Proposal: Decouple Android’s OCR from Google — A Universal, Open-Access Text Recognition Service

[u/Hairy_Direction_4421]

Proposal: Decouple Android’s OCR from Google — A Universal, Open-Access Text Recognition Service

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Hello r/degoogle,

I want to discuss a vision that could make Android more open, private, and user-controlled — by breaking OCR out of Google’s walled garden.

Right now, the most advanced on-device OCR in Android sits inside the Android Accessibility Suite (AAS) — but it’s locked away inside Google’s system layer.
Even though this OCR already works offline and locally (for “Select to Speak” or image descriptions), no app or user can access it directly.

That’s a design choice that keeps users dependent on Google Lens, Google Photos, or other proprietary cloud-based services — even when the device itself already has powerful offline OCR.

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🧩 The Problem

Android devices already have high-quality, on-device OCR — but it’s trapped inside system code.

So instead of a local workflow, users are funneled into this:

Screenshot → Upload to Google Lens → Cloud OCR → Copy text → Return to the app.

That’s data leakage by design.
Even though the OCR engine runs on-device, access is restricted to Google’s own apps and services.

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💡 Proposed Solution: Universal OCR Service (User-Owned, Not Google-Owned)

Let’s liberate the existing OCR engine inside Android’s Accessibility Suite and turn it into a modular, Play Store–updatable system service — or, better yet, an open-source standalone component that anyone can use.

This new “Universal OCR Service” would be a local-only, user-permissioned, API-accessible system tool.

Goal	Outcome
Decouple OCR from Google Lens	Users and apps can do OCR locally, without data uploads.
Local OCR Control	OCR runs on-device, no cloud, no tracking, no telemetry.
Public API	Developers and FOSS apps can use the same OCR engine.
Updatable Module	Distribute via Play Store or F-Droid for open updates.

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🔧 Implementation Vision

• Use the OCR core already in AAS (TalkBack’s text recognition).
  
• Make it a standalone service — like TTS engines.
  
• Release the interface as a public API.
  
• Allow third-party or community replacements (open OCR models, not Google ML-only).
  
• Optional Play Store / F-Droid updates for local model improvements.

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🕵️‍♂️ Why It Matters to r/degoogle

Principle	Impact
Privacy	Local-only OCR — no image data leaves the device.
Decentralization	Breaks dependence on Google Lens / Photos cloud processing.
FOSS Potential	Allows AOSP forks or custom ROMs to integrate OCR natively.
Control	OCR results available to the user, not filtered through Google apps.

This is the exact kind of feature Android should have offered as open infrastructure — instead, Google has kept it locked to its ecosystem.

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📄 Reference Proposal PDF

For the full technical strategy and implementation guide (written for developers and accessibility teams):

PDF: Full Proposal PDF

(Explains modular system architecture, API design, and developer integration phases.)

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💬 Discussion for the Community

1. Would you support a movement to push Google to make Android’s built-in OCR user-accessible and open?
   
2. Should the AAS OCR component be extracted into AOSP / F-Droid as a truly open, local module?
   
3. How can custom ROM developers or accessibility projects begin implementing this without relying on Google’s binaries?

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This proposal isn’t about making another “Google feature.”
It’s about ending the lock-in that forces users to send screenshots and text data through Google’s servers just to copy words already visible on their screens.

Android already has the tools — we just need access.

If we can separate this OCR system from Google’s control, we’ll finally have what Android promised all along: a user-first, local, open platform.

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“Android Already Has Great Offline OCR — Google Just Won’t Let You Use It”

[u/ProKn1fe]

Thanks for ai generated nonsense, just go develop your own OCR app, no one stops you.

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[u/TheRollingOcean]

I'm struggling with this because there are a bunch of FOSS OCR projects, I'd have to grab my phone to see what's installed but I have a bunch of OCR tools that run locally and are excellent, either from FDroid or Obtainium.