Uncursive

Your handwriting, typed.

Photograph a page — or a whole stack — and Uncursive turns it into editable text on your iPhone. Nothing leaves your phone unless you choose Apple's cloud reader. Five free pages to try on your own handwriting, then one purchase for every page you'll ever scan.

Coming soon to the App Store

Requires iOS 27 or later on an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, an iPad with an M-series chip, or iPad mini (A17 Pro).

The Uncursive page editor: a photographed handwritten letter from 1918 in the upper pane, its typed text below, with two words highlighted on a marker background as unclear — people? and there?
The page editor — a letter from 1918, photographed above, typed below.

Try it on your own handwriting first

Will it read your writing? That's the only question, so the trial is five real pages — full quality, full export, nothing held back. Scan the messiest pages you have. Then decide.

The Uncursive page editor reading an ordinary lined notebook of ballpoint meeting notes, with the typed text below and an unclear word highlighted.
The page editor again — ballpoint notes on a lined notebook page.

Your pages can stay on your phone.

With an on-device reader, your pages never leave your iPhone. Once the reader is downloaded it converts without a connection — on a plane, in an archive basement, anywhere. No account, no analytics, no tracking. The App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected.

One purchase. Every page.

Five free pages, then one purchase. No subscription, no daily limit from us, no expiry, and nothing you've converted is ever locked again. The purchase can be shared with your family group through Apple's Family Sharing.

Your documents are real files.

A PDF of your pages and a Word-compatible text document, side by side in the Files app and in your normal backup. The PDF carries the text invisibly, so it's searchable and selectable wherever you open it.

Check it against the page

The reader gets some words wrong, and most wrong words look like the rest. Sometimes it marks a word it can't make out, with its best guess inside the brackets. The photo sits right above the text, so you check each line against the page and fix a word there.

…informing our [unclear: people?] we landed safely because the wires are so crowded they can't send them.

How it reads your pages — you choose

Uncursive never picks for you; the first conversion asks, and you can change the choice any time in Settings.

On-Device (Best)

This device reads your pages. The more accurate of the two on-device readers, and the slower one. Downloads once from Apple, about 3 GB, then runs entirely on your device.

On-Device (Fast)

This device reads your pages. Faster and smaller than On-Device (Best), and less accurate. About 1.5 GB, downloaded once.

Private Cloud Compute

Apple's Private Cloud Compute reads your pages; Apple says it built it to read a page and not keep it. No download, but your pages leave your device, it needs a connection, and Apple limits how many pages you can convert each day.

Some on-device readers need more memory than a device gives the app; Uncursive tells you which readers your device can run.

Free to download.

Five free pages. Then one purchase.

Unlimited pages, no expiry.

Coming soon to the App Store

The price is shown in the App Store for your country.

FAQ

Will it read my handwriting?

That's what the five free pages are for. They're full quality with full export, on your own pages, before you pay anything.

Why not just use a chatbot's camera?

A chatbot sends each photo to its company's servers, one at a time. With an on-device reader, Uncursive keeps your pages on your phone, reads a whole stack, and hands you real files: a searchable PDF and a Word document. Like any reader it gets some words wrong, so the photo sits right above the text for you to check.

Why is there a large download?

That's the reader moving onto your phone so your pages never have to move off it. It downloads once, from Apple — Wi-Fi recommended — and converts offline afterwards. The app shows you the exact size and asks before any download starts.

Which devices work?

Any iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence: iPhone 15 Pro or newer, iPad mini (A17 Pro), or an iPad with an M-series chip, on iOS 27 or later. On other devices the app installs but can't read pages, and says so.

How long does a page take?

Set a stack converting and keep scanning; you can fix the first page while the rest are still being read. The Fast reader is quicker than Best.

What languages?

English handwriting. Other languages may work, but they aren't promised.