Usage Guide

The app opens on the Home screen; from the bottom bar you can move to Board, Library, Calculators, and Settings. The name you enter on first launch is used in the greeting on Home.

All of your data is stored only on this device — no internet connection is required.

On the Board, tap + to create a new piece: give it a name and choose a clay body (Stoneware, Porcelain, Earthenware, Raku, or custom). Tapping a project opens three tabs:

• Visual Archive — four stage cards (Wet, Bisque, Glazed, Final). Tap a card to take a photo from the camera; use the pencil icon to add a markdown-enabled note. The most advanced stage of the piece appears as a badge on its Board card.
• Material Parameters — pick a material from the library or write your own with the ‘custom’ switch, then enter its percentage. Swipe left to delete a row.
• Heat Chart — view the firing schedules linked to this project and create a new one.

To delete a project, use the trash icon at the top right; all photos and measurements are deleted with it.

• Total Shrinkage — enter drying and firing shrinkage; the compound total is calculated (not a simple sum). Enter a target final size on the same screen and it gives the wet size you need.
• Water Absorption Test — enter the dry and water-saturated weights; you get the absorption percentage and a vitrification note (fully vitrified / semi / porous).
• Ramp Duration — add segments (target temperature, °/hour rate, hold minutes); the total estimated firing time is calculated.

You can use a dot or a comma for decimals. Units follow your choice in Settings.

• Glaze Library — low/mid/high fire tabs. In a recipe’s detail, enter grams in the ‘Total batch’ field: every component is automatically converted to grams. Additives (colorants, opacifiers) sit outside the base 100%. Save your own recipes with +. For recipes with UMF (or your own), tap Show UMF to compute the unity molecular formula and, for Cone 6 recipes, see warnings for oxides outside the typical range.
• Clay Body Library — 14 verified clay body recipes across stoneware, porcelain, earthenware, and raku tabs. Each recipe shows ingredient percentages, target cone range, application notes, and source attribution; use ‘Total batch’ to compute gram amounts.
• Material Library — typical oxide compositions of materials and ⚠️ toxicity warnings. You can add a custom material with the values from your supplier’s certificate (recommended for batch/lot differences).
• Orton Cone Chart — choose the cone type: Self-Supporting and Large cones are measured at 60°C/hour, Small (kiln-sitter) cones at 300°C/hour; the Small values are always higher. Cone 5½ has no Large/Small equivalent.
• Kiln Presets — pick your brand, enter your target temperature; get a safe/unsafe warning based on the kiln’s limit.

Reach it from the Firing Tracker card on the Board or from a project’s Heat Chart tab. In New Program, enter the cone, cone type, an optional kiln preset, and the ramp segments.

When you tap ‘Start Firing’, the app calculates the time of three thresholds from your program and sets notifications: ~100°C water release, 573°C quartz inversion, and approaching the peak temperature. The chart shows the planned curve and a progress marker.

⚠️ Important: The app is not connected to your kiln. All temperature and time values are estimates calculated from the program you entered — never leave your kiln unattended. On Xiaomi/Redmi devices, to keep notifications from being delayed, set Settings → Battery → ‘No restrictions’ for Cerennics.

Settings → ‘Back Up’ exports all your data as a single JSON file; you can share the file wherever you like (files, email, your own cloud) — the app never sends it to any server.

‘Restore from Backup’ brings back the data in the file you choose; all current data is replaced with what’s in the backup.

Always take a backup before switching phones.

Cerennics works completely offline: there is no analytics, no server, and no data transfer. All of your data, photos included, lives only on your device.

If you delete the app, your data is deleted too — which is why we recommend keeping regular backups.