Crossword Scanner Press Kit

• Scan with live preview to ensure accurate results on the first go.
• Editable cells are automatically detected but correctable by the user.
• Solve directly in the captured picture or crop it to the puzzle grid.
• Invite and receive invites to solve collaboratively. Synchronization occurs regularly and on manual trigger.
• Receive push notifications on invites and updates to shared crosswords.
• Conveniently keep track of progress and participants on each puzzle.

App details

App icon

Screenshots

Company

FAQ

Why Crossword Scanner?

When we were younger a bunch of us would meet up over the weekends, drink beer or coffee and solve the Saturday and Sunday crossword puzzles in the paper. Once we started having kids this was difficult to maintain, and eventually the ritual faded away.
I had the idea that we could try bringing some of that magic back solving crossword puzzles over the Internet via our phones. Surely there's an app for that?
There wasn't. Now there is.

What is the target audience?

In the broadest scope it is anyone with a smart phone and an interest in crossword puzzles. Realistically people who read newspapers tend to be good candidates, as do people with an interest for language or word games in general.

Are there ads in the app?

Yes there are ads enabled by default. Subscribing to sharing capabilities will also remove the ads.

What's with the "XWordScanner" name?

Crossword Scanner is too long for most device home screens. XWordScan fits nicely as the shorthand for XWordScanner.

How is the app able to "see" the crossword puzzle?

This was and is the crux of developing Crossword Scanner. In particular the realization that the scanning needs to happen real time (ie.the live preview) adds complexity. Technically the scanning process has three main parts, each in turn broken down into smaller steps:

1. Image processing to extract the pixels expected to be useful to the crossword
2. Finding the logic that forms the actual crossword in these pixels
3. Determining where there are clues, open cells etc.

The first two are the most critical as they happen every frame.

How does the sharing / collaboration work?

There is no automatic pairing to solve with random people, so two (hopefully) friends must:

1. Both install the app
2. Both let the app know who they are by creating a user or signing in with Facebook / Sign in with Apple / Google / Microsoft
3. Both subscribe to the sharing capability
4. One must then scan a crossword and use the invite button to include the other in the puzzle

What are your main competitors?

There are no apps quite like Crossword Scanner on the AppStore. Several popular crossword games exist such as the excellent New York Times Crossword.

Highlighted reviews and articles

	An article on Free Crossword Apps by Freeappsforme.
	GamesKeys writes about Underrated Trivia Games To Play On IOS Devices.
	AppAdvice entry on Crossword Scanner.
	appPicker article on the best iOS crossword apps.
	appPicker review of Crossword Scanner.
	CNET entry on Crossword Scanner.