7 ms·

Show HN: Memos – Search engine for your screenshots and photos

112 points by gsundeep 7y ago

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
denkmoon 7y ago
This is really cool, but is it really only for iOS? I have about 6 years worth of screenshot that I would love to be able to text search, but they are files on a Linux box rather than iOS.
- ftufek 7y ago
  You could try Google Photos, it can now search text in images: https://9to5google.com/2019/08/22/google-photos-text-search/ https://9to5google.com/2019/08/22/google-photos-text-search/. Disclaimer: I work at Google, though not on this product.
  - big_chungus 7y ago
    I used to use google photos, but got creeped away from it after I found it had been building facial profiles of I and the others most frequently in my pictures.
  - crispinb 7y ago
    Google Photos was a great product before Google Drive removed local photo sync. It's still fine for people with an online-first/only workflow (Chromebook users?), but is a sad shadow of its former self for 'traditional' PC users.
  - denkmoon 7y ago
    I actually used Google Photos before they screwed around with preventing hotlinking and forcing their frame.
  - greggman2 7y ago
    I'm amazed at the ai based tagging but it's sooooooo far from actually useful for me. i know it's hard work and I have no clue how to make it better but I need to be able to make much more specific searches like "offices with posters of sailor moon" or "German shepards" or "white tennis shoes". I have 120k photos and a much as I'm amazed at the categorization it almost never actually helps me find the picture I'm looking for.
- gsundeep 7y ago
  We’re currently testing a Mac version - for now it’s iOS only.
jszymborski 7y ago
Will this work for handwritten notes? I was just today taking a photos of my notes with the hope of one day OCR'ing it.
- gsundeep 7y ago
  It works reasonably well, but it’s largely dependent on your specific handwriting. Send us an email (team@memos.org) for a promo code if you’d like to give it a try.
adg29 7y ago
$4.99 upfront to try the app, which has a rating of 3.9/5 Tempted to try it but think the use cases I have for OCR are covered by Google Photos. Perhaps if Memos offered a freemium version with in app purchases I would slowly build a case for unlocking all the functionality it offers.
- gsundeep 7y ago
  A freemium model is exactly what we wanted to avoid :-) I am confident that the App Store rating does not reflect the current quality of the app. Shoot us an email (team@memos.org) for a promo code if you’re still skeptical.
  - jacobkg 7y ago
    Are you able to reset the rating in your next iOS release? As I recall this is an option.
- pacomerh 7y ago
  Many of the reviewers claim its super slow at indexing, I wonder if its still true for the newest version
  - gsundeep 7y ago
    We’ve sped up processing by an order of magnitude over the last few updates.
  - kevingrahl 7y ago
    Got a promo code and the indexing was super fast.
- mstade 7y ago
  I think there's a grace period for you to request a refund[1] in the App Store, if you regret the purchase, even if you've downloaded and used the app. I've done this once or twice in the past, downloaded something, tried it, decided it wasn't right and requested a refund. [1]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084
rkagerer 7y ago
Love your Privacy Policy: → Memos does not transmit any images or associated metadata. → All processing is done on your device
- VvR-Ox 7y ago
  I don't want to be an ass but: We've been told that too many times. If it's not open source I won't trust my private images to an app. Great idea though!
  - sdan 7y ago
    Just turn off wifi/data while using the app (not sure, but I think you can also tweak this in your phone's settings for the app to not give permission to get data without being opened...)
    - Crinus 7y ago
      I do not agree with the comment above about the open source part (that is just plain old FUD), but disabling internet access wouldn't protect against transmitting metadata unless you never turned it on again - it could simply store the metadata locally and wait until it found internet.
      - OzzyB 7y ago
        I think the point the above is making is that you can turn off internet/tcp/http access at the application level, say like we do with Notifications. Surely this could be a welcomed thing.
        cynix 7y ago
        iPhones sold in China allow you to do this. When an app is run for the first time, you’re asked if you permit it to access the Internet.
  - ikurei 7y ago
Terretta 7y ago
Keep It has OCR and search for screenshots, etc., “but” also gets them out of your photos. https://reinventedsoftware.com/keepit/ https://reinventedsoftware.com/keepit/
rick_e 7y ago
lol at comments "Google Photos does this" You missed the point: Privacy (⌐■_■)
pgt 7y ago
I am buying this IMMEDIATELY. Do I need to go through each photo to have them indexed, or does it OCR in bulk based on wherever it detects text? Feature request: can it also add tags for every day recognized objects with filter composition? E.g. "person lake".
- pgt 7y ago
  OK, I bought it. Some UI feedback. I got stuck at the "Select Photos" screen. I pressed Next and nothing happens, so I assumed it had crashed or was processing with no user feedback. Turns out you have to select from the list options, so a checkbox appears. It's not obvious at all these are checkbox lists. Please use the built-in toggle controls in iOS!
  - pgt 7y ago
    Argh, additionally you can only select one at a time of "All Photos", "Screenshots" and "None". Don't use checkboxes for this - this is what radio fields are for. Better yet, just index everything at once and let me deselect what I don't want indexed.
    - pgt 7y ago
      Now it's asking me about iCloud Photos. I don't know, man. Just start indexing, then tell me how much data it will use to process the cloud stuff later. Now I have anxiety about saying "Yes Include iCloud Photos" or "No exclude iCloud Photos" because I don't know if I'll be able to change my mind later. And I'm worried when I leave the office it will use up all my prepaid data, so I'm just going to say Exclude.
- pgt 7y ago
  It would be cool if Memos could do the indexing on my Macbook and beam it to my iPhone via WiFi (no cloud plz)
escapologybb 7y ago
Oh man, I really wish this was available on my Mac and not just mobile. I'm quadriplegic and cannot hold my camera to take pictures, but if I could get my PA to snap pictures throughout the day and then have my Mac process them with an application like this on my iMac… Seriously, my life would be 17.25M percent easier. Seriously. If the dev is reading this, any chance of a port? There may be some chocolate in it for you! (Also cash, totally willing to pay cash :-))
- seltzered_ 7y ago
  There’s prizmo, screenotate, onenote, Evernote...
kemayo 7y ago
Apps like this are an interesting outgrowth of Apple's recent-ish API improvements. It's (fairly) easy on iOS to do bulk on-device OCR now, because the Vision framework[1] natively supports it in a fancy hardware-accelerated manner. [1]: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/vision/detecting_objects_in_still_images https://developer.apple.com/documentation/vision/detecting_o...
shaneprrlt 7y ago
Bravo! I hear people talking about a web based version which would be cool, I have so many photos I've taken of my drivers license, license plate, random addresses, contacts, etc. Always a hassle scrolling back months worth of photos or retaking just to get the same info again. Bookmarking is really cool! I think having a "Save Contact" quick action would be a really great added feature, but quick email/call is great as well! Well done, mate!

