Microsoft recently introduced a new feature in their Phone Link app that allows Android users to select and copy text from images synced from their phones. This feature is currently available in the Release Preview Insider builds and is expected to roll out to all users soon.
Phone Link, also known as Link to Windows on the phone side, enables users to sync calls, messages, notifications, and images from their Android phones to their Windows computers. This feature also has limited functionality with iOS devices, allowing for the syncing of notifications, messages, and calls over Bluetooth.
Last year, the Windows Snipping Tool received an update that added text extraction capabilities. This update coincided with Phone Link’s introduction of image share notifications. While users were already able to extract text from phone photos using the Snipping Tool, the recent update simplifies the process by allowing text extraction within the app itself.
I tested the OCR feature in Phone Link version 1.24051.91.0 on the Insider Preview Build 22635.3646 (Beta Channel). During my testing, I found that the OCR functionality was decent but not flawless. It produced more errors compared to text extractors from Samsung and Apple when extracting text from the same image of a book page. For longer passages, it may be more efficient to enable cross-device copy and paste, extract the text on your phone, and then transfer it to your PC.
Overall, the new text extraction feature in Microsoft Phone Link is a welcome addition for users who frequently need to extract text from images on their Android phones. While the OCR functionality may not be perfect, it is a convenient tool that can save users time and effort. As Microsoft continues to improve and update Phone Link, we can expect even more useful features to enhance the user experience.
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