AnyList v5.9 Release Notes
Per-List Categories
Starting with AnyList v5.9, categories are maintained on a per-list basis (rather than on a per-user basis as they were before).
This means all users of a shared list will now see the same categories and any change one person makes to that list's categories will sync to everyone else sharing the list. In addition, items in a shared list will always remember their previous category assignment the next time they are added to that list. (Previously the category assignment was only remembered for the person that made the category assignment.)
Maintaining categories on a per-list basis also means modifying the categories in one list won't impact the categories in your other lists. For example, you can now safely rename the categories in one list and not worry about it changing the names of categories in your other lists.
As a result of these changes, after updating to AnyList v5.9 you may see categories in your shared lists appear in a different order than before and / or items in shared lists may appear in different categories than in previous versions of AnyList. Please see the FAQ below for additional details.
Other Category Changes
AnyList v5.9 introduces the ability to set the default category for a list. See this page for more details.
AnyList v5.9 introduces category sets, an advanced feature that allows you to have multiple distinct sets of categories for a single list. By choosing the active category set for a list, you can quickly change how items in the list are grouped and how the cateogries are sorted. You can learn more about category sets here.
AnyList v5.9 changes the way category assignments are handled for duplicate items in a list. When changing the category of an item, only that instance of the item is assigned to the selected category. Previously, all items in the list with the same name would be assigned to the selected category. This makes it possible to have the same item in a list multiple times and each instance of the item can be assigned to a different category (for example, adding the same gift idea for different people in a gift list). Of course, you can still assign multiple instances of an item to the same category either one at a time or all at once.
AnyList v5.9 changes the way category assignments are handled when moving / copying items between lists. When moving / copying items from one list to another, the items are assigned to categories based on their assignments in the destination list (just as if the items were added from the Add Item field in the destination list). In previous versions of AnyList, the items maintained their category assignment from the source list, which could lead to items appearing in unexpected categories in the destination list.
Additional New Features & Improvements
AnyList v5.9 introduces the abilty to duplicate a list. See this page for more details.
AnyList v5.9 includes complications for the new Apple Watch Series 4 watch faces.
AnyList v5.9 improves support for the iPhone XS Max and new iPad Pros.
AnyList v5.9 includes a number of bug fixes.
Per-List Categories FAQ
Why are the categories in my shared list out of order and / or why are items in my shared list appearing in different categories after updating to AnyList v5.9?
Starting with AnyList v5.9, categories are maintained on a per-list basis (rather than a per-user basis as before). When updating from an earlier version of the app, the app creates per-list copies of the categories for each of your lists.
In general, you shouldn't see any difference in the categories for your lists after updating. However, for shared lists, it's possible that the categories will appear in a different order than before or items that you add to the list will be assigned to a different category than they were before.
In previous versions of the app, categories were maintained on a per-user basis, and category modifications generally didn't sync across users of a shared list. As a result, each person in a shared list may have ended up having a different order for the categories and / or different category assignments for items.
However, after updating to AnyList v5.9, there will be a single set of categories and item category assignments for the list, which means category modifications and item category assignments can now sync to all users of a shared list.
For example, let's say two people are sharing a list and previously one person had re-ordered the categories to match the aisle layout at their store and the other person left the categories in alphabetical order. After updating the app, both people will see the categories in the same order. (The initial category order for a list is determined by the category order of the first person that updates to AnyList v5.9. So if the person that re-ordered the categories to match the aisle layout at their store is the first person to update, both people will the see categories in that order after updating. If the other person updates first, they would both see the categories in alphabetical order.)
If after updating to AnyList v5.9, the categories are not in the desired order, you can quickly reorder them by going to the List Settings screen for the list and tapping on the Categories row. And when you reorder the categories, everyone sharing the list will then see the categories in that order.
Likewise, if you add an item to your list and it doesn't get assigned to the expected category, just assign the item to the desired category at that time and the next time anyone adds that item to the list, it will be automatically assigned to that category.
I used to switch my list between different category groups to change the order of items in my list. How do I restore these category groups?
Starting with AnyList v5.9, categories are maintained on a per-list basis (rather than a per-user basis as before). After updating from an earlier version of the app, the app creates per-list copies of the categories for each of your lists.
By default, per-list categories are only created from the category group that was selected for the list at the time the app was updated. However, if you were previousy switching between different category groups for a list, you can quickly restore the categories for those groups by following the steps here.
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