Product Review of Claro ScanPen
This is a text-to-speech app for iOS devices that works for scanned documents. Take photos, scan or select from your gallery, and use your hand to select the portion you want read to you. It does not require Internet access.
What Users Love About the App
“I’ve been looking for an app like this to help my special education students. This one is free! It has amazing potential.”
“Quite handy in a pinch for Android users. If you make sure the paper is flat, there shouldn’t be problems with conversions from image to text; curves tend to make sentences interesting because they mix and match. I want access to the LED for quicker focus when in dark areas. It’s disabled when I try to turn it on. I would also like to request a line for guidance when taking images of text for alignment purposes.”
What Users Dislike About the App
“If you are looking for an app that reads an isolated word, Claro Scan Pen is perfect. It’s the first app that finally feels like it was developed with a dyslexic reader in mind (not a translating app that a person with dyslexia can use.) Unfortunately, with larger text sections, I found that it was simply not as accurate as Prizmo. I tested it with an iPod touch and an iPad Mini.”
“This app doesn’t work at all! It doesn’t say the correct words that you highlight! There are so many things wrong with this app; it is unbelievable! Save your money, and don’t get this app! If I could post this review without having to do a starred review, I would have!”
“I purchased this app to help my students with disabilities become more independent. However, the app only reads about 30% of the words correctly. My students loved that they could scan in a test and not have to wait on me while I worked with other students. I do still have to clarify that what the app says most of the time is a disappointment.”
“It was fine at first, but now there have been so many problems. It freezes, the app keeps closing, and won’t even read. I had to uninstall and install it, but it still didn’t work. So, I wouldn’t recommend this app.”
“It was awesome in the beginning. Then, every time I would take a picture of a paper, it would say no words would be detected—even if the picture of the document was very clear. It has been doing this for a while, so I deleted and downloaded it again. Still, it hasn’t been able to work.”
