October 2026: what's changing in Zeste
A new bottom bar, a single field to import, cleaner recipes, filters, allergies, cooking mode and shopping. A look at version 1.4, and at what stays free.
The app's bottom bar changed twice in three weeks. This time, we think we've got it right: Recipes, Week, +, Share, Profile. Everything else is two taps away at most, and that principle guided the updates from October 8 to 10.
Five tabs, two taps at most
Week brings together planned meals and the shopping list, which used to live in two different places. Share groups the household, friends and the recipes people send you: they land in Share › Received, with an "Add to my kitchen" button.
Messages from the Zeste team have moved to Profile › Help.
A single field to import
Before, you had to choose between link, text, photo and file. Now you paste whatever you have (a link, three links in a row, the full text of a recipe) and Zeste recognizes what it is. Photo and File are right below, and a recipe spread over several pages of a cookbook goes through in one go, up to 10 photos.
Two details save time. If you've just copied a link, a "Paste copied link" button appears on its own. And if the recipe is already in your cookbook, Zeste tells you instead of creating a duplicate. Sharing from Instagram and TikTok is more reliable, tt.site links included, with a notification when the recipe is ready.
Cleaner recipes
Units are written like in a cookbook: "2 tbsp", "½ tsp", "1 pinch". Quantities are rounded, so no more "433.33 g" of flour when you go from 4 to 6 servings. Eggs stay whole. The creator's tips get their own box instead of getting lost in the steps.
As for photos, a recipe imported without an image gets the one from the video or the page. If there's none at all, Zeste generates a photo of the finished dish. We also fixed an annoying flaw: the AI used to scatter raw ingredients all around the plate. That's sorted.
Filters and allergies
Every recipe now has a dish type and tags: main ingredient, cooking method, cuisine, season. At the top of the list, five quick filters (Quick, Veggie, Favorites, Never cooked, For me), a full panel to narrow things down and four sort orders. A filter you use often can become a cookbook. It fills itself.
If you've listed an allergy in your profile, a recipe that contains the allergen shows an orange banner on its page and a dot on its card. For diets, it's more discreet, for example "Not vegetarian: contains bacon lardons". The Chef, the Fridge and "Fill in the week" leave out your allergens automatically.
In the kitchen
Cooking mode spots timers in the text of the steps, even when written out in words like "three quarters of an hour". With app 1.4, the timer keeps running when you leave Zeste: on the lock screen and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone, in notifications on Android. You move from one step to the next with a swipe, and the Aa button enlarges the text when the phone is propped far from the counter.
At the end, "I cooked this" asks you for a rating out of 5 and a photo. If the recipe had no image, yours replaces it.
Week, shopping and household
There's now just one shopping list, shared with the household and sorted by aisle. It switches to kg and liters when quantities grow, and it talks like you do: "2 garlic cloves", no more "2 garlic". Salt, oil and flour stay off it (this pantry list is set in Profile). A swipe to the left removes an item.
The meal plan is shared with the whole household and shows who planned which meal. "Fill in the week" only fills the meals you plan, on the days that are left, without touching what's already there. A recipe can also be sent to several friends at once, including those who don't have Zeste yet: they get an invitation.
What's free, what's Pro
Everything above is free, except the Chef and the Fridge. The free plan includes 5 link imports per week, 10 texts and 2 photos, with a cookbook with no recipe limit, translation, meal planning, the shopping list and cooking mode.
Zeste Pro costs €4.99/month or €29.99/year, which works out to €2.50 a month. It lifts the import quotas and adds Chef Zeste, which invents a recipe from a craving or your leftovers, and the Magic Fridge, which finds what to cook with what you have left. A first subscription can be tried for 7 days without being charged.
The lock screen timer requires version 1.4 of the app, available on the App Store or Google Play. Everything else arrives through the automatic update, the next time you open the app.