Frequently Asked Questions

At the moment, Racine is available only as a mobile app on iOS and Android.

There is not yet a web version that would allow someone without a smartphone to log in directly and make their own choices.

In the meantime, several options are possible:

• a relative can lend them a phone or tablet long enough to browse the items and enter their wishes;
• an administrator or trusted family member can talk with them (phone call, video call, in‑person visit) and enter their wishes on their behalf in the app;
• you can print the list of items using the CSV export, collect their choices on paper, then enter them into Racine afterwards.

We are exploring simplified solutions to make participation easier for people who are not comfortable with smartphones.

Racine's tie-breaking system is designed to ensure fair distribution of items among participants. Here's how it works:

Item Selection:

• Each participant creates their wish list by selecting the items they're interested in
• Participants can assign a priority to each item in their list
• This priority will be used to resolve situations where an item is wanted by multiple people
• Items "without priority" are assigned a random priority by the system (lower than the least prioritized item already defined)

Priority levels:

• each participant has their own personal scale of priorities for the items they selected;
• they cannot create custom extra levels (the administrator cannot add “Priority 6”, “Priority 7”, etc.);
• when a user has, for example, chosen 5 items, they will rank them from Priority 1 (strongest) to Priority 5 (lowest), with no duplicates: it is not possible to set two items to Priority 1;
• the “no priority” option corresponds to a weaker wish than the numbered priorities; it is still taken into account, but the algorithm will generally favour items with priority 1, 2, 3, etc.

Setting all items to Priority 1 is therefore not recommended: the algorithm works best when everyone uses the full range of priorities to express what really matters to them.

Distribution Process:

The system works in rounds, where each participant will receive one item per round based on their priorities and the compensation system until their item selection is exhausted.

Conflict Resolution and Compensation System:

When multiple people want the same item with the same priority level:

• It compares compensation points
• In case of equal points, a random selection is made

The winner's points are reset to zero

Other participants receive two compensation points

Transparency and Traceability:

Participants have access to a detailed summary of the distribution where each decision is recorded and explained.

Even if they did not take part in a previous distribution, all group members can see who each item was allocated to once the distribution is finished.

Optional: Value System:

• Participants can optionally assign a monetary value to items
• In this case, each participant is assigned a quota based on their share in the inheritance
• The system then ensures no participant exceeds their total value quota
• Items exceeding a participant's quota are deferred to the end of the distribution; if no one has obtained them by then, they are subject to a second round without considering quotas

Distribution by item types (tags):

Currently, the system does not guarantee a perfectly “fair by item type” distribution (for example, the same number of pieces of furniture or decorative objects for each person).

However, you can get closer to this by using the following approach:

• organize your items into tags (e.g. “furniture”, “decorations”, “paintings”, etc.);
• run a first distribution limited to one tag (for example, only furniture);
• then run a second distribution for another tag, and so on.

This way you keep more control over distribution by item category, while still benefiting from Racine’s priority and compensation system.

For items requiring professional expertise, we offer the option to use our partner service ValueMyStuff directly through racine app

Racine automatically uses your phone's language:

• if your phone is set to French, the app will appear in French;
• if your phone is set to English (or another language), the app will appear in English.

There is currently no in-app button to manually change the language.
If you want to use the app in French on your phone, you can:

• either switch your phone's system language to French;
• or keep using the app in English if you're comfortable with it.

👉 For your French-speaking family, no worries:
people whose phones are set to French will automatically see the app in French, even if you, as the group creator or member, are using the app in English.

When creating a group, you can also choose the group's language and country.
This helps adapt the context (currency, wording, etc.) and the results of the automatic object analysis to your situation.

Racine data (user accounts, groups, items, photos, etc.) are hosted in France, on the infrastructures of Scaleway and Outscale.

For now, the app does not yet provide a single button to automatically delete an entire group’s inventory once the distribution is finished.

In practice:

• you can already manually delete some items or groups from within the app;
• if you want a complete deletion (items, photos and related data), simply contact us via the help chat or contact form; we can then perform a definitive server‑side deletion.

We are working to further improve transparency and user control over data management, in addition to the information already provided in our legal notice and privacy policy.

The inventory generated with Racine is primarily a tool to prepare and facilitate discussions between co-owners (inheritance, separation, etc.).

It can, however, have legal value in a specific context:

• if you attach it to an amicable settlement agreement signed by all co-owners;
• and if this agreement complies with the applicable legal framework (for example, under a notary's supervision when required).

In that case, the Racine inventory acts as an annex that describes the concrete allocation of items.

Racine does not replace professional legal advice.
We provide an example of an amicable settlement agreement on our website, but we strongly recommend consulting a notary or lawyer to secure your situation.

