The first time Crossword Scanner starts after being installed, it will download
a Featured crossword. As soon as this finishes it will appear in the crossword list.
2) Scan a new crossword
Tapping the camera button on the display bottom will, after you grant the app
access to the camera, start the scanning process.
Find a crossword in your favorite newspaper or magazine, point the camera to a
crossword in it and observe how the app tries to capture the puzzle grid.
Once you are satisfied it has captured what is needed, press the snapshot button.
This will move into the finalization stage of the process where you must give the
puzzle a name before storing it on your device.
You will also be able to make changes to the scan here if needed through the
options available top-right.
3) Use the subscription trial period
A one-month free subscription trial is included with the app. Tap the profile icon
top-right on the starting screen of the app to get started.
For details on what a subscription actually brings see its section in this help page.
There are many types of crossword puzzles, some of which Crossword Scanner tackles
better than others.
Blocked Grid
These are the classical types of crossword puzzles that, for most people, are
considered "normal" and what Crossword Scanner was originally built for.
While support for other types have been added, these remain at the core of the
app.
They come in multiple flavors:
US style
UK style
Japanese style
Swedish style
Word Search
Highly popular in the US and used in their education system,
Word search puzzles have pre-populated grids where the objective
is to identify words within the existing characters.
Crossword Scanner does not support Word Search; use
Word Search Scanner & Solver instead.
Barred Grid
Similar to Blocked Grid, stronger lines indicate where
words end. These also work well, but you may type across
the thick lines.
Hints / suggestions will not work for Barred Grid puzzles.
Free-form
Rather than a square grid of cells, these puzzles have
asymmetric lines of characters that form words.
With some exceptions these do not work well with Crossword
Scanner.
Granting access
When you tap the scan button for the first time you are asked to grant access
to the camera for Crossword Scanner. If you decline access, you must later open
the Settings app on the phone, navigate to its Crossword Scanner entry and enable
access to the camera there.
Camera
Direct the camera towards a puzzle to see what the scanner is able
to identify. The live preview shows you exactly what Crossword
Scanner sees, helping you to capture exactly what you expect.
Once you are satisfied tap the snapshot button to finalize.
The flash is enabled by default, and typically helps avoid
hard shadows if you are blocking a light source. Tapping this icon
will disable the flash.
Getting the image right for the scanner can sometimes be
challenging. There are some things you can keep in mind to improve
the results:
Straighten the paper as much as possible.
Ensure sound lighting conditions. Daylight is ideal.
Avoid sharp shadows and lens flare.
Try minimizing tilt.
If the puzzle covers multiple pages minimize the bends.
Keep the camera as stable as possible when looking at the
puzzle.
Gallery
You can choose from screenshots or regular photos you've got and use
them as input to the scanner. If you want to scan crosswords
from your other digital subscriptions such as newspapers or
magazines, you must first grab a screenshot on the relevant pages
from these.
The screenshots will then appear in your gallery, and can be
scanned just like any other picture or photo.
Finalizing the scan
Once scanning is complete a final review screen of the new puzzle is shown.
Here you must enter a title for the crossword.
The scan may fail, miss some cells or fail to find where you can type. If this happens use one of the
following options to assist the scanner.
Mark clues
Cells that are clues are indicated as blue, while the open ones have green outlines.
Correct simply by tapping the cells you want to change.
If you miss anything the clues and open cells can be updated when you are solving the
crossword as well.
Crop scanning area
Use this tool to set the corners of the crossword within the picture.
Add exclusion area
Use this tool to add areas the scanner should disregard such as images inside the crossword area.
Interacting with the list
Tap a crossword to open.
Swipe right to left on a puzzle to delete.
Drag the list down to refresh. Only applicable if sharing is enabled.
List items
Title
The title that was given while finalizing a scan.
Thumbnail
Shows the upper left of the crossword grid.
Last update
Who performed the last update - and when.
Shared
With whom, if any, the crossword is shared.
Progress
Completion in percent.
Icon present if the crossword has not been opened yet.
Icon present if the crossword has unseen updates from others.
Icon present if the crossword has unseen chat messages from others.
Once you are in the solve screen, tapping an open field allows you to enter
characters in the horizontal word it is a part of. If you tap the same field
again you will swap to vertical entering.
Opens the chat for this crossword. Only available on shared puzzles
for subscribed users.
Synchronizes your changes with those available from your friends that
are also working on the same crossword. Only available on shared puzzles
for subscribed users.
Use this icon to invite friends to help you with this puzzle. If you
have not yet enabled sharing you will be asked to do so.
Less frequent options are revealed in a separate menu behind the list icon.
When the scanner has finished identifying what a puzzle looks like it
will try to place all the clues. If it gets some of them wrong, this
button allows you to fix that.
The scanner will cut your image such that only the puzzle itself is
visible. If the crossword has its clues in a list outside of the puzzle
area this may not be desirable. Tap this button to swap between the full
image and the cropped crossword.
