# Apple Live Text alternative for Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Hebrew

## Short answer
Apple Live Text selects words in photos and paused videos on supported Apple devices. Its iOS language list does not name Arabic, Hindi, Urdu or Hebrew. FastOCR (we make it) is an Apple Live Text alternative when you need those scripts, a searchable PDF, or Word and Markdown downloads. Image OCR needs no sign-up; PDFs require a free account.

By the FastOCR team · Updated 4 November 2026 · Documentation checked 4 November 2026 · We make FastOCR. Accuracy figures come from our own test of each tool we scored, ours included, on the same scans; other facts link to each tool's own pages. [How we tested](https://fastocr.org/vs/apple-live-text#method)

Try it here: upload an image or scanned page at https://fastocr.org/image-to-text

## Verdict
**Pick FastOCR if:**
- Your scan is Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Hebrew, Persian or Bengali, which the iOS Live Text list does not name.
- You need a downloadable searchable PDF, with text, Word and Markdown alongside it.
- Your device has a browser but does not meet the iPhone or iPad requirements Apple documents.

**Pick Apple Live Text if:**
- You have a supported Apple device and want to copy a passage from an existing photo.
- You want to select a phone number, email address or other information in a picture and act on it.
- You prefer the on-device recognition Apple describes for Live Text.

## FastOCR and Apple Live Text side by side
| Factor | FastOCR | Apple Live Text |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starting point | An image or PDF uploaded in a browser | A photo, image, camera view or paused video on a supported device ([source](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120004)) |
| Devices documented here | Devices with a supported web browser | iPhone XS, XR or later with iOS 15 or later; Apple lists eligible iPads separately ([source](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120004)) |
| Languages | 100+ languages, detected automatically | The iOS list names Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai; it does not list Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Urdu, Persian or Bengali ([source](https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/)) |
| What you receive | Recognized text, searchable PDF, Word (.docx) and Markdown | Selected text to copy, paste or share, with actions such as calling or translating ([source](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120004)) |
| Searchable PDF export | Included for each image and processed scanned PDF | Not stated ([source](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120004)) |
| Text in videos | Upload a still image or screenshot; this uploader does not take video files | Pause the video first; requires iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 or later ([source](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120004)) |
| Where recognition runs | Website files are uploaded for cloud OCR; see our [privacy policy](https://fastocr.org/privacy) | Apple describes Live Text recognition as using on-device intelligence ([source](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/09/ios-15-is-available-today/)) |
| Accuracy in this comparison | Our separate [OCR benchmark](https://fastocr.org/blog/ocr-accuracy-comparison-benchmarks) covers the website | Not tested |

## Why FastOCR
- **Languages.** 100+ languages, detected automatically, including mixed pages. Share of characters wrong on our evidence scans (lower is better): Arabic 2.6%, Urdu 9.1%, Bengali 7.4%, Tamil 2.2%, Chinese 1.0%.
- **Photos and screenshots.** Every image upload gets raw text and a single-page searchable PDF, plus Word and Markdown.
- **Scanned PDFs.** Scanned PDF in, searchable PDF out; text copies in the right order, including right-to-left.
- **Exports.** Raw text, Word (.docx) and Markdown.

## Proof
Apple Live Text was not run on our benchmark scans. This comparison checks Apple’s documented features and language list; it does not give Live Text an accuracy score or infer a score from its language coverage.

## Does Live Text list Arabic, Hindi, Urdu or Hebrew?
Apple’s [iOS Live Text availability list](https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/) does not name Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Hebrew, Persian or Bengali. It does name Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai, alongside languages written in Latin and Cyrillic scripts. The list includes regional variants, so counting its entries would overstate the number of distinct languages. English for Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates is still an English entry; it does not establish Arabic recognition.

That is a finding about the named Live Text feature and its published iOS list, not a claim that every Apple text-recognition feature lacks those languages. It also does not prove what happens on a particular unlisted page. FastOCR detects the document language without a menu; dedicated tools for [Arabic](https://fastocr.org/arabic-ocr), [Hindi](https://fastocr.org/hindi-ocr), [Urdu](https://fastocr.org/urdu-ocr) and [Hebrew](https://fastocr.org/hebrew-ocr) explain those workflows. Check important words against your scan before using any OCR output.

