Gboard for Android is adding a new feature called ‘Scan Text,’ which allows you to scan text using your phone’s camera, a recent report by 9to5Google from an APK teardown reveals. To use this feature, you’ll need to grant Gboard camera permission.
Gboard for Android – Scan Text OCR Tool
When you activate ‘Scan Text,’ your screen will show a viewfinder square on the lower half. You can take a photo of the words you want to scan with a capture button.
Gboard will then highlight the text it recognizes in the photo. You can tap to select an entire line or adjust the selection. You can insert the selected text with an ‘Insert’ button.
The ‘Scan Text’ tool remains on the screen so you can easily make another selection. It’s a simple and efficient way to scan text without the need to open Google Lens, especially if you add it to your shortcuts.
However, the split-screen view might be distracting, and this method doesn’t save the image. The OCR quality and accuracy are similar to other Google products.
Availability
Currently, ‘Scan Text’ is available in the latest beta version (13.6) of Gboard for Android, but it’s limited to certain users. There’s no information about when it will be available for all users.