Shelf Companion: Scan Units Into Custody, Check In What Went Out

An over-the-air update went out to Shelf Companion on iPhone and Android on 2 October 2026. The version number stays 1.5.0. The app picks up an update like this in the background when you open it and uses it the next time you open it, so there is nothing to fetch from the store.

Units in the custody scan

The scanner's Assign custody and Release custody actions now take quantity-tracked assets. Each one gets a unit count on its row, for example 3 / 10 pcs. Tap it to change the number. Assign starts at 1 unit and stops at the units that are free. Release starts at every unit held. Individually tracked assets, quantity rows and kits go together with one tap, as on the web scanner.

Before, the app refused a scan made only of quantity-tracked assets and skipped them in a mixed one. A release scan still works while one person holds units of that asset. If several people do, the row tells you to release it from the asset page. Releasing units of a one-way asset records them as used up, and the confirm says so before you commit. See Batch Scanning Actions.

Check-in offers only what went out

On an ongoing booking, the app used to offer check-in on a kit whose units had never left the shelf. Confirming came back with "Cannot check in assets that were never checked out". It also proposed every booked unit on a line that was only partly out. Now the app offers check-in only for units this booking sent out and has not had back. A kit with 2 of its 4 units out offers 2, and a kit that never left has no tick box and reads Reserved.

Model reservations on a booking that is out

The booking's Models tab lets you change a reservation's count after the booking has gone out. The count cannot go below the units already assigned to it. Set it to exactly that number to release everything still unassigned.

Which phone made the scan

The scan panel on the web asset page used to say Unknown device for every scan made in the app. It now names the phone, the app version and the system, for example Apple - iPhone, Shelf app 1.5.0 and iOS. Scans from an app that has not taken the update still read Unknown device.