Hi All,
Does anyone know what happened to Facebook and or Apple making it possible to read text within photos? It seemed to be a big thing about 18 months ago and it was introduced in I think iOS 11 or early 12. Whilst not perfect it worked ok. Then, Apple seemed to withdraw it and as far as I know nothing is happening. FB said they were working on it as well so I'm confused why Apple removed this even if it wasn't perfect and neither them nor FB as far as I can find in Google are bringing it back. Don't suppose anyone has heard different.
By Lee, 31 October, 2019
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Comments
Seeing AI
I use Seeing AI to read text within photos. It's a few more steps but it's worth it.
Shortcuts
I am not well versed on them, but I wonder if it would be possible to make a IOS shortcut for Taking and translating screenshots with Seeing AI/Envision AI. It is a real pain to have to go through all those steps, though it is worth it and does actually work very well.
Steps please
Niki, would you be so kind as to outline the steps used to read the text in photos on Facebook? Please be detailed. Thanks.
Steps to use Seeing AI to recognize text in photos
Step 1: Double tap on the photo you want to recognize. You have to be in the facebook app to access the photo.
Step 2: After you double tapped on the photo, flick with one finger to the right until it says save photo. It will save it in your camera roll.
Step 3: Open up Seeing AI app and look for the menu button near the top.
Step 4: double tap on the menu and flick to the right until you hhear browse photos. Double tap on that.
Step 5: Flick until it starts saying photo. The first one that it says is usually the last one that was imported into your camera roll.
Step 6: Double tap on that photo. Seeing AI will process it and make a sound while it's processing it. When it's done, you can use your navigation commands with VO to read the text. You can also find the delete button if you want to delete it from your camrra roll.
what I do
I thought Facebook removed it. I loved it too! Made reading & sharing memes so much easier! And faster!
While you can do what Niki said, you can also do it this way.
Once you save the photo, go to your photos app, find the photo & click on it. Then go 2 your share sheet, & swipe until you get 2 the second section & swipe until you hear recignize with Seeing Ai. then doube tap. It will process & everything works the same way is it does in the steps Niki gave. If you don't see it in your sharesheet go to the second section where the copy hide add 2 album etc actions are & go to edit actions. Then swipe until you hear recignize with seeing Ai. then double tap & it will be toggled on! And if you want 2 put it @ the top like I did, just double tap & hold on the reorder button & move to the desired spot! But once you are don with the photo, you can hit the close button, & then delete the photo from there! How ever you do it, you'll get the same results. I'm hoping jhey bring that back because I loved it too. It didn't read jext in all memes, but it worked greaj for what it did read!
Hereβs Another Seeing AI Trick
Under Settings> Configure Siri Shortcuts with in the Seeing AI app itself, you will find an item called βBrowse Photos.β
Thus, after you save the photo to your camera roll, you can either say the name you provided for opening said photo gallery, or create a keyboard shortcut and/or touch gesture for doing the same thing.
Thanks
Ok thanks for this. Just annoying that a useful feature was removed with no sign of it coming back.
What about updating Facebok?
Hi all. Just asking since I had an update yesterday, maybe something returned on Facebook? I don't hold out much hope, just an optimist. :) I never got much luck with once focused on the pic, to tripple tap or whatever that was. Wish they'd come out with another gesture so it didn't conflict.
Updating Facebook
Good luck with Facebook. Even though they update the app regularly, they are crap about telling you what changes have been made in the update, just using some generic message like "Facebook has been updated to make the app better for you."
focus on pics
If you open the post, and then open the photo with a double tap, then go 2 more button, & then hit save photo, you'll be golden.
re: comment 6
Thank you! I'm am currently in the process of creating a shortcut 2 use! I can't wait 2 try it out! I love siri shortcuts when I can use them. Im hoping this makes things a bit faster. I don't mind the extra steps, but it's time-consumming. So any little bit helps.
As 4 updating Facebook, when the updates came out that had reading text in photos, it didn't say it was there. It was something I found out as I was browsing my newsfeed & came upon some memes. And I didn't see anything in the news about it either. So I assumme it was low-profile, or just a hidden feature that was just not talked about. I agree with Sockhopsinger about Fb. being notorious 4 not telling you what's in the updates. Meiienger is the same way! And jheres a lot of apps that are like that, and I have a few more that are like that that I use other than Fb. & Messenger. It'd be nice if more devs told you about what was in the updates they push out, but that's another story 4 another day. Like I said before, I loved the text reading in Fb. and I hope it comes back also! Both because it was nice, & it was a huge time-saver. With that, I could just hear the text without having 2 ever leave the Fb. app. Not every photo did it, but 4 the ones that I could do it with, it saved me some time! And it's not that I mind going through the sjeps 2 iee a photo or leaving the Fb. app 2 do it, but it's time-consumming, & it's nice when you can have image disscriptions & text read in photos without ever having 2 leave the app. That makes things a bot more streamlined in my opinion.
Returning to FB after recognition
How can I return to FB after recognizing text in a photo without losing my place in FB? FB is so frustrating because once you leave the app and reopen it, you can't find the posts you've just read or find your place to continue reading where you left off. Any tips or tricks to remedy this frustration?