dictionary.camera 4+

This is such a useful app! I’ve assigned my action button on my iPhone 15 Pro to open it so I can quickly refer to it while reading a physical book. So far I have encountered a few problems with the app that I would love to see fixed:

- The word recognition is consistently inaccurate. Maybe it is just the font of the book I am reading, but “i” is frequently read as “l” and “cl” is frequently read as “d”. This would be less of a problem if there was a way to correct the word in the app, but with Apple’s current text recognition capabilities, I assume an update to this app’s recognition software could be implemented quite easily.

- I am only able to search for one word every time I open the app. In order to conduct a new search, you have to first close out the app and then reopen it.

- So far I haven’t been able to use the listening feature. Every time I click on the megaphone icon to listen to the pronunciation of a word, it has never worked for me.

I will continue to use the app because it is the best option on the App Store for what I am looking for, but I would love to see these few improvements made!

First, a quick note for new users. The first time I used the app to look up a word, it didn’t have a definition. I quickly realized you have to go to “Manage” at the bottom left of the definition screen, and then choose and download a dictionary. Then you can scan the word again and get a definition.

Second, I love this app, and so far, it’s the only app I’ve ever left a review on. I read a lot on electronic devices that just require a tap or two to get a word’s definition, and I find myself wanting to do the same thing with physical books. I hated having to pull out my phone and type the word into google to get a definition, because the time it takes can pull me out of the story and/or can lead to getting distracted. This app is the perfect solution. After opening the app initially, all I have to do while reading is unlock my phone and then point the camera and boom! I know what the word means, no typing or anything required.

I find this app very helpful to find the meaning of words not known to me. The only problem is that it doesn’t wait long enough for me to put the aiming point on the correct word and it’s usually missing the one I’m aiming for. Long story short: there needs to be more of a delay to allow the user to orient to the page, find the correct word to define, and then aim and capture with the camera.