Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
What the scanner does, what it costs, what happens to your photos, and what to do when it names the wrong cigar. If an answer here promises something the app cannot do yet, that is a bug — write to us and we will fix the page.
The basics
- Is The Cigar Scanner free?
- Yes. Identifying a cigar is free: there is no subscription, no per-scan charge, no ads, and no daily cap on how many bands you photograph. Creating an account is free too — it exists to save your scans, not to unlock features.
- Do I need an account to scan a cigar?
- No. You can open the scanner and identify a cigar without signing up. Your first scan quietly creates a guest session so the result has somewhere to live, and if you later sign up on that device with an email address or with Google, the guest history upgrades in place — the scans you took before signing up come with you. An account is what lets your saved cigars follow you to another phone or browser.
- Which devices does The Cigar Scanner run on?
- iOS, Android, and the web, all from one shared codebase. The web version is the fastest way to try it: nothing to install, and it runs in any current mobile or desktop browser. On every platform you can take a new photo or pick an existing one from your camera roll — useful for cigars you smoked before you found the app.
- Does The Cigar Scanner work offline?
- No. Identification runs on our servers, so a scan needs a connection; without one you get a plain message saying the scan service cannot be reached. Your saved cigars load from the network too. With no signal, photograph the band using your normal camera and scan it from your gallery once you are back online.
- What can the app actually do today?
- Four things. It identifies a cigar from a photo of its band. It keeps every successful scan, photo included, in a saved history that doubles as your humidor. It builds a flavor palate wheel from the tasting notes of the cigars you have scanned. And it finds cigar lounges near you on a map, from your device location or a ZIP code you type in. Anything beyond those four is still in development.
Accuracy and corrections
- How accurate is it, and what does the confidence number mean?
- Every result carries a confidence score from 0 to 100. When the reading is solid the screen says Identified with that match percentage and a Verified tag; when it is not, it says Best guess, shows a Low confidence tag, and prints a short note on what it could and could not read. High confidence is reserved for bands whose text was legible in your photo — the app is deliberately built to admit a guess rather than assert a confident wrong answer.
- How do I get the best result from a scan?
- Fill the frame with the band, hold still long enough to focus, and use even light — a flash fired straight at a foil band mostly returns glare. One cigar per photo, and rotate the cigar so the band faces you rather than shooting the bare wrapper: the band text is read first, and shade, shape and size only narrow things down. Unbanded cigars and house bundles are the hardest cases.
- What if it identifies a cigar wrong?
- Tell it. Under every result is a line inviting you to teach the sommelier — Wrong cigar? on a confident result, Know this cigar? on a low-confidence one. Tap it, type the correct brand and name, and send. Your correction is tied to that exact photo, so scanning it again returns your answer, and the band's visual signature joins a shared catalog that later scans of similar bands are checked against. If the correction cannot be delivered you get an error and a retry, never a false confirmation.
Your photos, data, and account
- What happens to the photos I take?
- The photo is sent over an encrypted connection to our identification service, which reads the band and returns the result. That service does not keep your picture: it stores a hash of the image, a numeric fingerprint of the band, and the identification, so re-scanning the same photo answers instantly and look-alike bands get easier to recognize. The picture itself is saved to your own scan history, in storage only your account can read.
- How do I delete my scans or my whole account?
- In your humidor you can delete a single scan — the record and its photo — or clear the whole history at once. To remove everything, open Profile, scroll to the Danger zone, and choose to delete your account and all data: that permanently removes your scans, their photos, your palate, and your sign-in, with no undo. If it has been a while since you last signed in, the app asks you to sign out and back in first as a safety check.
The fine print
- Does The Cigar Scanner sell cigars?
- No. It is an identification and reference tool, the way a wine app identifies a bottle from its label. It tells you what is in your hand, remembers what you have tried, and points you toward a nearby lounge. It sells nothing, is not affiliated with any manufacturer or retailer, and does not promote smoking.
- Who makes The Cigar Scanner?
- The Cigar Guys, the same people behind thecigarguys.com. It is a small team, and support reaches us directly at info@thecigarguys.com. Bug reports, wrong identifications, and lounge suggestions are all welcome.
Still stuck, or want a cigar added to the catalog? Email info@thecigarguys.com. The details on how your data is handled live in our privacy policy and terms.