# Crossword Lens — Scan & play newspapers & books

> Scan & play newspapers & books (iPhone/iPad app by Karl Groethe.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crossword-lens/id6813740564 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Karl Groethe](https://appshunter.io/developer/6785324277)
- Category: Games, Utilities, Puzzle, Word
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 10 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-11-01
- Data updated: 2026-11-10

## What is Crossword Lens?

Point your camera at a crossword in a newspaper or puzzle book and play it on your phone.

Crossword Lens reads the grid and the clues off the page and gives you back a puzzle you can actually see: pinch to zoom, high contrast, dark mode, big tap targets, and VoiceOver on every square. No squinting at six-point type, no pencil smudges, no lost place.

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO

It does not solve the puzzle. There is no cheat button and no answer lookup. Crossword Lens reproduces the crossword you already have so you can fill it in — the solving is yours.

ABOUT THE SCANNING

Newsprint is hard to read. Folds, shadows, coffee rings and small type all take their toll, and no scanner gets every square right every time. What matters is how quickly you can fix what it got wrong, so that is what we built: tap a square to change it, tap a clue to retype it, and the app tells you where it is least sure rather than quietly guessing.

Scan the printed answer key too — most papers print it the next day, most books in the back — and check and reveal become real, working from the actual answers rather than a guess.

BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO FIND THE PAPER HARD

This is the reason the app exists. Every square is reachable by VoiceOver and reads its position and contents aloud. Clues can be read out as you move. The grid scales to whatever size you need, in high contrast if that helps. Nothing about solving requires fine motor control.

YOUR PUZZLES STAY ON YOUR PHONE

Scans never leave the device. There is no account, no sync and no server of ours, and nothing you scan is uploaded. If you use Game Center, only your scores and achievements are shared with it. The app works on a plane.

NO ADVERTISING

None, anywhere, ever. Not on the free tier, not between puzzles.

OUR OWN PUZZLES TOO

A crossword every day, written and checked before it ships, on a Monday-to-Saturday difficulty ladder with a bigger Sunday grid. Plus themed packs of ten — films, cooking, travel, sport, music, literature, US history and more — to own outright. Three themed puzzles are free, and so is the daily on the day you first open the app.

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND PURCHASES

Unlimited scanning and the daily crossword are each available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or together, each with a 7-day free trial. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled in Settings. A daily subscription opens each day's puzzle from the day you subscribe; the Everything unlock opens the whole archive, past days included. Puzzle packs and the Everything unlock are one-time purchases.

On iPad, letters written with Apple Pencil are read on the device by a model trained on NIST Special Database 19, from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://crosswordlens.com/privacy

Free to try: three scans, three puzzles and your first day's daily. No account, no card.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Daily Crossword Yearly | $29.99 | per year |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Screen Time | $2.99 | one-time |
| Summer Holidays | $2.99 | one-time |
| Every Puzzle Pack | $34.99 | one-time |
| Music Box | $2.99 | one-time |
| Halloween | $2.99 | one-time |
| Easy Does It | $2.99 | one-time |
| American Story | $2.99 | one-time |
| In the Kitchen | $2.99 | one-time |
| Christmas | $2.99 | one-time |


## Is Crossword Lens safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Crossword Lens.

## Is Crossword Lens legit?

Crossword Lens appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Crossword Lens is 65 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 1.0.1 — 2026-11-03

Three free puzzles to start with, and the daily crossword is free on the day you first open the app.

On iPad, the grid now fills the screen. In landscape the clue, the clue list and the keyboard sit beside it; in portrait the grid runs the full width.

The clue bar always shows the whole clue.

On iPad, a finger tap on a square now selects it. Some taps were mistaken for a resting palm and ignored.

Apple Pencil now reads lowercase handwriting as well as capitals.

The themed puzzle packs have new clues that tie in more closely with each pack's theme.

### 1.0 — 2026-11-02

No release notes.

## More apps by Karl Groethe

- [SamuraiKu: Samurai Sudoku](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/samuraiku-samurai-sudoku/id6785324275)
- [Netherword: Daily Word Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/netherword-daily-word-game/id6790278635)
- [Sudoku Solver: Camera Scan](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sudoku-solver-camera-scan/id6790636152)
- [Teahouse: Mahjong Solitaire](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/teahouse-mahjong-solitaire/id6791676780)
- [CubeLens: Scan. Learn. Solve.](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cubelens-scan-learn-solve/id6792565893)
- [All 52 Cards: Solitaire](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/all-52-cards-solitaire/id6797333270)

All apps by Karl Groethe: https://appshunter.io/developer/6785324277

## Related topics

[wsj crossword](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/wsj-crossword) · [picture perfect crossword](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/picture-perfect-crossword)

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*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 2026-11-10.*