Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch vs ScanBox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch
Control presentations on your Mac directly from your Apple Watch or iPhone. Navigate slides, start/stop shows, and track time elapsed, all without needing Wi-Fi. Compatible with popular presentation software.
- Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity
- Start/stop presentations
- Navigate slides and builds
- Track elapsed time
- Compatible with PowerPoint, Keynote, Preview
- No Wi-Fi required
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Ctrl is the best presentation companion for your Apple Watch. – Seamlessly connect your Apple Watch or iPhone to your Mac with Bluetooth 4.0. No Wifi required. – Start and stop presentations right from your Watch or iPhone, and navigate between slides and builds. – Glance at your Watch to see how much time has passed. – Compatible with PowerPoint, Keynote, and Preview. Requirements: – A Bluetooth 4.0 enabled Mac running OS X Mojave or later. Setup is easy, simply download Ctrl for Mac from https://mysk.app/ and launch Ctrl from your iPhone or Apple Watch.
ScanBox
Extract text from images, camera, and screenshots with a customizable scan box. Quickly copy specific information like prices, serial numbers, or QR codes. Supports multiple languages and offers offline functionality.
- Resizable scan box for precise text selection
- Extract text from camera, photos, and screenshots
- QR code and barcode scanning
- Offline text recognition
- Edit and copy extracted text
- Read text aloud
- Local scan history with search
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Scan only the text you want, frame it with a resizable scan box, tap once, and copy it. No wall of text to clean up. Works on camera, photos and screenshots, entirely on your iPhone. ScanBox gives you a scan box you can drag and resize. Put it over a price, a serial number, a single paragraph or a QR code, tap once, and just that is ready to use. WHAT'S NEW IN 1.3 • QR codes and barcodes: ScanBox reads codes inside the scan box, from the camera and from photos. Each code gets a Copy button, and web links get a tap-to-Open button • Search your history, ignoring case and accents • Tap phone numbers, links, addresses and dates in your results to call, open, map or add them • Edit captured text before you copy it; your edits are saved to history • Read aloud with the on-device system voice • Share sheet: choose "ScanBox" from Photos, Files or Safari images to read the text and copy it all, without opening the app. Scans from the share sheet are not saved to history • Shortcuts: the "Extract Text from Image" action (iOS 16 or later) • A simpler 3-step first-run guide TWO WAYS TO SCAN Camera: point at a menu, label, receipt, book page, sign or QR code. Move and resize the scan box to frame exactly what you need. Pinch to zoom from 1x to 6x and switch on the torch in dim light. Photos: import any picture or screenshot from your library. The same scan box appears over the image (it starts on the whole image) so you can narrow it to one line before you capture. WHY SCANBOX • Scan box: drag, resize and capture only what is inside it • Image to text from Photos and screenshots • QR code and barcode reading • Live camera scanning with torch and pinch-to-zoom (1x to 6x) • 13 OCR languages: English (US/UK), French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian and Ukrainian (these four need iOS 16 or later) • Optional auto-copy: turn it on in Settings to send text to your clipboard the moment it is read • Fast Mode for quick, everyday scans • Copy or share the result to Messages, Mail, Notes or any app • Local scan history with search, swipe to delete and Clear All • Haptics you can switch off • Tiny download - no bloat PRIVATE BY DESIGN ScanBox collects nothing. There is no account, no ads, no tracking, no analytics, no third-party SDKs and no network requests. Text is recognised on your device with Apple's Vision framework, and read aloud with the on-device system voice. Photos and camera frames are never saved or uploaded, and your history stays in the app's private storage on your iPhone. It works in airplane mode. GREAT FOR Receipts, menus, product labels, ingredient lists, serial numbers, price tags, business cards, street signs, whiteboards, book passages, neatly handwritten notes, QR codes, barcodes, and text inside screenshots - anything you would otherwise retype by hand. Free. No subscription. No sign-in.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch at 80% against ScanBox's 0%. Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch also leads on iOS requirement (12.4 vs 15.0). ScanBox's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 48 months). On 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
ScanBox is free to download; Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch ships an update every 48 months, ScanBox every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch | ScanBox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 48 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mysk Inc. | Neha Rathore |
Customer experience
Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch
ScanBox
In-app purchases
Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch
No in-app purchases
ScanBox
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch free?
Is ScanBox free?
Do Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch or ScanBox have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ctrl ~ A Remote for your Watch or ScanBox?
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