Glotlens
Glotlens is a mobile app for reading price tags and tracking spending, built for everyday shopping and travel abroad. It uses the phone camera to read the price on supermarket tags along with conditions such as member prices, multi-buy offers and per-weight pricing, compares similar products by unit price, and can translate foreign product names into the user's language and convert prices into the home currency at a daily reference rate, helping users compare prices and record and manage their spending at home and abroad.
Glotlens is a mobile app for reading price tags and tracking spending, built for everyday shopping and travel abroad. It uses the phone camera to read the prices and offer conditions on supermarket tags, compares similar products by unit price, translates foreign product names into the user's language, converts prices into the home currency at a daily reference rate and records purchases in a ledger.
Built for understanding price tags and keeping track of spending
The problem it solves
In a supermarket abroad, product names are often in a language the shopper cannot read. A single tag may show a regular price, a member price and a multi-buy price, so it is hard to tell what will actually be paid, and the amount is in an unfamiliar currency that is hard to compare with prices at home. Even when shopping locally, it is not easy to see which of two differently sized products is the better deal. Glotlens reads the tag with the phone camera, presents the information in a form the user can understand and compare, and keeps a record of what was spent.
Main features
Reading price tags. When the camera is pointed at a tag, the app reads the price, the product name and the barcode; a photo from the gallery works as well. Reading on the phone is designed specifically for Vietnamese supermarket tags. For tags from other countries and tags with complex layouts, AI recognition can be turned on.
Understanding price conditions. The app tells apart regular, original, sale, member, multi-buy and per-weight prices. For multi-buy offers, a calculator works out the actual price per item and the amount saved. If a tag does not make clear what a single item costs, the app asks the user to check the tag rather than showing a guess.
Translation and currency conversion. Product names can be translated into any of 14 languages, and prices can be converted into the user's home currency at a reference rate updated daily, with 128 currencies supported. The app also includes a currency converter and a home-screen exchange-rate widget.
Price comparison. After pinning one product and scanning another, the app compares the two by price per kilogram, per litre or per item. With price sharing turned on, it also shows the lowest price for the same product at nearby shops and gives directions there.
Expense ledger. Purchases can be added to the ledger straight from a scan result, entered by hand or imported from a photo of a receipt, and amounts are converted into the home currency. Spending can be viewed by month, by date range or by country, and a monthly budget can be set.
Scan history. Up to 1,000 scans are kept on the phone, where they can be marked as favorites, searched and shared. The app points out when a lower price was seen or paid before, and when a pack has become smaller while its unit price has gone up.
Who it is for
Glotlens is meant for people traveling or living abroad who need to understand local supermarket tags, and for anyone who wants to compare products by unit price and keep track of everyday and travel spending.
What you need
Glotlens is currently available for Android and requires Android 7.0 or later. The installation package is downloaded from glotlens.com, and the app announces and installs new versions itself. The app is free to use and needs no account. Signing in with a Google account syncs the ledger across devices and increases the number of AI recognitions and receipt imports available each day. The account and the cloud ledger can be deleted from within the app. The interface is available in 8 languages, and glotlens.com has a user guide, an FAQ, a changelog and the privacy policy.
Main features of Glotlens
Expense ledger
Records purchases from a scan, by hand or from a receipt photo, converts them into the home currency, shows spending by month, dates or country and supports a monthly budget.
Comparing by unit price
Pin one product, scan another and compare them per kilogram, per litre or per item. With price sharing on, the lowest price at nearby shops is shown with directions.
Scan history
Keeps up to 1,000 scans on the phone to mark as favorites, search and share, and points out lower prices seen before or packs that have shrunk.
Translation and currency conversion
Translates product names into one of 14 languages and converts prices into the home currency, with 128 currencies, a currency converter and a home-screen rate widget.
Reading price tags
Pointing the camera at a tag reads the price, product name and barcode; a gallery photo works too. AI recognition can be turned on for tags from other countries and tags with complex layouts.
Understanding price conditions
Tells apart regular, original, sale, member, multi-buy and per-weight prices, and a calculator works out the per-item price and saving of multi-buy offers.
Privacy
Tags are read on the phone
Tag text is recognized on the phone. Product names are sent to the Glotlens server for translation; with AI recognition on, the tag image or the chosen photo is uploaded for recognition and is not stored.
No sign-up, price sharing by choice
Glotlens can be used without signing up. Price sharing is off until the user agrees to it, and free AI recognition requires it. Sharing uploads the product barcode, the price and the shop, never the user's identity, and the user's position is used only to find the shop and is not stored.