gloves, other pooled supplies), custody is by portion rather than all-or-nothing. The asset detail screen shows the total plus a per-status breakdown — available, in custody, reserved, and checked out — and a row for each holder. Tap Assign to give a set number of units to a teammate (capped at what's available to assign), or tap a holder's row to release units back to the pool. Individually tracked assets keep the same one-tap assign and release.

Ending a hold on a consumable. If the asset is a one-way consumable (gaffer tape, batteries, anything that gets used up rather than returned), releasing a hold asks a second question: "Of those, how many were used up?". It pre-fills the full amount, because using the whole hold is the usual case. Whatever you mark as used up leaves the workspace total; the rest goes back to the pool. Assets that come back intact never see this question.

Correcting stock from the floor. The quantity card on the asset detail screen has an Adjust button. Tap it, choose whether you are adding or removing units, enter the amount, and add a short reason. Adding is recorded as a restock and removing as a loss, so a stock count you correct on the shelf lands in the asset's history with your note attached rather than as an unexplained change. The sheet tells you how many units are actually removable as you type.

Low stock at a glance. When the available units drop to or below the minimum you set for the asset, the Available figure on the detail screen turns amber. It uses the same rule as the web, so an asset flagged low on your phone is flagged low on the web too.

Workspace Add-Ons — What the App Shows

The app respects whether your workspace has an add-on enabled:

Audits add-on enabled — Audits tab is active. You can run and complete audits.
Audits add-on not enabled — Audits tab shows an informational "Contact your admin" message. No upgrade link or paywall — those live on the web side, where billing happens.
Barcodes add-on — Multiple registered barcodes per asset are honoured on the asset detail screen as the feature matures. Full multi-code parity on mobile is a 1.x item.

What the App Does Not Do Yet

For clarity, these are real, intentional gaps. They are on our radar, but they are not in the app today:

Claiming a brand new QR code as a base or self-service member. Admins and owners can now claim an unclaimed sticker in the app (see step 4). Claiming is an administrator's job on every platform, so this is a role limit rather than a mobile one.
Workspace administration. User and role management, bulk imports, custom field setup, reporting, and billing stay on the web.

Two items that used to sit on this list shipped in version 1.3.0 and have moved into the guide above: recording where a scan happened (step 4) and claiming a brand new QR code (step 4, for admins and owners).

Opening Shelf Links in the App

If you have Shelf Companion installed, tapping a Shelf link on your phone — an asset, booking, audit, or QR code URL at app.shelf.nu — opens it directly in the app instead of bouncing through the browser. This works on both iPhone (Universal Links) and Android (App Links). Sign-in and account pages still open in your browser, so links that need a full web session behave exactly as before.

Where to Go Next

Shelf Companion overview — product page with screenshots, features, and the App Store link.
Getting started with Shelf — if you are still setting up your workspace, start here first.
Printing QR labels — you'll want labels on your assets before scanning at scale.
Bookings overview, Kits overview, and Audits overview — read up on the workflows you'll be running from the floor.

Questions or Issues?

If something is not behaving the way this guide describes, contact us — we want to know. The app is new and we are watching it closely.