Student's ingenious iPhone hack goes viral on TikTok

The iPhone has rendered all manner of objects and activities redundant over the years, replacing the camera, calculator, clock and countless others. And it seems the latest victim could be, erm, having to ask to copy someone homework (not that we'd ever do such a thing.)

As demonstrated in a viral TikTok video, iOS 15's new Live Text feature is surprisingly effective at copying and digitising (in other words, stealing) notes from another display. And, surprise, surprise, it seems students are jumping on the hack. (In the market for new kit? Check out the best Apple deals.)

@yannbernillie

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♬ son original - Yann Bernillie

The clip, which has received millions of views on both TikTok and Twitter, shows a student taking a clandestine photo of a classmate's lecture notes, before selecting them and copying and pasting them into their own word doc. And voila. 

Available for any iPhone from XS onwards with iOS 15 installed, Live Text can detect text within photos, and lets the user select, copy and paste it like they would from a word processor or web browser. 

Putting aside the moral ambiguity of, you know, stealing some else's work, there's no denying that this is a hilariously effective demonstration of the power of Live Text (though probably not exactly what Apple had in mind when it released the feature). "I'm not saying do this.. but dang I would have DONE this in school," one Twitter user comments, while another adds, "Work smarter, not harder." 

From full-page screenshots to drag-and-drop between apps, it seems like a new iPhone hack blows the internet's collective mind every other week. If you want to get the most out of iOS 15, check out today's best iPhone 13 deals below. Not that we'd ever endorse using it to copy notes in class. Oh, no. Not us. Never.

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