A collection app that installs without the App Store or Google Play
What I Already Own installs from its website, on iPhone and Android, without the App Store or Google Play. Added to your home screen as “Already Own”, it opens full screen, scans barcodes with the camera and keeps your collection available with no signal. On a computer, it runs in the browser.
Scanning is free. At your first add: 7-day trial at €0, card required, then €3.95 a month or €39.95 a year, records and books included, cancel anytime. Your collection stays exportable.
The problem
A store app has to be found, downloaded, tied to an Apple or Google account, and updated when the store decides. For a tool you mostly pull out at flea markets, that's a lot of steps, and a full phone doesn't always have room. Some collection apps only exist on one system anyway.
How the app handles it
- 1Open the site on your phoneFrom a computer, a QR code opens the right page on your phone. The install page shows the steps for your device and browser.
- 2Add it to your home screenOn iPhone: Share, then “Add to Home Screen”. On Android, Chrome offers “Install app”. Three taps, nothing to download.
- 3Open it like any other appIt starts full screen, with no address bar, and updates itself from the site.
A real app on your phone
iPhone and Android, no app store needed. Your collection stays with you, even offline.
At a glance
- iPhone and iPad
- From Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
- Android
- Chrome, Edge or Firefox; Samsung Internet goes through Chrome.
- Computer
- In the browser, or installed from Chrome or Edge.
- Name under the icon
- “Already Own”
- Updates
- Automatic, from the site.
What the app doesn't do
- On iPhone, the installed app doesn't share Safari's sign-in: the first time, you sign in again with the code sent by email, or with Face ID if you've turned it on.
- It doesn't send notifications.
Scanning is free. At your first add: 7-day trial at €0, card required, then €3.95 a month or €39.95 a year, records and books included, cancel anytime. Your collection stays exportable.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it safe to install an app outside an app store?
- The installed app is the website itself, served over HTTPS from whatialreadyown.com: nothing is downloaded beyond what your browser already loads. It only uses the camera to read barcodes, and only if you allow it.
- Is it a real app?
- It has its own icon, opens full screen, uses the camera and works offline for your collection. It's an installable web app: the same code on iPhone, Android and computer.
- How do updates work?
- On their own. The app reloads from the site: no version to download, and everyone runs the same one.
- How do I uninstall it?
- Like any other app: long-press the icon, then remove or uninstall it. Your collection stays in your account and can be exported as CSV at any time.