Janet Ingber
In this second article about scanning and reading options, I compare two reading and scanning apps, Prizmo Go and TextGrabber. Unlike OneStep Reader and Voice Dream Scanner, these two apps are not specifically designed for people who are blind or low vision, but they do claim to work well with VoiceOver.
For this article, I used an iPhone 13 with iOS 15.6.
Prizmo Go
- Prizmo Go
- Cost: The app is free, but offers in-app purchases.
- Developer: Creaceed SRL
- iPhone: Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
- iPad: Requires iPadOS 13 or later.
At this time, Prizmo Go is not available for the Mac.
On Android, there are 3rd party websites for getting Prizmo Go through the Google Play Store. This app is described as follows on the app store:
“Aim at text. Shoot. It's yours! Prizmo Go lets you quickly grab text with the camera. After text is recognized in a blink of an eye, you can interact with it in many useful ways. Or just send it to other apps. ”
The app also states, “Prizmo Go comes with enhancements specifically built for VoiceOver, in addition to spoken guidance prior to shooting. That, combined with its text-to-speech capabilities, make it a great companion in case you need help reading printed documents.”
Getting Help
I could not find any specific help information in the app. Here is the FAQ section from the developer’s website
The Home Screen
The home screen contains a series of buttons. They are Application Settings, Orientation Detection, Flash, Stabilization, On-Device OCR, Take Picture, Import Image, and Scene Description.
The Application Settings button is organized by headings. The first heading in the menu is Manage Purchases. Use the first button under this heading to restore purchases. Under that button is an option to get the Premium Plan. A monthly subscription costs 99 cents and an annual subscription is $9.99. Information about the plan is also in this section.
The next heading in the Application Settings menu is Text Recognition. The first control is a Manage Languages button. By default, English is the selected language. Next is a toggle button to handle curved text. By default, this button is on. The final button in this section is for Advanced OCR Selection. By default, it is off. There is an explanation of what this setting does when selected.
The next heading is Camera. The first option is whether not to detect QR Codes. Next is Save Picture to Album. Both of these options are off by default. The next control is Capture Chime, which is on by default. The final option is Low Power Mode, which is off by default.
The final heading is Text Reader. The first option in this section is Read Text Automatically. This is on by default. The second option is Siri Shortcuts.
Once you are done in this section, activate the Done button in the upper right corner. This will bring you back to the app’s home screen.
Next are a series of buttons. The first three are all off by default. They are Orientation Detection, Flash, and Stabilization.
Next is the name of your chosen language and a button labeled On-Device OCR. Activating this button brings up a screen inviting you to try Prizmo Go’s cloud based recognition. You will need to get a premium subscription to use this service.
The Take Picture button is the next control. The final buttons are Import Image and Scene Description.
TextGrabber
- TextGrabber
- Cost Free with in-app purchases.
- Version 6.13.20
- Developer: ABBYY USA Software House Inc
- iPhone: iOS 13.0 or later
- iPad: iPad OS or later
- Android version
The company describes the app as, “ABBYY TextGrabber easily and quickly digitizes fragments of printed text, reads QR codes and turns the recognized result into actions: call, write, translate into 100+ languages online and into 10 languages offline, search in the Internet or on maps, create events on the calendar, edit, voice and share in any convenient way.
When you point a camera at printed text, TextGrabber instantly captures information and recognizes it without connecting to the Internet. A unique real-time recognition mode extracts information in 60+ languages not only from documents but from any surfaces.”
When I activated the link for the developer’s website, I got a message that the connection was not secure. If you want to try it, go to TextGrabber’s App Store page and find the link to the developer’s website.
Getting Help
The company has an entire help center for support and help. The help center can be found here
The Home Screen
The first time you open the app, there are setup questions to answer and you will need to accept the app’s terms.
The first control on the home screen is Viewfinder Image. When activated, TextGrabber will photograph whatever is in the viewfinder. Use the next control to select text recognition languages, and the final control to toggle Flash on and off. It is off by default.
