Show HN: iOS-style "select text on any image" OCR for de-googled Android (github.com)

A new application has been released that allows users to select and copy text from any image on de-Googled Android systems, such as GrapheneOS and CalyxOS. This functionality mirrors the iOS Live Text feature, enabling quick text extraction from screenshots and existing images without reliance on Google Play services. Users can simply take a screenshot or share an image with the app called TextGrab, which utilizes an on-device version of Google's ML Kit for text recognition, ensuring speed and privacy as the process completes in under a second per screenshot. This development is significant for the AI/ML community as it showcases the potential for local, efficient machine learning applications that respect user privacy by avoiding internet connectivity requirements. Supporting a wide range of Latin-script languages, including major ones like English and Spanish, it opens avenues for enhancing accessibility in de-Googled environments. Moreover, the app’s easy installation and flexibility highlight a growing trend towards independent, privacy-focused software solutions in the AI space, inviting further exploration into models for non-English languages like Chinese and Japanese, which the developer plans to add based on user demand.