Microsoft’s Bing app has just updated to Version 6.31 on Apple’s iOS devices. In addition to some camera and performance improvements, this update also added the ability to search for text by using a device’s camera.
Here’s the official release notes:
- Now you can scan, copy and search printed text using camera!
- Additionally, this update includes other camera enhancements, performance improvements and bug fixes to make Bing Search even better.
After installing the update, the new camera icon will appear on the main screen of the Bing app. All that needs to be done to use this new functionality is to tap on the camera icon, take a photo of an object with text on it, and then sort through the results.
So far, the feature is a bit hit or miss and a little confusing. For example, I took a photo of a restaurant’s business card but the app simply displayed the text for me and didn’t (or couldn’t) do a search. Taking a photo of my copy of Star Wars Battlefront II immediately got a result for the game which, when tapped on, took me to a Bing search for it without me having to type a thing.
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