Xinera

Xinera is a wellness app for iPhone and iPad from Bay Technologies Limited, listed on the App Store as Xinera by FoodTrack. It analyses photos of meals to show what is in them and reads the face and tongue through the camera, drawing on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). From these scans it gives a daily insight and a small suggestion. It is for people aged 13 or over who want a clearer sense of how they are doing.

A user photographs a meal and Xinera estimates what it contains. Once a week the user looks into the camera for a face and tongue reading, and Xinera examines colour, coating and texture to indicate where the person's balance sits. Each morning it offers one insight and one small thing to try, such as a change to what to eat or when to rest. Readings and insights are generated automatically, and no practitioner reviews them.

The free tier, Xinera Explore, includes two food scans a day, one face and tongue reading a week and a daily insight summary; it needs no card or wearable and does not expire. A separate Xinera membership, launching in Hong Kong and sold outside the app, adds unlimited scans, a smart ring that tracks activity, sleep and heart rate, a Balance Wheel view, partner privileges and a yearly consultation with a licensed TCM practitioner.

Xinera is a wellness app rather than a medical device: it does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, and its nutritional estimates are approximations. In-app Food Track Membership purchases range from $2.99 a week to $229.99 a year. The app requires iOS 15.0 or later, also runs on Macs with an Apple M1 chip or later and on Apple Vision, and is available in English and 7 other languages.

Use cases

• Seeing what is in a meal from a single photo
• Checking daily wellbeing signals through a TCM-style tongue reading
• Getting a small daily suggestion about what to eat or when to rest
• Following sleep, activity and heart rate with the membership smart ring
• Consulting a licensed TCM practitioner once a year as a member