Top 6 Ways to Fix Live Text Not Working on iPhone

Of all the features Apple introduced with iOS 15, Live Text has to be the most exciting feature from the lot. It is a text recognition feature that lets you easily extract text from images (printed or handwritten) without using a third-party app. But sadly, many iPhone users have been deprived of this prowess as the Live Text feature is not working for them.

Whether it’s the compatibility issues or incorrect settings, there can be many reasons why the Live Text may not work on your iPhone. Thus, to help you out, we’ve prepared a list of solutions that should get the Live Text working in no time. So, let’s get started.

1. Check Device Support

If you’re using the Live Text feature for the first time, keep in mind that not all iPhones support it. To use Live Text, you must be using an iPhone with an A12 chip or later running on iOS 15 or higher.

In other words, the Live Text feature is only supported on iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, iPhone 11, 12, 13, or later running on iOS 15 or higher.

2. Enable Live Text for Camera & Photos

If you can’t find Apple’s Live Text icon in Camera and the Photos app, it’s possible that you haven’t enabled the feature yet. Read on to learn how to enable the Live Text feature on iPhone.

Enable Live Text for Camera

To enable Live Text for Camera, launch the Settings app on your iPhone and navigate to Camera. Scroll down and toggle on the switch next to the Live Text option.

Enable Live Text for Photos

If you wish to enable the Live Text feature for other apps, here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Open up the Settings app on your iPhone and navigate to General.

Step 2: Go to Language & Region and enable the Live Text option.

Once enabled, you’ll see a Live Text icon in the live preview in the Camera app, Photos, Quick Look, and Safari.

3. Change Language

If you can’t use the Live Text feature even after enabling it, then it might be due to the current language set on your iPhone. As of now, iPhone’s Live Text feature only supports a handful of languages, including English, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. If your phone is in any other language than this, the Live Text feature may not work.

So, go ahead and change the language on your iPhone by following the steps below.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to General. Now tap on Language & Region.

Step 2: Tap on the iPhone Language option to change the language to any of the supported languages.

Once done, try using the Live Text feature to see if it can detect text now.

4. Restart App

Live Text won’t work properly if the app hasn’t launched properly. In such cases, you can try restarting the app to see if it helps.

To force close an app, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold until you see a multitasking interface. Now navigate to the app for which Live Text is not working. Swipe up on the app to close it. Now go ahead and restart the app to see if the Live Text works fine now.

5. Restart iPhone

If restarting the app doesn’t help, restart your iPhone. One of the app or background processes running on your iPhone may be why the Live Text is not working.

Press and hold the power button and use the slider to turn it off to restart your iPhone. Wait for a minute or two, and then power on your iPhone again.

If the issue persists, you can also try hard resetting your iPhone. To do that, press and quickly release the volume up button, press the volume down button, then press and hold the power button until you see the Apple logo appear.

6. Reset Your iPhone

If nothing seems to work, then you can consider resetting the settings on your iPhone. This should reset all your the preferred settings on your iPhone to factory default.

To reset your iPhone, open the Settings menu and navigate to General. Next, go to Reset and choose Reset All Settings. Now follow the on-screen instructions to finish resetting your iPhone.

Lastly, if the Live Text is still not working then it might due to some bug in the current iOS version you’re on. Thus, you can try updating your iPhone to see if that solves the issue.

Time to Liven Up!

Live Text is certainly fun to use. While it’s not as feature-rich as something like a Google Lens, it is still far better and faster than its peer when it comes to accuracy. Hopefully, we can see more of the same from Apple in coming iOS versions. Until then, you can use Google Lens on your iPhone to identify objects, places, and things.