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Hugging Face’s new iOS app taps AI to describe what you’re looking at
AI startup Hugging Face has released a new app for iOS devices that utilizes offline, local AI to provide real-time descriptions of what is being viewed through the iPhone’s camera. The app, dubbed HuggingSnap, employs Hugging Face’s proprietary vision model, smolvlm2, to analyze and interpret visual data directly on the device.
As users point their camera and pose a question or request a description, HuggingSnap will identify objects, explain scenes, read text, and generally attempt to make sense of what they are observing. While this concept is not novel, with many AI-powered apps and Apple’s own suite of AI features already able to accomplish similar tasks, HuggingFace emphasizes the app’s offline capabilities as a key differentiator.
HuggingSnap requires iOS 18 or later for functionality and is compatible with macOS devices and the Apple Vision Pro, making it possible to utilize on laptops or headsets.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/19/hugging-faces-new-ios-app-taps-ai-to-describe-what-youre-looking-at/
