iPhone Live Text vs a card scanner app
Live Text is built into iOS. Point the camera at a card and you can act on a phone number or an email address. Here is what that covers.
Last updated 2026-10-26
At a glance
| iPhone Live Text | Kardhaus | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Text recognition built into Camera and Photos | Business card scanner for iPhone and iPad |
| Account | None; part of iOS | No account |
| Where cards are kept | iPhone Contacts | On your iPhone, and in your own iCloud if sync is on |
| Recognition | On-device Live Text | On-device text recognition (Traditional and Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese), with an optional Apple Intelligence pass |
| Export | Not applicable: there is no card list, only entries in Contacts | vCard and CSV, any time, on every tier |
Checked on 26 October 2026 against each vendor’s own website, help centre and App Store listing. Products change: if something here is out of date, write to hello@kardhaus.com and we will correct it.
When iPhone Live Text is the better choice
- You get one card a month. Tapping a phone number and choosing Add to Contacts is enough.
- You do not want another app.
Moving your cards from iPhone Live Text
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What Apple documents
Apple’s guide says that for a phone number or email you might see Add to Contacts. It does not describe filling name, title and company from a whole card.
-
What a scanner app adds
Kardhaus reads the whole card into fields, merges the two sides of a bilingual card into one contact, and keeps a searchable list you can export.
Sources
- Apple Support: Use Live Text on your iPhone (support.apple.com/120004)
iPhone · iOS 26 and later
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