TL;DR
Point your iPhone camera at any text (menu, sign, whiteboard) and copy it instantly. No extra app needed, works offline too.
How to do it
- Open the Camera app on your iPhone (or any photo in the Photos app).
- Point the camera at any text – menu, whiteboard, street sign, recipe, business card.
- When a yellow frame appears around the detected text, tap on it.
- The text becomes selectable – just like on a webpage.
- Choose Copy, Translate, Look Up, or Search the Web.
Where Live Text works
- Camera app: Recognize and copy text in real time
- Photos app: Extract text from photos you've already taken
- Safari & Mail: Select text inside images on websites or in emails
- Screenshots: You can select text in screenshots too
Why this is so useful
iOS uses on-device OCR (text recognition) since iOS 15 – completely local on your device. This means:
- ✅ Works offline – no internet connection needed
- ✅ Privacy-friendly: Your data never leaves your device
- ✅ 7+ languages supported (EN, DE, FR, NL, ES, IT, PT and more)
- ✅ No extra app needed – built right into iOS
Practical use cases
- 🍽️ Menus abroad: Copy text → paste into translator
- 📋 Whiteboards after meetings: Snap a photo → extract the text
- 🧾 Receipts: Quickly copy amounts into your notes
- 📇 Business cards: Transfer name + number directly to Contacts
- 📖 Recipes from cookbooks: Copy text instead of retyping
- 🏷️ Product info: Quickly capture item numbers or ingredients
Good to know
- Requires iPhone XS or newer (A12 Bionic chip or better)
- Works best in good lighting with clear print
- Handwriting is partially recognized, but printed text gives the best results
- Since iOS 16, you can even copy text from videos (pause video → tap text)
Pro tip: Translate directly in Camera
Select text → choose Translate → iOS translates it instantly. Perfect for menus, signs, or instructions abroad – no need to open Google Translate.