SMART InkScan vs Spicy Focus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SMART InkScan
Transform handwritten notes and sketches into digital ink. Seamlessly bridge the physical and digital worlds by scanning whiteboards, documents, and more. Offers features like perspective correction, multi-image capture, and annotation for enhanced productivity.
- Converts handwritten notes to digital ink
- Perspective correction
- Multi-image capture
- Annotation tools
- Export as image or PDF
- Direct integration with SMART Board with iQ
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For those who love the immediacy and expression of pen and paper, SMART InkScan converts handwritten artifacts into digital SMART ink™. Users can begin brainstorming on the back of a napkin and seamlessly continue working from their mobile device, bridging the gap between the physical and digital domains. InkScan also offers the most useful features of other mobile scanner apps such as perspective correction, multi-image capture, numerous annotation options, and export as image or pdf. For users with access to a SMART Board with iQ, SMART InkScan offers a smooth transition from dry-erase whiteboards to SMART Ink with just a snap. InkScan converts your photos into digital ink and sends them directly to a SMART Board with iQ allowing teachers and students to continue working interactively with content. Here are some delightful examples of how SMART InkScan can improve your workflow: - Snap a pic of your next great concept sketch and convert it to digital ink. Continue fine-tuning your work within the app or use the large canvas on a SMART Board with iQ - Use the new Files app in iOS to import PDFs. Add a signature to important documents and share via email. You can even save your signature for next time - Enhance the quality of those whiteboard pics on your camera roll. Use the inking tools to markup and distribute to your team as a PDF or image - Combine notes taken from multiple team members, highlight the important items share them with your study group - Compile receipts for your next expense report, add notes and export as a multi-page PDF
Spicy Focus
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Spicy Focus - Science-Based Timer for ADHD Brains Every feature in Spicy Focus is grounded in peer-reviewed ADHD neuroscience. Not productivity advice repackaged with a "for ADHD" label — actual research. Here's what's inside and why. FREE FEATURES Smart Duration Recommendations ("Focus Calibration") ADHD brains literally cannot predict their own focus capacity — that's time blindness (Barkley, 2015). And choosing from 7 duration options triggers decision paralysis (Baumeister's decision fatigue research). Spicy Focus learns from your history — energy levels, completion rates, time of day, activity labels — and auto-selects the duration you're most likely to complete. It nudges you up when you're on a streak (adaptive difficulty from game design) and pulls back when you're struggling. You can always override it. But you'll rarely need to. "Just 5 Minutes" Micro-Commitment ADHD brains need 2-3x more dopamine stimulation to initiate tasks (Volkow et al., NIDA PET imaging study). The 5-minute rule is the #1 clinician-recommended technique for overcoming initiation paralysis. Commit to 5 minutes. When it's up, you choose: extend or stop. Research shows 80%+ continue past the initial commitment. Session Intentions Vague goals are executive dysfunction's worst enemy. Research on implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999) shows that specifying exactly what you'll do — "I will write the intro paragraph" — dramatically increases follow-through. Set one concrete task before each session. Check it off when you're done. Hyperfocus Nudge 68% of adults with ADHD report frequent hyperfocus episodes (Ashinoff & Abu-Akel, 2021). The optional Focus Nudge gently reminds you to stretch, drink water, or rest your eyes without interrupting your flow. Ambient Soundscapes A 2024 meta-analysis found that ambient noise has a statistically significant benefit for ADHD focus (effect size g=0.249, p=0.0001) — but a negative effect on neurotypical brains. The benefit is ADHD-specific (Soderlund, Sikstrom & Smart, 2007). Also free: countdown timer, stopwatch mode, energy tracking, session history, and dark mode. SPICY FOCUS PRO - $4.99 (with 7-day free trial) Unlock the full toolkit: - Insights dashboard with focus trends, heatmaps, and energy correlation charts - Focus streaks with Grace Days — your streak won't break if you miss a day, because shame-based systems backfire for ADHD brains (backed by RSD research) - Daily goals with flexible tracking - Pomodoro mode with customizable intervals - XP and leveling system for long-term motivation - Premium soundscapes - Personal records and streak calendar Every feature cites its research in the in-app Science section. 366 million adults worldwide have ADHD. This app was built for you.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: SMART InkScan at 10.3 against Spicy Focus's 17.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. SMART InkScan sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Spicy Focus sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | SMART InkScan | Spicy Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.3 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 69 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SMART Technologies | Sina Sima |
In-app purchases
SMART InkScan
- Remove Watermarks$0.99
- Import PDFs$0.99
- Get New Pens$0.99
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- Get All the Upgrades$1.99
Spicy Focus
- Spicy Focus Pro$4.99
Questions
Is SMART InkScan free?
Is Spicy Focus free?
Do SMART InkScan or Spicy Focus have ads?
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