## When Live Text is the right fit
Live Text fits copying a passage from a photo you already have on a supported device. Apple’s [instructions](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120004) say to open the picture, touch and hold a word, adjust the selection, then choose Copy. You can select all recognized text and paste it elsewhere. Apple also documents Live Text in the Camera app and actions on information such as phone numbers. For a video, pause at the frame you need before selecting its text.

Apple [describes the recognition as on-device](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/09/ios-15-is-available-today/). That is a useful distinction from uploading a document to the FastOCR website. It is not a promise that photo synchronization, translation, lookup or every other action stays offline. This page reviews the documented iPhone and iPad workflow; it does not apply the iOS language list to every macOS app or developer OCR framework. See [OCR for iPhone](https://fastocr.org/blog/best-ocr-for-iphone) for other phone workflows.

## Copying words and making a PDF searchable are different outputs
The Live Text instructions describe selecting, copying, sharing and translating recognized words. They do not document a searchable-PDF export. That omission should be read as “not stated,” rather than a claim about every way an Apple device can create or process PDFs.

FastOCR returns a searchable PDF from an uploaded image and makes scanned PDFs searchable too. The original scan remains visible with a text layer for searching and copying, including right-to-left reading order. The same upload also provides raw text, Word and Markdown. Word rebuilds the text for editing; do not expect an exact copy of the page’s fonts or layout. Use [make a PDF searchable](https://fastocr.org/make-pdf-searchable) for documents or [image to text](https://fastocr.org/image-to-text) for individual pictures.

Figure: what FastOCR gives back besides plain text, a searchable PDF whose copied Urdu text keeps reading order and bank statement rows in a spreadsheet. The statement rows are illustrations.

## Choose Apple Live Text if
- Your language appears on Apple’s list and the file is already a photo on a supported device.
- Selecting and pasting a short passage is the result you need.
- You want the built-in Camera or Photos actions Apple documents.

## FAQ
### Does Apple Live Text support Arabic?

Apple’s iOS Live Text list does not name Arabic. Its English entries for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates do not establish Arabic recognition. This is a documentation comparison; we did not test Live Text on an Arabic scan.

### What about Hindi, Urdu, Hebrew, Persian and Bengali?

Those languages are also absent from the published iOS Live Text list we checked. FastOCR offers OCR for them with automatic language detection. An omitted language is not proof that a particular device cannot recognize any of its text.

### Which devices can use Live Text?

Apple lists iPhone XS, iPhone XR or later with iOS 15 or later, plus specified iPads with iPadOS 15.1 or later. Selecting text in a paused video requires iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 or later. Check Apple’s device list for your model.

### Can Live Text make my scanned PDF searchable?

The Apple instructions reviewed here do not state that Live Text exports a searchable PDF. They describe copying and using text from images and videos. FastOCR provides a searchable PDF from images and scanned PDFs, with a free account required for PDF uploads.

### Does Live Text work on the device?

Apple describes Live Text recognition as using on-device intelligence. We have not verified the network behavior of translation, lookup or photo synchronization. The FastOCR website uploads files for processing; its privacy policy explains how those files are handled.

### Is FastOCR free for an image from my phone?

Yes. An image can be processed without signing up and its results carry no watermark. Guest limits apply; a free account removes the daily image cap. PDFs use an account’s document-page allowance, which is explained on the pricing page.

## Method
Apple’s support article, iOS feature-availability list and on-device-recognition announcement were re-read on 4 November 2026. No device test or competitor upload was performed. The language findings apply to the published iOS Live Text list; undocumented features are marked Not stated.

## Change log
- 1 November 2026: Published the sourced Live Text comparison.
- 4 November 2026: Rechecked Apple’s sources and moved to the shared comparison template.

## Related comparisons
- [Microsoft OneNote OCR comparison](https://fastocr.org/vs/microsoft-onenote-ocr)
- [OCR options for iPhone](https://fastocr.org/blog/best-ocr-for-iphone)
- [Hindi OCR](https://fastocr.org/hindi-ocr)
- [Make a PDF searchable](https://fastocr.org/make-pdf-searchable)
- [ChatGPT OCR vs FastOCR: a chat reply or a dedicated OCR tool?](https://fastocr.org/vs/chatgpt)
- [Claude OCR vs FastOCR: reading scans and PDFs](https://fastocr.org/vs/claude)