All of the Live Text Updates in iOS 16

Last year in iOS 15, Apple added a feature that is designed to let you highlight and select written and typed text from photos, interacting with it as you would text in any other place in the operating system.


With iOS 16, available now, Apple has continued to improve Live Text, and it has some impressive new capabilities, which we've outlined below.

Live Text in Videos

Video support is the biggest new feature added to Live Text. Rather than just being able to select text in photos, you can now pause a video and interact with the text like you would in an image.

Text in any paused video frame can be copied and pasted or translated, plus it works with Look Up. Live Text works across the operating system in Photos, Camera, Safari, and other apps.

To copy text in a video, pause it on the frame that you want and then touch and hold on a word. You can grab the two blue markers to narrow or widen your selection, and then you can press and hold to get to options like translate and copy.

Quick Actions

Text that is in a photo or a video also supports quick actions, something that Apple added in iOS 15. In iOS 16, there are new quick actions that let you track flights, track packages, translate languages, and convert currencies right from a photo or video.

If you have a photo with a sign in a foreign language, for example, you might see the "Translate" quick action available. Or if there's a foreign currency, Apple will offer up the conversion quick action.

Translate Camera

Apple is using Live Text's functionality in the Translate app, adding a Camera button that opens up the device camera so you can get live translations in real time.

New Languages

Live Text now works with Japanese, Korean, and Ukrainian text in addition to English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

Live Text capabilities that allow for text to be recognized in photos and videos can be used in Spotlight search in iOS 16, so you can do a Spotlight search to find specific text in an image or video.

Live Text Requirements

Using Live Text features requires an iPhone with an A12 Bionic or later. The ‌iPhone‌ XR, ‌iPhone‌ XS, and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max from 2018 are equipped with an A12 Bionic, so if you have one of these devices or newer you can take advantage of Live Text.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about Live Text in iOS 16, know of a feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google made waves yesterday by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
WWDC 2025 Banner

Apple Announces WWDC 2025 Schedule, Including Keynote Time

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired Feature 1

macOS 16: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday May 20, 2025 7:31 am PDT by
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented event, is less than three weeks away. We haven't heard a great deal about macOS 16 ahead of its announcement this year, so we could be in for some major surprises when June 9 rolls around. Here's what we know so far about the next major update to Apple's Mac operating system. macOS 16 Name? Every year ...
maxresdefault

OpenAI Buys Jony Ive's AI Startup to 'Completely Reimagine What It Means to Use a Computer'

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:27 am PDT by
OpenAI is acquiring io, the hardware-based AI startup co-created by Jony Ive, OpenAI announced today. Ive has been working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on io for two years, and the duo expects to develop a family of AI devices. In a video shared by OpenAI, Altman and Ive outlined their partnership and what they expect to create as a result of the merger. "I have a growing sense that everything ...

Top Rated Comments

jayducharme Avatar
37 months ago
I've gotten so spoiled with increasingly advanced tech features, it's difficult for me to appreciate how mind-blowing Translate Camera is.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techfreak23 Avatar
37 months ago
It's a useful feature, but it has added an annoyance when doing certain tasks. A lot of times, if I'm holding down a YouTube thumbnail that has text in it, Live Text will pick it up instead of opening the contextual menu. Hopefully videos aren't going to have the same issue.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FloatingBones Avatar
37 months ago
I love MacOS 12's Live Text. It's so cool to just grab text blocks in Preview. The interface is so unpresuming: just select the text to copy, and paste it elsewhere. So much computation happening behind the scenes! I haven't used on iOS/iPadOS, but I'm sure it's just as easy.

Apple experts should show these cool tools to their less technical friends. They will benefit from using these magical tools; they will think fondly of you for showing them the tools.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
37 months ago
My memory has turned into mush ever since I started using the Live Text feature to transcribe names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Now I have trouble remembering a few digits ;)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrgraff Avatar
37 months ago

Definitely have the same experience. More often than not I don’t want the live text enabled. anyway to disable it?
Settings > General > Language & Region. Then turn off the toggle button next to “Live Text“.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Awesome Avatar
37 months ago

These are all great. If they can scan the whole video for text seems like they should scan the whole video for faces as well but often seems like it only scans first few seconds.

I know apple has been behind in this area so glad to see them working to catch up.
That’s not exactly what it does. It scans the current frame for text when you pause the video. It doesn’t scan the whole video for text.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)