Comparison

Selvy PenScript vs Whale

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Selvy PenScript

Transform your handwritten notes into digital text with advanced AI recognition. Supports over 40 languages and various handwriting styles, offering a smooth and customizable input experience.

Highlights
  • Handwriting recognition
  • Supports over 40 languages
  • Cursive handwriting support
  • Specialized ink for beautification
  • Six ink color options
  • Smooth, continuous input
Read full description

Are you fed up with keyboard typos? Do you miss handwriting on a daily basis? Selvy PenScript empowers you to use your own handwriting to input text on your iPhone. Whether your handwriting is neat, squiggly, or cursive, Selvy PenScript will recognize your handwriting based on 20 years of handwriting recognition research and technology brought to you by Selvas AI. Try it out now using either a stylus or your finger! Some of our key features include: ㆍ Specialized ink specially designed to beautify your handwriting ㆍ Six different ink colors you can choose from ㆍ Smooth, continuous input that provides a seamless handwriting experience ㆍ Recognition of over 40 languages with support for cursive handwriting ㆍ Our online handwriting service that enables you to select languages without having to download them Got a question? You can contact us through our customer center or Facebook page. ■ Customer Center: support@selvasai.comk ■ http://www.selvasai.com

About

Whale

This browser offers a fast and intuitive web browsing experience with cross-device synchronization. It features a unique quick search function and a convenient scrapbook for saving content, all while blocking intrusive ads. Enjoy a personalized and efficient way to access web content.

Highlights
  • Fast and intuitive design
  • Cross-device data synchronization
  • Quick search on screen
  • Convenient scrapbook
  • Ad blocking
Features
Read full description

Here is Naver Whale browser! Searching in easy and fast, Syncing to every devices, Blocking abusive ads. Enjoy web content with Whale! - The more you use it, the more beautiful and intuitive design - Synchronize your data as is on any PC / mobile device - Quick and easy search on the screen you saw, Quick Search - Your own Scrapbook, more convenient than bookmarks Learn more about Naver Whale - Contact us through whaleteam@naver.com - Please visit us : https://whale.naver.com - This is the from for whale, let us know your opinion : https://forum.whale.naver.com/forum/25/ Required permissions for Whale · Camera: Used for QR code scanning, image search, and Whale ON video calls. · Microphone: Used to transmit audio during Whale ON video calls. · Photos: Used to save webpage images and screenshots to your photo library. · Location: Used to provide weather information on the new tab page and to share your current location with websites that request it. · Contacts: Used to save downloaded contact (vCard) files to your device's Contacts. · Face ID / Touch ID: Used to verify your identity when entering Incognito mode, managing passwords, and unlocking browsing history or downloads. · Notifications: Used to receive visit reminders and Scrapbook notifications you've set up. Required Permission Info - Location : To provide location information on websites - Photos : To download images from website or upload the photos stored on device to website - Microphone : To use your voice and access Whale ON video meeting - Camera : To upload images and access Whale ON video meeting Privacy Policy You can read privacy policy of Whale browser : https://policy.naver.com/policy-mobile/privacy.html

Screenshots

Selvy PenScript4 screens
Whale4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Whale at 4.5 against Selvy PenScript's 3.6. Whale also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). Selvy PenScript's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Whale holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 120 and 312 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 66% and 66% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Selvy PenScript ships an update monthly, Whale every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Selvy PenScript versus Whale: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSelvy PenScriptWhale
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (120 ratings)4.5 (312 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.7% of reviews66.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings120312 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB306 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperSELVAS AI Inc.NAVER Corp.

Customer experience

Selvy PenScript

All ratings120 ratings
Positive63.3%
Neutral9.2%
Negative27.5%
Written reviews210 reviews
Positive65.7%
Neutral10.5%
Negative23.8%

Whale

All ratings312 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral4.2%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews133 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral12.8%
Negative21.1%

User reviews

Selvy PenScript

From 120 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✍️ Excellent handwriting recognition accuracy
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive performance
  • 💰 Free app with no ads
  • 🌍 Supports multiple languages
  • ⚙️ Adjustable recognition delay settings

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • ⚠️ Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • 🔒 Requires full keyboard access (privacy concerns)
  • 📱 Poor performance on iPad Mini and iPad Pro
  • 🪟 Floating keyboard mode has missing UI elements

Whale

From 312 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • ✨ Clean and beautiful design
  • 🚀 Fast and reliable performance
  • 🔗 Seamless PC and mobile integration
  • 💡 Useful built-in features (Papago, calculator, memo)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • ⚠️ Ad blocker not working effectively
  • 🐌 Slow loading times on some devices/websites
  • 🚫 Certain features not working as expected (PiP, screen time, translation)
  • 📱 Mobile version less optimized than desktop

