Fast and simple OCR library for iOS/macOS using neural networks, optimized for short alphanumeric codes.
SwiftOCR is an open-source optical character recognition library written in Swift for iOS and macOS. It uses a neural network to recognize text in images, specifically optimized for short alphanumeric codes like serial numbers or gift cards. The library provides fast and accurate recognition with built-in image preprocessing to handle challenging conditions.
iOS and macOS developers who need to integrate OCR functionality into their apps, particularly for scanning short codes like gift cards, serial numbers, or verification codes.
Developers choose SwiftOCR for its simplicity, speed, and accuracy with short alphanumeric text, outperforming Tesseract in both performance and ease of integration. Its neural network approach allows it to handle distorted text and uneven lighting effectively.
Fast and simple OCR library written in Swift
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SwiftOCR significantly outperforms Tesseract in speed and accuracy for short alphanumeric codes, as shown by benchmarks with 0.08 sec recognition time and 97.7% accuracy.
The library can be implemented with just six lines of code, making it simpler to add OCR functionality compared to complex setups like Tesseract.
Built-in preprocessing handles challenges like uneven lighting and distorted text, improving recognition reliability without manual tuning.
It includes an easy-to-use training class and a macOS app for training new fonts, allowing adaptation to specific character sets.
The project is explicitly marked as deprecated with no updates, making it risky for production use due to potential bugs and incompatibilities with newer iOS/macOS versions.
SwiftOCR is optimized only for short, one-line codes and struggles with general text recognition, as admitted in the README where Tesseract is recommended for poems or articles.
It relies on older libraries like GPUImage and Swift-AI, which may not be actively maintained or compatible with modern Swift toolchains, increasing integration headaches.
The library is restricted to iOS and macOS, with no support for other platforms like Android or web, limiting its usefulness in cross-platform projects.
SwiftOCR is an open-source alternative to the following products: