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Getting Started with Orrique

Reviewed July 21, 202614 min read

Orrique is a private journal for the scents you wear, love, and want. This article walks you through your first launch and a quick tour of where everything lives.

When to use this

Section titled “When to use this”

Read this the first time you open Orrique, or any time you set the app up on a new iPhone, iPad, or Mac. It covers the choices you make at the start and what each of the core sections is for, so you can get comfortable quickly.

Your first launch

Section titled “Your first launch”

The first time you open Orrique, the Welcome flow uses the same scent aura, glass hero, warm cards, and editorial type as the rest of the app. Small scent seals use a softer wash so they sit calmly inside the larger aura instead of competing with it. A button at the bottom stays with you throughout setup. It reads Begin, Continue, or Almost there as you move forward. Use the back arrow to revisit a choice. On an untouched flow, Skip Setup keeps the visible storage selection, requests no system permission, and leaves unreviewed community sharing off. A labeled 1 of 6 progress control advances with each screen.

Welcome follows the same motion setting as the rest of Orrique. With Reduce Motion on, optional pulses stop and page changes use a still or fading presentation. Every setup choice and button remains available.

  1. Welcome. The Orrique mark and the line “A place for every scent story.” Here you also choose where your journal lives. iCloud Sync is selected and marked Recommended, while On This Device remains immediately available. See Choosing local or iCloud storage below.

  2. What brings you here? Pick Track what I wear, Build a wardrobe, or Find new scents. A clearly labeled Today preview shows the focus you selected. You can rearrange Today later, so this choice is not permanent.

  3. What do you reach for? Tap the scent families you gravitate toward. Orrique explains each selected family and builds a scent preview from your choices. These taste choices are saved with setup, but they do not add a fragrance to your Collection.

  4. Choose what helps. Device helpers and community contributions are separated into two cards. All controls remain editable. Both community contribution controls begin on, and you can turn either one off before continuing. See Reminders, Spotlight, and community choices.

  5. What you get. A calm overview of what is always free and what Orrique Pro adds. There is no price here and nothing to buy: you meet Pro later, only when you reach for one of its features.

  6. Add your first scent. Tap Add my first scent to start adding right away, or I’ll look around first to explore before adding anything.

Choosing local or iCloud storage

Section titled “Choosing local or iCloud storage”

On the first Welcome screen, two storage cards explain where your journal will live. iCloud Sync begins selected and is marked Recommended. Orrique checks the account before Begin becomes available. If the check cannot finish, the screen explains the account state and lets you retry or choose On This Device.

Option What it does Good to know
iCloud Sync, the recommended default Keeps the journal on this device and privately syncs it through your iCloud account. Uses your iCloud storage and checks for a previous Orrique setup.
On This Device Keeps the journal on this device without cross-device sync. Choose this if you do not want to use iCloud.

You can change this later in Settings under Data and Sync, so you are not locked in.

iCloud and SyncHow syncing works, what the status labels mean, and what happens when you switch storage modes.

The weather and location option

Section titled “The weather and location option”

On the Choose what helps screen is a toggle, Fill weather when you log. It is on by default.

  • When this is on, Orrique can attach the current weather to a wear when you log it, and uses your location only at that moment to look up the weather. The resulting weather is stored with the entry, not your precise location.
  • Orrique waits to ask for location until the first time a weather-aware feature needs it. Continuing onboarding does not open the location prompt.
  • If you turn the toggle off, Orrique does not ask for location and does not attach weather automatically.

Orrique requests “While Using the App” location access and uses coarse (roughly three kilometer) accuracy to keep your location private. You can change the weather setting later in Settings, in the Weather section.

Reminders, Spotlight, and community choices

Section titled “Reminders, Spotlight, and community choices”

The Choose what helps screen also surfaces a few optional features that are easy to miss later:

  • Scent reminders: turns on the morning scent prompt and next-day rating reminder, then asks this device for notification permission. If you decline, the choices stay visible but cannot deliver until notifications are allowed in system Settings.
  • Fill weather when you log: attaches the weather to a wear, using your location only at that moment (see above).
  • Include diary in Spotlight: lets your diary entries appear in device search. Your scents are searchable already.
  • Share performance data: begins on. It sends a creator-private raw summary per fragrance. Each fragrance uses a different pseudonym, and other people see only crowd results with enough contributors. Diary text, wear dates, photos, your name, and your email are not included. Turn it off before continuing if you do not want to contribute.
  • Help complete the catalog: begins on. It lets bottle details you add go to curator review. It is separate from performance sharing, so you can turn off either choice independently.

You can change all of these later in Settings. Continuing from this screen shows the full Share performance data? disclosure for that switch and the Community guidelines for catalog contributions. A choice left on becomes active only when you agree in its popup. Continue without sharing or Continue without contributing keeps that contribution disabled and continues setup. Review choices returns to the choices screen without changing or advancing anything. Skip Setup does not enable community controls that have not completed this review. Camera access is requested only when you scan a bottle. Photo or file access is requested only when you choose an image or file on a platform that offers it.

Adding your first fragrance

Section titled “Adding your first fragrance”

If you tapped Add my first scent, the Add a fragrance flow opens right away. It is a short, three-step flow: Identify, Confirm, and Personalize.