Bugs and requests

Selvy PenScript

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes on iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • Keyboard not appearing or switching properly
  • Floating keyboard missing buttons (backspace, enter, keyboard switcher)
  • Language selection not working (only Japanese shows despite settings)
  • Incompatible with iOS 15.1.1 and later
Show 7 more
  • Caps lock malfunction with hardware keyboards
  • Terms of Service screen blocks app startup
  • Google Docs on Safari only types one letter at a time
  • Keyboard assets disappearing in floating mode
  • Undo function loses entire sentences
  • Poor recognition with multiple languages simultaneously
  • Kanji not recognized in Japanese mode

Requested features

17 requests
  • Dark mode support
  • Larger writing area for iPad Pro
  • Apple Pencil-only input mode (disable palm detection)
  • Better punctuation and special character recognition
  • Improved undo/redo functionality
Show 12 more
  • Eraser tool for corrections
  • Arabic language support
  • Persian language support
  • Kanji support for Japanese
  • Customizable keyboard button sizes
  • Floating keyboard improvements
  • Better documentation and tutorials
  • Dedicated punctuation button
  • Ability to cross out words while writing
  • Updated UI to match Apple design standards
  • Support for iPad one-hand keyboard mode
  • Adjustable writing space position

Whale

Reported bugs

54 issues
  • Picture in Picture (PiP) not working
  • Playback slider not working
  • Hacker using the interface (potential security issue)
  • Screen time not working
  • UI issues with YouTube and Naver on iPad
Show 49 more
  • Background wallpaper changing automatically
  • Text size adjustment difficult
  • YouTube full screen not working on iPad
  • Papago feature not working on certain websites
  • Login errors (non-existent account, wrong password)
  • YouTube small window mode issues
  • Screen not transitioning to full screen
  • Tab window bug when opening new tabs
  • PDF viewing issues (lagging, crashing)
  • App crashing after update
  • WebRTC open by default on PC/Mac
  • Whaleon error preventing meeting participation
  • File names with Korean characters becoming unreadable after download on iOS 15
  • Back button behavior (going to top of page)
  • Bomtoon account login authorization error
  • App force closes when entering a class meeting link
  • Bug where previously opened pages open in a new tab
  • Naver dark mode not working
  • Page loading issues
  • Login issues with incorrect password or initialization failure
  • Login not working on iPad
  • Dedicated meeting room hostless start error
  • App freezing and becoming unresponsive
  • Dark mode issues (not applying, white screen on some sites)
  • YouTube translation issues causing content mix-up
  • MacBook (M1) battery consumption
  • Freezing issues on mobile
  • Text selection issues (options window not appearing)
  • App crashing on login
  • Crash when editing menu
  • Translation not working (German to English)
  • App crashing when opening new tabs
  • App restarting when minimized
  • App crashing on login attempt
  • Infinite crashing
  • App closes after a few seconds
  • PDF documents in links cause freezing
  • Link to PDF documents causes freezing
  • Automatic refresh when switching apps
  • App restarts when minimized
  • Dark mode not available on iOS
  • Infinite crashing on iOS
  • App crashes after login attempt
  • Syncing issues with desktop browser history
  • Text selection not working on iPad
  • Papago or Quick Search not appearing next to text selection
  • Background playback not working on mobile data
  • Translation function often unavailable
  • Search term saving cannot be turned off on mobile

Requested features

24 requests
  • Add simplified Chinese language support
  • Add Turkish language support
  • Add Japanese language support
  • Improve text selection and copy-paste functionality
  • Add a search feature for opened tabs
Show 19 more
  • Allow users to disable search term saving
  • Add a desktop mode persistent option
  • Improve PiP fast forward/backward slider
  • Add screen time tracking feature
  • Add option to disable 'frequently visited sites' on home screen
  • Allow users to set homepage to a new tab page
  • Add option to disable closing tab list when closing last tab
  • Improve background playback on mobile data
  • Add Chinese language version
  • Add Russian language support
  • Add a feature to move PC content to other devices
  • Fix issue with automatic change to new version of Naver launcher
  • Add ability to download to Files
  • Fix issue with PDF rendering on iPad
  • Add option to customize toolbar
  • Improve text size adjustment for better usability
  • Add a feature to view saved passwords on iPhone
  • Add a screen time mode to see time spent on each website
  • Add option to fix background wallpaper

In-app purchases

None

Selvy PenScript

No in-app purchases

None

Whale

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Selvy PenScript free?
Selvy PenScript is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Whale free?
Whale is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Selvy PenScript or Whale?
Whale is rated higher. Selvy PenScript averages 3.6 out of 5 from 120 ratings, while Whale averages 4.5 from 312 ratings.
Do Selvy PenScript or Whale have ads?
Neither Selvy PenScript nor Whale shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Selvy PenScript or Whale?
Selvy PenScript ships an update monthly, and Whale every 2 weeks. Most recently, Selvy PenScript was updated on October 22, 2026 and Whale on October 29, 2026.

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