Duplicate detection — keep your medicine cabinet tidy

You add a medicine to your cabinet and it turns out it is already on the list — just under a slightly different name, in a different dose, or with a different barcode. Duplicates like these distort stock levels, make it harder to plan shopping, and can lead to dosing mistakes. The duplicate detection feature in mojApteczka recognises when you scan a medicine you already have and suggests a sensible next step instead of creating yet another entry.

Why are duplicates a problem?

In a home medicine cabinet, medicines come from many sources: a prescription, a pharmacy, a doctor's appointment, or an online order. Every new package is a potential duplicate if that medicine has already been added to the system. The problem grows when:

• several people add medicines to a shared medicine cabinet — each person may scan the same package,
• you buy the same medicine regularly and add it again each time,
• you have two packages of the same product with different expiry dates,
• the manufacturer has changed the packaging while the name and dose have stayed the same.

Without duplicate detection, the medicine cabinet quickly turns into a list of repeated entries. Stock levels stop making sense, expiry date alerts may be duplicated, and the shopping list shows missing quantities for two versions of the same medicine.

How does duplicate detection work?

When you scan a medicine package using AI recognition, the system automatically compares the recognised product with the medicines already in your medicine cabinet. The comparison works on three levels:

Name matching

The system checks whether a medicine with the same brand name already exists in the medicine cabinet. Even if the photo was taken at a different angle or the packaging has small differences, the algorithm recognises the same name.

Dose and form matching

If the name matches, the system checks the dose (e.g. 500 mg vs. 1000 mg) and the form (tablets vs. capsules). This helps distinguish between buying exactly the same product and having a different version of the same medicine.

EAN barcode matching

The barcode on the package is the clearest identifier. If the EAN code from the new scan matches one already recorded in the medicine cabinet, the system can be sure it is the same product.

What happens when a duplicate is detected?

When the system recognises that you are scanning a medicine you already have, it offers two options instead of immediately creating a new entry:

• Top up stock — the new package is added to the existing entry. Stock goes up, the expiry date can be updated, but no duplicate is created. This is the right choice when you buy another box of the same product.

• Add as new — a separate entry is created. This makes sense when you want to track packages with different expiry dates separately, or when the medicine differs in dose or form despite having a similar name.

The decision is yours. The system suggests a match but does not force an automatic merge — you have full control over how the medicine cabinet is organised.

Why does this matter for keeping the medicine cabinet organised?

Keeping the medicine cabinet organised is not just about appearance. It directly affects:

• stock accuracy — when the same medicine is not scattered across multiple entries, you know exactly how many doses you have,
• how well the shopping list works — the low stock feature relies on a single, up-to-date entry rather than several partial ones,
• clearer reports — the PDF report for the doctor is clearer when each medicine appears once,
• expiry date alerts — one medicine, one alert, without unnecessary noise.

A real-life scenario

You have Ibuprom 200 mg (tablets) in your medicine cabinet — added a month ago, with 12 tablets in stock. At the pharmacy, you buy another box of the same medicine. You scan it with the camera and the system says: "This medicine is already in your medicine cabinet. Top up stock or add as new?"

You choose "Top up stock" — stock rises to 32 tablets. One medicine card, one reminder schedule, one threshold on the shopping list. Everything stays in order.

Availability

The duplicate detection feature is currently available in the mobile app on Android. It works automatically when you scan medicines — no additional setup is needed. Simply scan the package and the system checks whether the medicine already exists in your medicine cabinet.

How it connects with other features

Duplicate detection works best together with other mojApteczka mechanisms:

• AI recognition provides the scan data used by the system to look for matches,
• Expiry date alerts work more precisely when each medicine has a single, current entry,
• Shopping list correctly calculates missing quantities when stock is consolidated,
• Shared medicine cabinet prevents two household members from adding the same medicine separately,
• Notes let you add details about a specific package, e.g. "bought at the Market Square pharmacy".

Important limitation

Duplicate detection is an organisational tool that helps keep the medicine cabinet tidy. It makes stock management easier and reduces the risk of mistakes, but it does not replace a pharmacist's check or verification that a given product is suitable for a specific person.

Important: the system matches medicines based on name, dose, form, and EAN code. If you are unsure whether two products are the same medicine, consult a pharmacist. Different brand names may contain the same active ingredient — in such cases it is worth checking medicine substitutes.

The duplicate detection feature in mojApteczka protects your medicine cabinet from chaos. One medicine, one entry, one up-to-date stock level — no repetition, no guessing, no clutter.

Watch videoSee how this feature works in the app