Live Text

Live Text is a system that allows text to be extracted from an image.

Live Text is available on Macintosh computers, iPhones, and iPads.

To enable Live Text, navigate to the menu System Settings, and select General. Scroll down to Language & Region and select it (shown here on an iPhone, but same for iPads and Macs):

and then toggle on "Live Text":

For photos, open the Photos app, select an image with text like a business card or sign—and tap the Live Text button (a square with three lines) in the bottom-right corner. Touch and hold a word, drag to select more text, or tap Select All, then choose Copy to paste into apps like Notes or Pages.

For real-time text, open the Camera app, point it at a document or menu, and tap the Live Text button when it appears to highlight text for copying, translation, or actions like opening URLs.

Live Text also works in videos since iPadOS 16 and iOS 16 - pause a video, tap the Live Text button, and extract text from the frame.

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