  1. Identify. Type a brand or name to search the catalog, scan a bottle, or choose to enter the details by hand.

  2. Confirm. Review the matched scent on a preview card so you can be sure it is the right one before continuing.

  3. Personalize. Add or take a photo, fill in notes, set a rating or mark it a favorite, choose a concentration, and add bottle details like size, price, and whether you have it, used it up, or let it go. Tap Save.

After you save, the fragrance appears in your Collection right away. If you switch apps while you are adding details, Orrique keeps you on the same Identify, Confirm, or Personalize step when you return, with the fields you already filled in still there. If this was your very first scent, added during the Welcome flow, Orrique pauses on a short keepsake screen: the whole page takes on that scent’s own color, its name is set large, and an Enter Orrique button carries you into the app.

Concentration choices spell out common shorthand such as EDP, Eau de Parfum, and EDT, Eau de Toilette. Choose Other to type a house-specific label such as Eau Fraiche, Elixir, Intense, or a solid perfume format.

CollectionWhere every fragrance you add lives. Tap the plus button any time to add more.

What to expect

Section titled “What to expect”
  • After setup, you land in the main app. If your collection is empty, the Today screen shows a friendly “Start your scent journal” prompt with an “Add your first fragrance” button.
  • If you left automatic weather on, the first weather-aware action can ask for location. Weather adds context after the daily scent is selected and does not change the pick.
  • If you left reminders on, continuing from Choose what helps records both reminder choices and immediately asks this device for notification permission before the community disclosures. If you decline, the choices remain on but cannot deliver until notifications are allowed in system Settings.

A tour of the core sections

Section titled “A tour of the core sections”

Orrique is organized into a handful of areas. On iPhone the bottom tabs are Today, Collection, Diary, Discover, and Scent Atlas, in that order. Formulas and Settings remain available from Today. On iPad and Mac the same destinations appear in a roomier sidebar.

Today

Your home base. Suggests a scent to wear today, shows your wearing rhythm, and nudges you to rate recent wears. Open the Today guide

Collection

Every fragrance you own, have tried, or want, as a grid or list you can search, filter, and shelve. Open the Collection guide

Diary

A timeline of everything you have worn, grouped by day and month, with ratings and reflections. Open the Diary guide

Discover

Crowd-curated lists, personalized picks, and “smells like” matches for cheaper twins. Open the Discover guide

Good to know

Section titled “Good to know”

Storage and sync

Section titled “Storage and sync”
  • Your storage choice is not permanent. You can switch between Local Only and iCloud Sync later in Settings under Data and Sync. The switch starts while Orrique stays open, and Storage on this device confirms when the new mode is active.
  • Switching from Local Only to iCloud Sync carries your data into your iCloud store. When you sign in on another device, your collection will sync.
  • iCloud Sync only works while you are signed in to iCloud. In Settings under Data and Sync you can see an iCloud status. If it says “Sign in to iCloud,” open System Settings and sign in to your iCloud account.
  • Syncing is automatic. Data and Sync also has Check for synced changes when iCloud Sync is active. It reloads changes already imported on this device and shows real iCloud activity or durable retry work without claiming to force a system download.
iCloud status labels, and if sync seems stuck

The status in Settings under Data and Sync reads one of these:

Status What it means
iCloud ready iCloud Sync is on and your account is available.
Syncing SwiftData reported an active private import or export.
Sync retry needed A supporting private change is safely queued for retry.
Sync needs attention The latest private transfer reported an error.
Local only Your journal is stored on this device only.
Sign in to iCloud You need to sign in to iCloud to sync.
iCloud restricted iCloud is limited on this device, for example by a profile or restrictions.
iCloud unavailable iCloud cannot be reached right now.

If you ever see a note that Orrique had trouble reaching its storage, your collection on this device is still safe. Check your iCloud sign-in and connection, then reopen the app. If your data does not appear immediately on a new device, give it a moment: the “Loading your collection from iCloud” message can take a little while on a fresh install, and your scents appear as they finish syncing.

For the full picture, including how switching modes handles your data, see iCloud and Sync.

Weather and location

Section titled “Weather and location”
  • Automatic weather needs location permission. If you decline or it is turned off, weather is simply not attached to your entries; everything else works the same.
  • You can turn weather on or off any time in Settings, in the Weather section.

On a new device

Section titled “On a new device”
  • The welcome screen is shown only once per device and is not something you can replay from a menu.
  • If Orrique finds a previous setup in the same iCloud account, the new device uses the shorter Welcome Back path and asks you to review community sharing before the cabinet opens.

Device differences

Section titled “Device differences”
  • Live wear sessions work in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. iPhone and iPad can additionally show the session as a system Live Activity. See Live Wear Sessions.
  • Orrique also has an Apple Watch companion that follows active tracking, today’s latest wear, or the prepared pick, with quick logging and rating. See Apple Watch.

Keep reading

Section titled “Keep reading”
iCloud and SyncWhat syncing does, the status labels, and switching storage modes safely.
CollectionAdd, organize, and shelve every scent you own, have tried, or want.
TodayYour daily pick, wearing rhythm, and gentle nudges to rate wears.
Free vs ProWhat is free, what needs Pro, and where each limit applies.
TroubleshootingFixes for sync, weather, and setup hiccups.
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