7 Best Home Inventory Apps to Use in 2019

• Whether you live in a large house or a cozy apartment, keeping track of the items in your
  home can be a tedious process. While it may seem like a chore, taking the time to assess and organize your home inventory is a great way to keep track of what you have. Using a home inventory app can help you organize your belongings and even calculate the total value of your assets, and it can be a lifesaver if you're ever in a situation where you need to replace your personal property after a loss. In the event that you need to make a homeowners or renters insurance claim, having a current and detailed inventory of your belongings will make the claims process much easier and faster.
  There are quite a few home inventory apps out there that offer a variety of features, including the ability to add photos, sort the items by room, or even store items on the cloud for simpler access. Read on for our picks of the best home inventory apps out there, and decide which is best for you based on your needs and how multifunctional or detailed you want your inventory to be.
  Note that some of these apps are only compatible with select operating systems.
  
• 01 Best Overall: Sortly ( iOS, Android)
  
  
  Sortly allows you to organize your home inventory in several different folders and subfolders to make things easier to locate. Use folders to group items by their physical locations (which room they're stored in) or by item type. Add searchable tags and notes to find what you need in seconds.
  Sortly also allows you to record an impressive level of detail for each item in your home. Add a serial number, purchase date, SKU number, warranty expiration date, and more. Include up to eight photos of each item to keep a visual inventory and list quantities and prices to calculate the total value of the items in your home. You can transfer and export the items to a CSV file, export to Dropbox, PDF, or Evernote. 
  This app is especially helpful if you're moving. You can create printable QR labels with Sortly and stick them to your moving boxes, and a simple scan shows you a list of that box's contents. If you loan items to family or friends, Sortly gives you a place to enter the name of the loanee with a reminder for when they're supposed to give it back.
  The basic version of the Sortly app is free, but you must pay either a monthly or annual fee for the premium version.
  
  
• 02 Most Versatile: Memento Database (iOS, Android, Desktop)
  
  
  Memento Database lets you store just about anything you can think of, with more than 3,000 templates to choose from to store your data. Group items in categories with colorful icons that give your inventory a more visually appealing layout. Search, sort, and filter items to make it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for within your inventory. 
  You control how your items are stored, so you can add as much or as little information about each item as you need for your own recordkeeping. As an added convenience, Memento can be synced with Google Sheets so you can organize and edit your inventory data outside your smartphone.
  
  
• 03 Most Features: Nest Egg (iOS)
  
  
  The Nest Egg inventory app is an iOS-only app that allows you to keep track of the things you own. You can take up to 10 HD photos of your items and scan barcodes to automatically retrieve product information, a unique and time-saving feature that streamlines the inventory process. It's the same with the "batch edit" feature, which allows you to edit items in bulk rather than making changes one at a time. You can email or AirPrint inventory items and export to a spreadsheet for tracking. 
  This app also gives you places to store product warranty expiration dates and customer support numbers. You can even include return information for new purchases and receive an alert when the return window is ending. Set reminder alerts on items that people borrow from you, as well as on the items you borrow — we all know the feeling of stumbling across an item a friend lent us ages ago that we forgot to return.
  Another unique feature to Nest Egg: your information stays on your phone and isn’t backed up to the web. This can be disadvantageous if you're prone to losing your mobile device. But if you don't mind having everything in one place, it means you don't have to pay any monthly fees or create an account to use the features of the app. 
  
  
• 04 Best for Organizing Collections: MyStuff (iOS)
  
  MyStuff is one of the most thorough home inventory apps out there, giving you space to record a great amount of detail on each of your items. That makes this app especially suited to organizing and documenting your collections, whether they're high-value and carefully curated, or the personal collections of books, movies, or video games that many of us accumulate over the years. An inventory is great for keeping track of what you have, and can also help you avoid buying duplicates as you continue to collect.
  MyStuff allows you to add items to your inventory manually or by scanning the barcode to autofill details. The auto-sync feature allows you to share data across all your devices and even with other users. The app comes with some pre-defined categories, but you can also define your own categories to keep track of items in a way that makes the most sense for your collections.
  The Lite version of the app includes the same features as the paid version, but only allows you to save 15 items. Upgrade to MyStuff2 Pro to save an unlimited number of items.
  
  
• 05 Best for Multiple Properties: Magic Home Inventory (Android)
  
  The Magic Home Inventory app (available to Android users only) allows you to organize your home inventory across multiple properties and break down each home's inventory by room, listing each item's location along with a description and photo of that item. You can even denote the containers stored in a room and the contents of those containers.
  The app's advanced search feature helps you locate items easily, and the import/export feature allows you to manually backup or transfer your inventory to another storage location. This one is also helpful when you're moving because it can help you keep track of which items are stored in which boxes. 
  
  
• 06 Best for Remote Management: BluePlum Home Inventory (iOS)
  
  BluePlum is an iOS app that allows you to maintain inventory for any home you own. You can organize your items based on collections or the rooms they’re stored in, and "tag" them for easier searching. Adding photos, videos, receipts, user manuals, and other documents to each item listing consolidates a product's essential paperwork in one place — this is a great way to save info like purchasing records, warranties, and other documentation you might lose otherwise. You can even record the value of each item and track depreciation for an accurate valuation of your items at any point in time. If your items need routine maintenance (or another kind of regularly-scheduled event) you can store that information along with the app and receive reminder notifications.
  The iOS app can be used in tandem with BluePlum's desktop software (Mac only) so your inventory stays up-to-date across all your devices. The remote and desktop app sync with each other once they’re on the same WiFi network so don't have to worry about manually updating. You create, print, and save a variety of reports to get an overview of your items. 
  
  
• 07 Best for Tracking Quantities: Smart Inventory System by NonZeroApps (Android)
  
  
  With the Smart Inventory System, you can build your inventory by scanning QR codes. Keep accurate details of your items including a barcode, name, description, quantity, and even nutritional information. If the existing fields aren’t enough, you can add custom fields to track whatever features you need. Set critical quantity levels for certain items to receive an alert when those items need to be replaced.
  Easily locate items in your inventory using a detailed sorting system and the app's voice search feature. You can even create relationships between items to manage them easier. This app also has great backup features — it works offline, so you don’t have to worry about losing access your inventory if you’re not connected to the internet, and it gives you the ability to back up your data to the cloud so it isn't stored solely on your phone. Like other apps on this list, Smart Inventory System allows you to import and export either all or part of your inventory to a CSV file

This article originally published on TheBalance.com by LATOYA IRBY