What you have to know
- Google is beginning to roll out Gboard’s “Scan Textual content” characteristic to customers, which feels loads like Google Lens.
- Customers can launch the mode and snap a photograph of one thing with textual content, and Gboard will try to repeat it onto their cellphone for straightforward pasting into messages and extra.
- “Scan Textual content” was beforehand noticed in a Gboard beta and confirmed that the photograph is not saved in your machine; it merely exists for the second earlier than disappearing.
Google’s Gboard is reportedly rolling out a brand new characteristic to customers that brings some digital camera work to their keyboards.
As noticed by Mishaal Rahman, Gboard has obtained a brand new “Scan Textual content” characteristic that piggybacks off a consumer’s digital camera. Interacting with the characteristic will open your digital camera, taking over slightly greater than half of your show. A button will seem centered on the backside with an accompanying tagline that claims, “take a photograph of phrases to scan.”
Gboard will try and make out the entire phrases of a photograph, highlighted in blue, with tags on both finish so customers could make changes. You may then “insert” what the app has captured from the photograph into messages, notes, and extra. The characteristic additionally reveals a fast preview of what it copied beside the insert button.
Gboard is rolling out a brand new “Scan Textual content” mode that allows you to take a photograph of textual content to insert right into a textual content area. Have heard from a number of those that that is now rolling out, however it could not have reached everybody but. Let me know in the event you see this! pic.twitter.com/7fcs5vEpGTFebruary 22, 2024
Rahman provides that a number of customers have come to him about receiving the replace. Nevertheless, it does not look like widespread. It would take slightly longer earlier than everybody picks it up.
This new mode, which feels loads like Google Lens, was found to be in improvement again in November. In Gboard’s 13.6 beta, it was found that customers should first grant the app permission to make use of their digital camera earlier than progressing. “Scan Textual content” must also stay open in case customers need to snap one other image and paste extra right into a doc or wherever.
Furthermore, it is value noting that Gboard’s new characteristic does not “save” the photograph to your machine. It merely captures it for the second for copying and pasting functions earlier than disposing of it.
One other characteristic found in a Gboard beta was Google’s work to enhance the panorama typing expertise. Turning a cellphone sideways popped the keyboard out right into a small floating window that customers may transfer round or resize. This alteration to mechanically flip the keyboard right into a floating entity removes the trouble of needing to dive into Gboard’s settings.