Overview
Sending a grammatically incorrect piece of writing can be embarrassing, and can shed light on your inability to speak English. It is hard to check your own writing for grammar mistakes, especially if you’re not familiar with all of the rules. English is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn, so it’s no wonder that demand for a product like this is high, and many people have tried it in hopes of writing better emails and business documents.
The Claim
WhiteSmoke claims to be an advanced grammar checker, as well as correcting for punctuation and style. One of its features is to go through your email sent through Outlook and check it for mistakes. It can work on any platform you use that includes a typing or word processing interface, including Microsoft Word.
They also claim that it helps you improve your writing with different tools and tips. It also provides examples of how you use certain words and phrases, so your grammar skills can improve with time and repeated use. It not only checks for basic spelling errors, but also checks the context of the words and corrects things like homonyms, based on their location in the sentence.
It also lets you know when you’ve used a word too many times in a row, and when you’ve left out words that are important to a sentence. It can also translate full blocks of text with a click of the mouse, and includes lots of templates you can use to format letters and other documents.
The Controversy
Many people say that this is a scam product, whose real purpose is to deliver malware, spyware,
In fact, while researching this company my computer’s virus software initially blocked me from visiting their main website because they are on the list of untrusted sites. However, after going to download.com we were able to further analyze this piece of software and test it out.
However, they seem to be making a valid go at being a legitimate business, and there may be some fake websites out there that have offered similar looking software, even calling it WhiteSmoke, and taking advantage of their popularity. Also, there are people out there that will try to find the full version for free, and this is likely how it got a bad reputation. If you try downloading it from a torrent site, you’ll probably get a virus and all sorts of malicious programs. Buy it from a trusted source and you’ll be fine.
The Cost
If you decide you want the full license it’ll set you back $90 for the latest version.
Evaluation
WhiteSmoke does what it says, to some degree. It is not stellar, but it is also not junk. It does miss some grammatical errors, but it also catches quite a few, and can be a good learning instrument for someone that needs it. No grammar checker could possibly catch every mistake, as there are so many rules, and so many different things you can write. But having this as your first line of defense against making simple errors that could potentially make you look stupid, is something of value.
If you can get it to work, this is what it looks like:
As long as
you download the software from a reputable source like CNet, you shouldn’t worry about it being malicious, and it does seem to work as described. Depending on your English ability this product will either help you, or be a nuisance.Those with English as their second language will likely find it more useful than native speakers. But some of its corrections can be helpful to anyone that uses it. However, as far as paying full price for it goes, it can best be avoided by native speakers.
Our Recommendation
If you are studying English and have had the misfortune of sending improper emails or letters to people, then you should get WhiteSmoke as another filter to help you avoid obvious errors. It’s still best to get a trusted friend that is a native speaker to proofread your writing so you can be sure it sounds right, if it is s really important document like a school assignment, cover letter, or business memo.
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View Comments
Absolute worst support I've ever experienced. Don't waste your money. I paid for an annual subscription (in full) and can't even talk to anyone as to why my software won't load. I can't even get into my account on their website. Social Stack was the vendor and they are no better. Both companies have the worst customer support. Save your money.
I have a bad experience on using Whitesmok as well,after extending subscription because of the best deal offered which is the mistaken decision. Following the week I had many problems which cannot be solved (1) The desktop version cannot be installed and functioned properly, the webs login also keeps showing my username or password wrong, while the support team did not pay much attention on related issues -- take so long time to response and finally lose contact without any solutions (2) Instead, I ask the help from the sales via chat, the staff told that he is sales representatives, and he would help nudge the team, but nothing happened. (3) I emailed to the both sites which are billing@whitesmoke.com and support@whitesmokeinc.com to ask for the refund, but I have not any responses from them formally, just only automated response. That was extremely disappointed, please be careful of reading the advertisements or getting any promotions from Whitesmoke. I hope everyone is able to concern about Whitesmokes' subscription from my experience.
This review is for Whitesmoke grammar check.
READ THE TERMS UNDER GOVERNING LAWS before you purchase!!!!!
With very good reason my employer will not allow me to download software for the following reason.
1). One very glaring issue in the Terms under Governing Laws, stating “the Terms are governed and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of Israel”.
2). Also, in the EULA, section 1.6, it states “In the course of using the Software or the Service, text you create (which may include personal or sensitive information) is forwarded to Licensor for analysis.”
There are probably many other unacceptable sections in those documents but the above for mentioned was enough for my employer to say not acceptable terms.
Just wish I would have checked before purchasing a year subscription for $138...of course I called within hours of purchase to request refund with no success.
SCAM . The program doesnt work on certain windows Versions and you can never Reach a customer service via phone or e mail for a help. STAY AWAY......
I should've read the review before I purchased this product. The desktop version function is awful. You have to reformat everything you write once you run your writing through WhiteSmoke. Their web version's login button doesn't even work. While I did receive responses initially from WhiteSmoke when I requested a refund, instead of answering my question, the billing department just told me that it was my computer's problem and to use their web version instead. But, I paid more money for the desktop version! The desktop version that they sent in the email was 2012. It's ridiculous that their only solution is to ask me to use their web version. After I sent about three emails stating that I want a refund, I have not received any response. since.
Please do not waste your time with this useless product. Tried to cancel after two days, there was no response. its a scam program with lots of spyware.
Whitesmoke just purchased. Bad mistake! Deletes and/or changes text randomly in original document. As a result, each paragraph needs to be re-read to check for new errors. Waste of money!
Stay away from Whitesmoke! I mean far, far away from this company. If possible, reside in another galaxy so they cannot spam you. I suspect the good reviews are from paid writers. As soon as I questioned them (within 24 hours) about how hopeless the software was, it just went quiet after three emails.
Asked for a refund. They then gave me a key for software and never heard from them again. The software was hopeless. Hit ESC and up would pop a review of your writing. It was slow and antique in design and structure and after purposely writing some incorrect, it would not reconstruct my sentences like Grammarly could do!
So the refund never happened. I lost $200 for a lifetime usage of what? A lifetime of nothing.
It was the most likely my most expensive blunder on the Internet ever for myself.
I now pay for Grammarly (It has just run out and I need to pay today). Its around $70 a year but you get what you pay for.
I have only paid for a few pieces of software in my life. Filebot, Windows, Grammarly, and Whitesmoke.
Whitesmoke is just dust in the wind now... like I said, say away and don't get burnt.
Whitesmoke seems to be a scam! Can't install it on Mac and no answer at the telephone they provide on their website. DON'T FALL FOR THIS SCAM!!!
Stay away from this product. They cancel your lifetime subscription anytime they want. They want money, money and money. I was a loyal subscriber and they ended my lifetime subscription and want to be paid again.