Comparison

Swipe Memo vs ZZZ Let's Read!

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

Head to head
About

Swipe Memo

Features
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It is an application that allows you to concentrate only on taking notes. Swipe left for unlimited notes, swipe down for a list, swipe down again for a note! That's all you need to do.

About

ZZZ Let's Read!

Features
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ZZZ Let's Read! β€” On-device OCR for Japanese (vertical, horizontal, classical, kuzushiji) and English Point your camera at a book or a receipt, and get text in an instant. Every byte of OCR runs locally on your device β€” captured images and recognized text never leave your phone. Ideal for privacy-conscious users and offline environments. β—† SUPPORTED OCR LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS β—† This App recognizes only the following: β€’ Japanese β€” vertical (tategaki) and horizontal (yokogaki) writing, modern Japanese, classical/pre-modern kanji, and kuzushiji (cursive handwriting). 7,141 characters of the NDLmoji charset. β€’ English β€” basic Latin alphabet (A–Z / a–z), digits, and common punctuation. Other writing systems are NOT recognized: Simplified/Traditional Chinese, Korean (Hangul), Cyrillic, Arabic, etc. Accented Latin characters (Γ©, Γ±, ΓΌ, Γ§, Γ£, …) are also not in the OCR charset. The app interface is available in 6 languages, but the OCR engine itself supports only Japanese and English. β—† FEATURES β—† Document Mode β€” Books, Manuscripts, Classical Japanese β€’ Powered by the National Diet Library's NDLOCR-Lite β€’ 7,141-character NDLmoji charset including pre-modern Japanese kanji β€’ "Detect" outlines all text regions β€” tap to OCR only what you need β€’ "Read all" runs OCR on the entire page in one go β€’ Copy or share recognized text β€’ Pinch-to-zoom on the captured snapshot Receipt Mode β€” Automated Bookkeeping β€’ Auto-extract amount and date from any receipt β€’ Multi-currency: JPY, USD, GBP, EUR, and more β€’ Date formats: Gregorian, Reiwa/Heisei, abbreviated wareki, English month names (e.g. 16AUG2015) β€’ Auto-detects DD/MM vs MM/DD by device locale β€’ Handles European decimal comma (15,65 €) correctly β€’ Bill splitter β€” divides the amount by N people β€’ Share CSV via Mail / Drive / messenger, or clear with one tap β—† SIX INTERFACE LANGUAGES β—† Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese. Unsupported locales fall back to English automatically. β—† PRIVACY BY DESIGN β—† β€’ Fully offline OCR β€” no network required for recognition β€’ Captured photos are discarded after OCR; nothing is sent to a server β€’ Only the camera and one CSV file on internal storage are accessed β€’ Network is used solely for ad delivery (Google AdMob) β—† WHO IT'S FOR β—† β€’ Students and researchers studying classical Japanese β€’ Writers and editors quoting from physical books β€’ Freelancers, sole proprietors, and households tracking receipts β€’ Travelers logging expenses across multiple countries β€’ Anyone handling confidential documents or working offline β—† REQUIREMENTS β—† β€’ iOS 13.0 or higher β€’ ~200 MB free storage β€’ Rear-facing camera β€’ Internet not required for OCR (used only for ads) β—† OPEN-SOURCE CREDITS β—† The OCR engine in this App is built on these open-source assets, redistributed under their respective licenses. β€’ National Diet Library NDLOCR-Lite β€” CC BY 4.0 β€’ PARSeq scene-text recognition model β€” Apache License 2.0 β€’ PaddlePaddle PP-OCRv4 detection model β€” Apache License 2.0 The native iOS port (Swift + ONNX Runtime) is the work of this App's developer. β—† MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION (REMOVE ADS) β—† β€’ The "Remove Ads" monthly plan hides all ads in the app β€’ Payment is charged to your Apple ID account β€’ The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period β€’ Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period β€’ You can manage or cancel anytime in iOS Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions β—† TERMS OF USE (EULA) β—† This App is provided under the following End User License Agreement (EULA). Terms of Use: https://smolt-stage.com/home/privacy/zzz-ocr-terms.html β—† PRIVACY POLICY β—† This App handles information in accordance with its privacy policy. For details, see "About" inside the App or the link in this store listing.

Screenshots

Swipe Memo1 screens
ZZZ Let's Read!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Swipe Memo at none against ZZZ Let's Read!'s 1. ZZZ Let's Read!'s advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. ZZZ Let's Read! sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. Swipe Memo asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Swipe Memo ships an update every 3 months, ZZZ Let's Read! fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Swipe Memo versus ZZZ Let's Read!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwipe MemoZZZ Let's Read!
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS15.013.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size13 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYuya TajimaSMOLT STAGE, K.K.

In-app purchases

None

Swipe Memo

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

ZZZ Let's Read!

Subscriptions1
  • ZZZ Let's Read! Premium$0.991 Month

Questions

Is Swipe Memo free?
Swipe Memo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ZZZ Let's Read! free?
ZZZ Let's Read! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Swipe Memo or ZZZ Let's Read! have ads?
Neither Swipe Memo nor ZZZ Let's Read! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Swipe Memo or ZZZ Let's Read!?
Swipe Memo ships an update every 3 months, and ZZZ Let's Read! fortnightly. Most recently, Swipe Memo was updated on September 26, 2026 and ZZZ Let's Read! on September 23, 2026.

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