Choose font color (black or white) and decoration (plain, shadow, outline).
Tap this icon to see details on the puzzle such as who is participating
if sharing is enabled.
Profile screen
Sharing in Crossword Scanner Team means the ability to send and receive invites
to collaborate on solving puzzles.
Enabling sharing is done in the profile screen which can be accessed in three
ways:
Tapping the profile icon top-right over the crossword list.
If you attempt to send an invite without enabling sharing the app
will prompt you to do so.
If you receive an invite before having enabled sharing the app will
prompt you to do so.
1) Account
Crossword Scanner Team needs to know where to send invites to and from. This is
your email address or username which can be provided to the app in four ways:
Signing in with Apple is typically the most convenient option.
When using Sign in with Apple you can opt to let Apple relay the
communication with a random address they assign you.
While email relaying will work very well, and we are in favor of
initiatives forwarding privacy, this random address is both hard to
remember and tricky to type for friends that want to share with you.
No need to panic however, as you can always assign yourself a username
that is easier to remember and type.
If you have set up Google accounts on your device, Sign in with
Google is also a very convenient option.
If you have set up Facebook on your device, Continue with
Facebook is also a very convenient option.
Sign in with email
This opens a separate screen with the typical account creation,
verification email and options should you forget your password.
The profile screen also holds a "Manage account" button. Here you can change
your username and, should you so choose, delete your account.
2) Subscription
You will need an active subscription to actually participate in any shared
crosswords. Currently there is a one month free trial before the 1.99$
subscription starts running.
If you already have an active subscription on your account you can, as is
common with iOS apps, share it between devices or when you change devices
by using the "Restore purchases" option.
As an added bonus subscribing also removes all ads from the app, and allows
you to solve your puzzles here under the "Web crosswords" tab.
Synchronizing updates
Once you are set up for sharing, you can send invites to puzzles from the
solve screen. New crosswords you are invited to will pop up in your list
and be sent you as a push notification.
Whenever you open a crossword or tap the refresh button in the solver view,
Crossword Scanner will attempt to combine your changes with what others have
sent to the cloud storage.
You will be shown a merge screen where any new content sent by others is
displayed in green, and content that does not match (ie.you wrote different
answers to the same clue) will show up as red.
You can tap each word and choose whether to use yours or their version. You
are also given the option to use all yours, or all theirs, for convenience.
In order to get the most out of Crossword Scanner a subscription is needed.
Leverage the one month free trial period to try out the following benefits:
Subscribed users may invite other users with a subscription to participate
in their puzzles. This is by far the most enjoyable way of using Crossword
Scanner: synchronize your updates between you and compete to be the one that
contributes the most to a solution.
It is also possible to invite oneself to collaborating on a crossword.
This opens up for synchronizing your solving between multiple devices -
such as a pad and a phone.
A subscription completely removes all ads from the app.
Does Crossword Scanner support RTL languages?
Yes. The writing directions, horizontal and vertical, are determined
by the current keyboard in use.
This means that the country or current language in the device Settings app
do not impact the writing direction - only the keyboard you select while
actually solving a puzzle does.
Can I scan crosswords from digital subscriptions?
Yes. This is a two-step process; first open your subscription and capture
a screenshot to your Photo Gallery.
The second step of the process is selecting the screenshot from your Photo Gallery
when scanning in the app.
Is there a way to disable the ads?
A Crossword Scanner Team subscription allows crosswords to be stored in the
cloud, synchronized between your devices and opens for collaborating on those puzzles
with other users.
And removes all ads.
The regular Crossword Scanner app can be upgraded to a Pro version where there are no ads.
I declined giving the app access to the camera and can’t scan. What do I do?
Crossword Scanner must have access to the camera to perform scanning. You can manually
enable access in the device Settings app under the XWordScan section.
I am subscribed but the app tells me I am out of crossword slots in the cloud. What do I do?
Once subscribed you can participate in up to ten simultaneous crosswords shared
in the cloud. Once you reach this limit the app will ask you to delete something
to accept or send further invites.
Deleting puzzles happens on the front page by swiping left on the crossword you
want to delete.
Will Crossword Scanner be released on other platforms such as Android?
There are no tangible plans for any other platforms at this time.
Does Crossword Scanner require internet access?
You only need internet access when sharing crosswords with friends or synchronizing them
between your devices. Scanning and solving alone does not rely on any connectivity.
(Crossword Scanner Team only)
How do I synchronize crosswords between my devices?
Invite your own email address. This will synchronize the puzzle to all devices you sign in to,
as well as allow you to solve the puzzle in the browser on your PC.
(Crossword Scanner Team only)
Why do I need a username?
You don't actually need a username. What it does is make your friends' life easier when
they want to invite you, as remembering it can be easier than remembering your email address.
(Crossword Scanner Team only)
Mark clues
Crop scanning area
Add exclusion area
