How to Translate Photo Text on iPhone?

Do you How to Translate Photo Text on iPhone?How many times have you had to translate the text of a photo? Personally, as a student, I am often confronted with such a task in the course of my studies. Not only students have to translate the text of a photo.

How to Translate Photo Text on iPhone?

It’s a great opportunity to navigate quickly while traveling across the country. Also, the procedure can help to read the instructions for something in a foreign language. Are they comfortable ways to translate text from photos on iPhone? Let’s try to understand this problem.

iPhone can’t take paths from a photo, but it’s easy to translate text

Along with the summer 2020 presentation, which showed iOS 14, Apple announced the release of a regular app for the iPhone, which was simply called “Translation”.

Unfortunately, the program does not allow the translation of text from images. But the company has its own solution to this problem. Exactly one year later, namely at WWDC 2021, along with the release of iOS 15, Apple presented a new feature to the public – Live Text or “Text Scanner”.

How to Use Text Scanner on iPhone?

Live Text helps you scan, copy, translate and more

The Text Scanner feature recognizes information in photos and images from the Internet or from a photo gallery, allowing you to easily translate text. You can also use the Text Scanner feature in the Camera app, as well as when using the camera in apps like Notes and Reminders. “Text Scanner” not only allows you to translate the text of a photo but also to make calls, send e-mails or manage your calendar. To activate the feature, you must:

  • Open the Settings app on your iPhone;
  • Go to the “Basic” tab;
  • Click on “Language and region”, then activate the “Text scanner” item.

The scanner requires at least an A12 Bionic processor, meaning the feature is supported on iPhone XR and iPhone XS and released later in 2018. Text Scanner is also available on iPad Pro (12.9-inch 3rd Gen) and later, iPad Pro (11-inch all models), iPad Air (3rd gen) and later, iPad (8 5th gen) and later, and iPad mini (5th gen) and later with at least iPadOS 15.1. To translate text from photos, you need:

  • Open the “Photos” app and select a photo or search for an image on the Internet;
  • Press and hold a word or phrase.
  • Click on “Translate”. You may need to click Continue and then select a language to translate or click Change Language.

Apple’s solution lets you translate even handwritten text

Unfortunately, the feature only supports a very small number of languages, namely English, Spanish, Italian, Cantonese, Chinese, German, Portuguese, and French.  At the same time, the scanner recognizes not only printed words, but also handwritten words, which only a few third-party translators can boast of.

The Best Translators for iPhone

In the App Store on iPhone, when you search for “Translator”, you can see an infinite number of text translation utilities. Personally, out of all the apps, I can single out only two – Google Translate and Yandex. Translate.

Both programs can translate text from a photo, but they do it a little differently. To enjoy Photo translation via Google Translate necessary:

  • Download Google Translate. The application is free;
  • Open the app. Then select the desired language from which the translation should be made;
  • Press the Camera button. Allow the app to access the camera;
  • To the left of the camera shutter, click the Gallery button. The app will request access to the device’s media library;
  • Open the required photo. The app will automatically translate all the text in the image. By clicking on the “Select text” button, you can select the required section for translation.

Thanks to the two applications, you can translate the text of a photo

To enjoy transfer via Yandex translate to iPhone, you need to go through a similar algorithm of actions, after downloading the program itself. Both apps also allow you to translate text in live mode without photographing the object.

The Yandex utility offers three methods for translating photos – from the gallery, from a frame captured in the application and through the “smart eye”, in which you can immediately highlight the necessary words. Google Translate only has the first two ways to translate text.

Apple has a universal function to scan, copy and translate. To translate text from photos, I advise you to use third-party applications such as Google and Yandex.Translate, since they support more languages.