# Claro ScanPen — Photo/document reader with OCR > Photo and read aloud printed text with OCR, offline. (iPhone/iPad app by Claro Software Limited.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claro-scanpen/id994933713 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Claro Software Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/321126498) - Category: Education, Productivity - Price: $9.99 with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.20/5 from 147 App Store ratings · 16 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 136 MB - Languages: British English, Danish, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Norwegian Bokmål, European Portuguese, European Spanish, Swedish - Released: 2015-09-22 - Data updated: 2026-07-27 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claro-scanpen/id994933713/reviews.md ## What is Claro ScanPen? Need to listen to printed text spoken aloud - at school, in a test or exam, at work or at home? Use Claro ScanPen to photo your printed text document, letter, test paper - then select the text with your finger (or stylus), and hear it spoken straight back to you. Instantly! No internet connection required. Claro ScanPen advances reading aloud support. It gives access to printed text materials and documents for all, in a wide range of languages. Using your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, simply: • Take a photo of the text or select a photo of the text document from your camera roll. • Highlight with your finger or stylus which section of text you want to hear spoken to you. • Listen as Claro ScanPen instantly reads the text back to you using a human quality voice in a language of your choice. With your finger (or stylus) you can highlight all of the text, word by word or line by line. Tap anywhere to stop the speech. Claro ScanPen can also be used with the built in iOS VoiceOver accessibility feature, allowing low vision and blind users to access text. Claro ScanPen has no access to the internet or any reference material, so is perfect to use as a computer reader under exam and test conditions, helping students who cannot read text very well (e.g. students with dyslexia) to listen to the exam test paper questions and information. It can also be used for quickly converting class handout materials, printed presentations, instructions, books - in fact anything containing printed texts. Great for independent access and learning. Claro ScanPen uses the latest premium Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to convert your picture into text and uses iOS system voices to read the text back to you. The OCR in Claro ScanPen fully supports the recognition of text in the following languages: • English • Danish • Dutch • French • German • Italian • Norwegian • Portuguese • Spanish • Swedish Simply select the voice that matches the language of your text to hear it read back correctly. Higher-quality Nuance Expressive and Acapela voices are available to purchase in-app. Claro ScanPen is a great addition to the popular Claro Reading and Writing support apps ClaroSpeak and ClaroPDF. Claro ScanPen does not require internet access to function. Explore using the Apple iOS Guided Access feature to lock the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone into a single app, for more secure and controlled usage. Tap iOS Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access to set up Guided Access. Selected text can be copied to the clipboard by enabling the advanced setting in iOS Settings. A share button can be enabled in advanced settings in iOS Settings. This lets you export your image to other apps, email and other destinations. Now supports drag and drop of the scanned text, to apps that support text, such as Notes. Requires iOS 11 and an iPad that supports multi-tasking. *** Minimum camera spec: 2MP *** If you require any product support please email us at support@clarosoftware.com. We cannot respond to any support requests made via the App Store review channel, so please email us first. ## Key features - Photo capture of printed text - Selectable text for audio playback - Instant human-quality voice output - Offline functionality - Multi-language support - OCR technology - Copy and share text ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: $9.99. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Allison | $1.99 | one-time | | Ava | $1.99 | one-time | | Samantha | $1.99 | one-time | | Tom | $1.99 | one-time | | Susan | $1.99 | one-time | | Heather | $1.99 | one-time | | Ryan | $1.99 | one-time | | Micah | $1.99 | one-time | | Rod | $1.99 | one-time | | Tyler | $1.99 | one-time | | Will | $1.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 16) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claro-scanpen/id994933713/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Good when it works *2024-02-11, version 4.0.11* Very often it is pronouncing words wrong , needs updating on recognition of different font styles and perhaps to be able to recognise handwriting would be really great. It is good when it reads text correctly though. ### 2/5 — Doesn’t always pick up text *2023-01-17, version 4.0.3* It doesn’t always pick up text and does not recognise a variety of fonts like cpen ### 2/5 — Incompréhensible *2020-10-21, version 2.0.14* La diction est mal prononcée et saute des mots etc a ne pas recommander ### 1/5 — Useless app *2019-08-21, version 1.9.25* Doesn’t read information correctly It can not be used. ### 5/5 — Happy *2018-10-13, version 1.9.11* I’ve been using this app for a bit now and it’s very useful to hand. When I’m out and about without my software connected to my PC I can use this app. which is rather useful when in a situation where I’m not understanding the words are the letter so very good useful app for your phone!!! ### 2/5 — Disappointed! *2018-04-16* I purchased this app to help my students with disabilities become more independent; however, the app does not read but