When you add an item in Racine, you can attach one or more photos to it.

On the item creation or edit screen, you will see two options:

• a “Capture” button to take a new photo with your phone’s camera;
• a “Browse” button to choose a photo that is already on your phone (camera roll, downloads, etc.).

If you don’t see these buttons, please check that:

• you are on the add or edit item screen (and not just viewing the list of items);
• the app has permission to access your camera and photos in your phone’s settings.

You can add several photos to the same item to better document it (overall view, details, labels, etc.).

When you tap an item's photo in Racine, it can open full screen so you can see it better.

To close this image and go back to the previous screen, you usually just need to:

• tap the black area around the photo.

Depending on your app version, you can also:

• tap the photo itself again;
• use your phone’s back button (Android) or the standard back gesture (iOS).

If the image still seems stuck in full screen, you can close and reopen the app, then let us know via the help chat so we can improve this behaviour.

For now, Racine is only available as a mobile app on your phone.

The app can use photos that are accessible from your phone (camera roll, photo gallery, or apps that save images on your device), but it does not connect directly:

• to your computer’s hard drive;
• to Google Drive or other cloud storage services.

To use these photos in Racine, you can do the following:

1. Photos on Google Drive

   • Open the Google Drive (or Google Photos) app on your phone.
   • Download the photos you need to your phone’s gallery.
   • Go back to Racine and add these photos to your items from the gallery.

2. Photos on your computer (PC or Mac)

   • First transfer the photos to your phone (for example via USB cable, AirDrop, email, WhatsApp, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.).
   • Check that they appear in your phone’s photo gallery.
   • Open Racine and attach them to your items from the gallery.

Once the photo is saved on your phone, you can use it in Racine, no matter whether it originally came from your computer, Google Drive, or another service.

Racine allows you to create groups of unlimited size and manage an unlimited number of items.

To access these extended features, simply upgrade to the Premium version of the group. This option allows you to:

• Create groups with an unlimited number of participants
• Add an unlimited number of items
• Benefit from all the platform's advanced features

This upgrade is simple and requires only a single payment, with no time commitment.

Is Premium linked to my account or to a group?

The Premium version is linked to a group, not to a user.

In practice:

• Only one group benefits from the Premium advantages (unlimited items, unlimited members, advanced features).
• Other groups you create remain on the free version, with the usual limits (maximum number of items, maximum number of members, etc.).
• Paying once does not automatically make all your groups Premium.

So it is possible that:

• Your main group is Premium (no limits on items or members),
• But another group is still limited because it is on the free version.

In that case, this behaviour is expected: Premium applies only to the group that was upgraded.

Can I move Premium from one group to another?

Yes, it is possible to move Premium from one group to another.

For example:

• You activated Premium on a first group,
• Later, you realise you need Premium on a different group (a new estate, another sharing project, etc.),
• You would like Premium to apply to this second group instead.

In that case, simply contact us and provide:

• The email address associated with your account,
• The name of the group that is currently Premium,
• The name of the group to which you want to transfer Premium.

We can then perform the Premium transfer from one group to the other.

What if I need several Premium groups?

In most cases, a single Premium group is enough to cover the needs of an estate or a sharing project.

If your situation is special (for example, several completely separate sharings with different participants), you can:

• either organise everything within a single group, using roles and settings to adapt how things work,
• or write to us to explain your use case so we can guide you towards the most suitable solution.

Do people I invite need to pay to benefit from Premium?

No. Only one person pays to upgrade a group to Premium, and all members of that group benefit from it, without having to pay themselves.

In practice, when you purchase the Premium version for a group:

• You unlock the limits for this group (more than 50 items, more than 5 members, advanced features, etc.).
• Everyone you invite to this group (administrators, editors, readers) automatically benefits from these advantages.
• No other participant needs to pay to access the group information or go beyond the free version limits.

There is therefore no “per person” licence: the payment is per group.

What do invited people actually see?

Participants invited to a Premium group can:

• view all items in the group, even beyond 50 items;
• take part in the sharing process even if the group has more than 5 members;
• access the group’s features according to the role you assigned to them (administrator, editor, reader).

They do not need to purchase anything for this.

What if I create another group?

Premium remains linked to the group for which you paid.

If you create a new group:

• this new group will be on the free version (with the default limits),
• the initial group will remain Premium,
• you can, if needed, ask us to transfer Premium from one group to another if your situation changes.

Yes, you can retrieve and print the full list of items for a group.

In the app:

1. Open the relevant group.
2. Go to the group settings.
3. Use the option to export the item list as a CSV file (compatible with Excel or any spreadsheet tool).

Then you can:

• open this CSV file on your computer (Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, etc.);
• adjust the layout if needed;
• print the item list directly from your spreadsheet.

