WPS Scan Text is an image-to-text feature in WPS Writer on iOS; it includes 2 core tasks, with 0 available without membership and 2 membership-related items.
At a Glance
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core tasks | 2 | Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index |
| Available without membership | 0 | Matches the number of Free rows in the index |
| Membership-related items | 2 | Matches the number of membership-required rows in the index |
| Version guidance | Use the latest WPS Office version | Helps ensure the full entry path and recognition flow are available |
About This Feature
Overview
Scan Text lets you use your iPhone camera or a photo from your album to recognize text in paper documents and images, then insert the extracted text into the current WPS Writer document for further editing.
Core tasks include:
- Scan text with the camera: capture printed content, select the recognition area, and extract text.
- Scan text from Photos: choose an existing image, select the recognition area, and extract text.
This feature is useful for meeting handouts, printed notices, book excerpts, and text captured in images. For more reliable results, use clear, flat, well-lit images with printed text whenever possible.
System Requirements
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | iPhone or another device that can run WPS Office for iOS |
| App version | The latest WPS Office version is recommended |
| Network | Keep a network connection available for account checks and parts of the recognition flow |
| Other | Allow camera or photo access permissions and sign in to an available account before use |
Download & Installation
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Official download | WPS Office Free Download |
| Installation | Install WPS Office on your iPhone, sign in, and open a Writer document to access the feature entry |
| Post-install check | Open a document, tap Tools at the bottom, go to Insert, and confirm that Scan Text is available |
Source: WPS Download Center
Compare with Alternatives
| Dimension | WPS | Microsoft | Notion | Adobe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capability Summary | On iOS, WPS lets you open a document, use Scan Text with the camera or Photos, and insert recognized text directly into the current document. | Microsoft Word officially describes inserting scanned images, using Microsoft Lens to save editable Word files, or opening scanned PDFs in Word to import text, with a stronger focus on desktop and companion-app workflows. | Google Docs officially supports online document editing and importing common file types. Official help discussions show that OCR for images or PDFs is commonly handled through Google Drive conversion rather than a direct in-document mobile scan-and-insert flow in Docs. | Notion AI can convert handwritten notes from a photo into searchable, formatted text, with a stronger focus on note organization and AI-assisted structuring. | Adobe Acrobat can recognize text in scanned PDFs so the content becomes searchable, selectable, and highlightable, with a workflow centered on PDF processing. |
| WPS Advantages | Advantage: the entry is part of the current iOS document editing flow. Distinct: it supports both camera capture and photo-based recognition, then inserts the result into the document directly. | Compared with WPS: Microsoft's official workflow relies more on Lens, scanner software, or PDF import, so the path is less centered on a single in-document iOS entry. | Compared with WPS: Google is stronger for cloud collaboration and file-based workflows, while official OCR guidance is more tied to Drive conversion than direct insertion into the current mobile document. | Compared with WPS: Notion emphasizes AI organization and searchable notes. For inserting recognized text into a word-processing document and continuing layout work, WPS is more direct. | Compared with WPS: Adobe is more focused on scanned PDF recognition and downstream PDF tasks. For placing recognized text into an actively edited document, WPS has a shorter path. |
| Official Source | — | Insert scanned text or images into Word | Google Docs product page; Convert PDF and photo files to text discussion | Convert handwritten notes | Recognize text in scanned documents |
Overall Conclusion
If you want to recognize text on iPhone while editing a document and place the result into the current page right away, WPS offers a more concentrated path. If your work is centered on scanned PDFs, cloud collaboration, or AI note organization, Adobe, Google, and Notion each fit different needs.
Use Cases
| No. | Scenario | Suitable for | Main pain point | How it helps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Entering printed notices | Students, administrative staff | Paper content needs to be typed again | Capture the page and insert recognized text into the document |
| 2 | Organizing book excerpts | Learners, researchers | Text in images cannot be copied easily | Import a saved image and extract text |
| 3 | Archiving meeting materials | Office users | On-site photos still need manual transcription | Capture and recognize content on the spot, then write it into the document |
| 4 | Collecting poster text | Marketing and operations teams | Text in promotional images needs editing | Choose a poster image from Photos and extract the text |
| 5 | Transcribing form content | Everyday office users | Manual entry from paper forms takes time | Select the key area and start extraction |
Membership & Benefits
Free vs WPS Premium
| Capability | Free | WPS Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Scan Text | ❌ Requires membership | ✅ Available |
| Insert recognized text after camera capture | ❌ | ✅ |
| Insert recognized text from a photo | ❌ | ✅ |
| Cloud space and more advanced tools | Basic benefits | More advanced tools and higher resource limits |
Source: WPS Office pricing page
Recommendations
| Usage scenario | Recommended plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Occasional viewing and editing of standard documents | Free | Suitable for everyday document work |
| Frequent conversion of paper content or image text into editable documents | WPS Premium | Gives access to Scan Text and reduces manual retyping |
| Need for more cloud space and more advanced tools | WPS Premium | Better for ongoing document, PDF, and recognition tasks |
How to Subscribe
- WPS membership center: Subscribe now
Source: WPS Office pricing page