about 30% of the words correctly. My students loved the fact they could scan in a test and not have to wait on me when I am working with other students, but I still have to clarify what the app says most of the time which is a disappointment. **Developer response:** Hello, Thank you for leaving feedback on our ScanPen app. We're disappointed to hear that you have had less-than-satisfactory results with the app. Sometimes this can be caused by the taken photos not being clear enough. If you're still using the app and still having these issues, please get in touch at support@clarosoftware.com and we'd love to be able to help you resolve this. ### 3/5 — Amazing has helped me with my dyslexia *2017-07-30* If you have dyslexia or anybody around you has dyslexia you should talk about this app of them because it is very helpful. **Developer response:** Hello, Thanks for using our app and leaving such kind words. We hope it can continue to be of use to you and others. ### 5/5 — tous les dyslexiques devraient avoir cette apps !!! *2017-02-20, version 1.4.4* c est magique!!! ### 1/5 — Rubbish *2017-01-13, version 1.4.3* Absolutely rubbish and complete waste of my money! I'm a student and need help with my reading, but this doesn't read nearly half of the words correctly! It's not even reading THE as one word but instead says T..H.. not helpful and Im very disappointed! ### 1/5 — App *2016-12-07* This app does not do a good job reading the text. I can't get it to read accurately, so there is no way my child with dyslexia can use it. **Developer response:** Hi, thanks for taking the time to write a review. We're sorry to hear that you are not getting good results with ScanPen. Does your device meet the minimum secs of a 2MP camera? The results of the OCR can be badly affected if the photo is too dark, too blurry or is skewed. If you're still using and having issues with our ScanPen app, please send us a sample photo to support@clarosoftware.com and we will check what the issue is. ## Frequently asked questions about Claro ScanPen ### What does Claro ScanPen do? Claro ScanPen allows you to take a photo of any printed text document, such as a letter, test paper, or handout. It then uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert the image into text, which can be instantly read aloud to you in a human-quality voice. ### What are the key features of Claro ScanPen? Key features include capturing printed text via photo, highlighting specific sections to be read aloud, instant audio playback in various languages, offline functionality, and the ability to copy and share the recognized text. It also supports iOS accessibility features like VoiceOver. ### How much does Claro ScanPen cost? The app is free to download and use with its core features. Higher-quality voices from Nuance Expressive and Acapela are available for purchase within the app as in-app purchases. ### What devices is Claro ScanPen compatible with? Claro ScanPen is compatible with Apple devices including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. For drag and drop functionality of scanned text, iOS 11 and an iPad that supports multi-tasking are required. ### Can I use Claro ScanPen during exams? Yes, Claro ScanPen is perfect for use under exam and test conditions as it does not require an internet connection and has no access to external reference material. This helps students who may have difficulty reading printed text to access exam questions and information. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 4.0.11 — 2023-10-16 Fixed a bug where some add-on voices were not displaying correctly in the settings menu. ### 4.0.6 — 2023-03-23 Fixes a bug with newer iPhone models not using the correct lens when up close. ### 4.0.3 — 2022-06-07 * New Google OCR engine Improves OCR speed and accuracy. More supported languages. * Focus mode A new setting that helps to eliminate distractions and increase your focus. When this setting is enabled, all the other text in the app will be dimmed. * Updated UI icons ### 3.1.2 — 2021-12-13 Fixed an issue with the delete scan button location. ### 3.0.12 — 2021-07-12 Fixes a bug with the photos from library sometimes being imported in the wrong order. ## Apps similar to Claro ScanPen | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Voice Dream - Natural Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/voice-dream-natural-reader/id496177674) | 4.5 (13,993) | Free | Education | | [ClaroPDF Pro – Text to Speech](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claropdf-pro-text-to-speech/id633997623) | 4.2 (47) | $9.99 | Education | | [Text To Speech – Audio Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/text-to-speech-audio-reader/id1621275140) | 3.9 (141) | Free | Education | | [Handwriting Text To Speech OCR](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/handwriting-text-to-speech-ocr/id1492322349) | 4.4 (58) | Free | Education | | [Associations multimedia](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/associations-multimedia/id684068841) | — | $3.99 | Education | | [Lese-App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lese-app/id1662281582) | — | $1.99 | Education | ## More apps by Claro Software Limited - [ClaroCom Pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clarocom-pro/id623306168) - [ClaroPDF Pro – Text to Speech](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claropdf-pro-text-to-speech/id633997623) - [Claro MagX](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/claro-magx/id653398060) - [ClaroSpeak Plus](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clarospeak-plus/id845128025) - [ClaroCom](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clarocom/id903818521) - [ClaroSpeak - Literacy Support](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clarospeak-literacy-support/id977258467) All apps by Claro Software Limited: https://appshunter.io/developer/321126498 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-27.*