This makes it easy to keep a paper copy of the inventory or share it with an advisor or family member.

At the moment, there is no direct PDF export of the allocation table in Racine.

You can still obtain a PDF by using the CSV (Excel) export:

1. In the app, open the relevant group.
2. Go to the group settings.
3. Use the option to export the allocation table as a CSV file (compatible with Excel or any spreadsheet tool).
4. Open this CSV file on your computer (Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, etc.).
5. From your spreadsheet tool, use Export / Save as PDF or Print to PDF.

You will get a PDF document containing the allocation table, which you can print or share with your relatives or advisors.

You can include each participant's wishes in the group CSV export.

1. Open the relevant group.
2. Go to the group settings.
3. Enable the option “Include wishes in export”.
4. Then perform the table export in CSV format.

In the resulting CSV file:

• an extra column called “wishes” is added;
• it appears at the very end of the table, after the column containing the image links.

To work more easily with the export:

• you can open the CSV in Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice;
• in Google Sheets, if a cell contains several image links separated by “;”, you can use the formula
  =SPLIT(J2, "; ", FALSE) (replacing J2 with the cell containing the links) to spread them across multiple columns, each clickable.

👉 If, even after enabling the option, you still don't see the “wishes” column, please check that:

• you saved the group settings correctly;
• you are using the latest version of the app.

If needed, you can contact us so we can verify your group's configuration.

In Racine, you can exchange an item between two participants once the allocation has started.

The idea is simple: you change which participant the item is assigned to, then save.

1. Open the relevant group.
2. Go to the list of items.
3. Tap the item you want to exchange to open its detailed view.
4. In the section showing which participant the item is assigned to, select the new beneficiary.
5. Save the item.

The item will then be reassigned to the new participant in the allocation table and in the group’s tracking screens.

Yes, you can cancel a distribution in order to restore participants' wishes.

When you run an automatic distribution, Racine uses the current wishes and priorities to allocate items.
If the result is not what you expected, or if you want to run a new distribution starting from the same set of wishes, you can use the cancel distribution option.

1. Open the relevant group.
2. Go to the group settings.
3. Use the “Cancel distribution” option (or its equivalent in your version of the app).

This will:

• remove the item allocations made during the cancelled distribution;
• restore wishes and their priorities as much as possible, even if some were modified in the meantime.

This allows you, for example, to:

• set up or adjust a consensual manual allocation first;
• then launch a new automatic distribution only on the remaining conflicting items, while keeping the original wish base.

👉 If you don't yet see the distribution cancellation option in your app, please:

• make sure you are using the latest version of Racine;
• contact us so we can assist you if needed.

Today, the item list in Racine is paginated: you see a certain number of items per page and need to change page to see the rest.

Originally, the app offered infinite scroll (continuous scrolling), but this caused performance and stability issues on some phones.
We therefore chose a more reliable paginated approach for now, while we work on bringing back an improved scrolling experience.

Regarding deleting items:

• for the moment, deleting can bring you back to the top of the list or the first page;
• it is not yet possible to delete a series of items while staying exactly at the same scroll position.

We are working on improving navigation and deletion in the item list.
In the meantime, if you need to delete many items, it can be easier to use the CSV export (filter the rows to remove, then adjust the inventory in the app).

Before you start a distribution, Racine asks you to select the participants who are involved.

This lets you distinguish between:

• people who actually take part in the sharing (those you tick);
• people who only view the items or help you prepare the inventory (not ticked).

In practice:

• ticked participants can receive items during the distribution;
• unticked participants will not receive anything for that specific distribution, even if they expressed wishes.

This is useful, for example, when:

• you invite extended family members (grandchildren, cousins, etc.) so they can see the items and pass their wishes to a smaller group of decision-makers;
• you want to run the sharing in several rounds, with different subsets of people (for example, children first, then grandchildren).

You can create as many users as you need in a group, then decide on a case‑by‑case basis who is included in each distribution.

The allocation proposed by Racine's algorithm is not final by itself.
It is a proposal intended to help the group reach an agreement.

• The group administrator can, if needed, cancel a distribution and reset the item allocations.
• The administrator has an important role: ideally, this is a person trusted by everyone, or even a neutral third party who does not take part in the allocation.

From a legal standpoint:

• the allocation only becomes truly binding if members sign an amicable settlement agreement (for example, attached to a deed prepared with a notary or lawyer);
• each member remains free to refuse the allocation if they feel unfairly treated; in that case, no amicable agreement is signed.

If no compromise can be found, the co‑owners may need to start a judicial partition procedure.
Racine’s goal is precisely to help avoid that by providing a fair, transparent, and well‑documented proposal.