Next are four tabs: QR Code, Camera, Real Time, and Translate. Although VoiceOver calls these items tabs, they function more like buttons. Once the QR Code tab is activated, the QR Code camera is available. It is located at the bottom of the screen between the Notes and Album buttons. Point the camera at the QR code. Regrettably, there is no feedback to let you know where the code is.
The Camera tab will bring up the camera, again between the Notes and Album buttons. Double tapping on in will take a photo. If the Real Time tab is activated, the Real Time camera will be in the same location as the other camera options. When activated, it will read whatever is in the viewfinder. If the Translate tab is activated, a translate camera will be activated. Choose the language you want to use.
At the bottom of the screen are two buttons, Notes and Albums. The different cameras mentioned above are between the Notes and Album buttons. Once the Notes button is activated, there is a Settings button in the upper left corner of the screen. The different Settings categories can be navigated by headings. The General section has the same recognition languages options. Also under this heading is Premium Account. Selecting this option loads a screen with information about the having a premium account. Prices are 99 cents for the first month, $1.99 per month, $9.99 per year, or lifetime subscription for $19.99.
Use the button below the Text heading to choose font size. The Export heading provides an option to add a signature. The Photo heading has a toggle button for saving snapshots.
Near the bottom of the screen are two checkboxes. The first is to receive information from Abbyy and other third parties, while the second is a checkbox to send anonymous data to Abbyy.
If you flick right from the Settings button, you will find a More button. When activated, the first part of the More section has options to open other Abby products in the App Store. Next is FAQ. Selecting this option brings you to the list of Frequently Asked Questions. This list will open in Safari. Next are options to recommend TextGrabber and to leave feedback. Next is an option to learn features. If you give Abbyy your email address, you will be sent “50 useful tips on mobile productivity and easy document management.” The final options are Rate the App, Like Us, Follow Us, and About.
Comparison
When scanning a page with either app, make sure the camera lens is pointed at the middle of the page. Hold your phone or device approximately one foot from the page, but you still will probably need to adjust the distance.
Photography
Neither app gives feedback to tell you when the camera has the entire page in the viewfinder. Both apps did moderately well when scanning a page of text. However, Prizmo Go was more accurate when scanning a page with columns.
Both apps have controls on the screen along with whatever has been scanned. For this activity, I used a single page of printed materials, both on a document stand and freehand. The document stand worked better.
Prizmo Go
Because I had the Read Text Automatically button selected, as soon as my scan was done, Prizmo Go started reading. On the right side of the screen, use the scroll bar to move quickly through a document. There are buttons on the screen but they cannot be accessed by the Forms rotor setting. I found the quickest way to get to the buttons was to go to the bottom of the screen and flick left. The first controls are Repeat, Play, and Stop. The Reading Voice button is the next control and it is followed by Reading Speed. The next two controls are Language and Translate. Next are controls to Copy and Share. Next are controls to Return to the Camera and to Upgrade to a Subscription Plan. If you go back to the camera and then select the Import Image option, a new screen will show saving options. The page can be save in your photo album. At the bottom of the screen is a button to save the last taken picture.
TextGrabber
After TextGrabber takes a photo, a screen will offer options for cropping the photo. Once that screen is closed, the document will be available. There are only three buttons on the screen: the current language, the secondary language, and a Translate button.
If you want to save a document in Notes, first open the Notes option. Then find the Camera button at the bottom of the screen. Photograph your document. A Save button will appear to let you save it. There will now be two additional buttons: Combine and Delete.
Conclusion
In my opinion, neither Prizmo Go nor TextGrabber comes close to the accessibility of OneStep Reader or Voice Dream Scanner. Prizmo Go and TextGrabber require subscriptions to take advantage of all features that OneStep Reader and Voice Dream Scanner provide with a one-time purchase. OneStep Reader and Voice Dream scanner provide feedback when taking photos and overall are significantly easier to use.
