Ohms Explain.
Ask about anything you can see.
The image is read on your device.
Apple's on-device text recognition, image classification and barcode and QR decoding look at the picture on your Mac, iPhone or iPad. Where Apple Intelligence is available (macOS 26 or iOS 26 and later), a written answer is composed from those readings on the device. That language model works from text alone and never receives your image.
Camera, screen, file or sample.
On a Mac, use a built-in, external or Continuity Camera, press Option-X to drag a box over any display, or open or drop in a PNG, JPEG, HEIC or TIFF. On iPhone and iPad, take a photo, pick one from your library or open a file. The bundled sample label needs no permissions, and the Mac app opens with it the first time you launch.
It says what it read, and why.
When no written answer is possible, Ohms Explain shows the text it read with its measured recognition confidence, the likely subject with its own confidence, and any decoded barcode or QR code. Then it names the reason, such as Apple Intelligence being switched off, still downloading or unavailable on this system. It never makes up a summary.
Which allergens are on this packet, and what are the lot code and best-before date? What link does this QR code hold before I open it? What do the markings on this chip or connector say? What are the date, total and line items on this invoice?
On a Mac, press Option-X and drag a box over a compiler error, a stack trace or a dialog, or photograph a screen with your iPhone. Under the Errors & Screens preset, a written answer gives the message in plain language, the likely cause and the first thing to try, and says so when the visible text is cut off.
Hardware & Schematics, Labels & Ingredients, Documents & Invoices, Objects & Nature, and Errors & Screens. Each sets the question asked when you leave the field empty and how the answer is framed. Labels & Ingredients answers carry an informational-only note and are never medical advice.
Printed text is read in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese, plus the languages set on your device wherever Apple's text recognition supports them. The app itself is in English.
Change the question and ask again about the same image without capturing it twice. An answer reaches the clipboard only when you click Copy; you can also share it or save it as a plain-text file. History keeps your latest 200 questions and answers as plain text on your device, never the image, and you can search it or delete one entry or all of them.
Off by default. Add your own API key for a hosted vision provider you already use, or on a Mac point Ohms Explain at a model server running on that Mac. A hosted provider is the only way an image leaves your device, only that provider receives it, and Settings marks it as one that sends the image. Keys stay in the Keychain.
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