112 points by gsundeep 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

This is really cool, but is it really only for iOS? I have about 6 years worth of screenshot that I would love to be able to text search, but they are files on a Linux box rather than iOS.

ftufek 7y ago
You could try Google Photos, it can now search text in images: https://9to5google.com/2019/08/22/google-photos-text-search/ https://9to5google.com/2019/08/22/google-photos-text-search/. Disclaimer: I work at Google, though not on this product.
- big_chungus 7y ago
  I used to use google photos, but got creeped away from it after I found it had been building facial profiles of I and the others most frequently in my pictures.
- crispinb 7y ago
  Google Photos was a great product before Google Drive removed local photo sync. It's still fine for people with an online-first/only workflow (Chromebook users?), but is a sad shadow of its former self for 'traditional' PC users.
- denkmoon 7y ago
  I actually used Google Photos before they screwed around with preventing hotlinking and forcing their frame.
- greggman2 7y ago
  I'm amazed at the ai based tagging but it's sooooooo far from actually useful for me. i know it's hard work and I have no clue how to make it better but I need to be able to make much more specific searches like "offices with posters of sailor moon" or "German shepards" or "white tennis shoes". I have 120k photos and a much as I'm amazed at the categorization it almost never actually helps me find the picture I'm looking for.
gsundeep 7y ago
We’re currently testing a Mac version - for now it’s iOS only.

jszymborski 7y ago

Will this work for handwritten notes? I was just today taking a photos of my notes with the hope of one day OCR'ing it.

gsundeep 7y ago
It works reasonably well, but it’s largely dependent on your specific handwriting. Send us an email (team@memos.org) for a promo code if you’d like to give it a try.

adg29 7y ago

$4.99 upfront to try the app, which has a rating of 3.9/5 Tempted to try it but think the use cases I have for OCR are covered by Google Photos. Perhaps if Memos offered a freemium version with in app purchases I would slowly build a case for unlocking all the functionality it offers.

gsundeep 7y ago
A freemium model is exactly what we wanted to avoid :-) I am confident that the App Store rating does not reflect the current quality of the app. Shoot us an email (team@memos.org) for a promo code if you’re still skeptical.
- jacobkg 7y ago
  Are you able to reset the rating in your next iOS release? As I recall this is an option.
pacomerh 7y ago
Many of the reviewers claim its super slow at indexing, I wonder if its still true for the newest version
- gsundeep 7y ago
  We’ve sped up processing by an order of magnitude over the last few updates.
- kevingrahl 7y ago
  Got a promo code and the indexing was super fast.
mstade 7y ago
I think there's a grace period for you to request a refund[1] in the App Store, if you regret the purchase, even if you've downloaded and used the app. I've done this once or twice in the past, downloaded something, tried it, decided it wasn't right and requested a refund. [1]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084

rkagerer 7y ago

Love your Privacy Policy: → Memos does not transmit any images or associated metadata. → All processing is done on your device

VvR-Ox 7y ago
I don't want to be an ass but: We've been told that too many times. If it's not open source I won't trust my private images to an app. Great idea though!
- sdan 7y ago
  Just turn off wifi/data while using the app (not sure, but I think you can also tweak this in your phone's settings for the app to not give permission to get data without being opened...)
  - Crinus 7y ago
    I do not agree with the comment above about the open source part (that is just plain old FUD), but disabling internet access wouldn't protect against transmitting metadata unless you never turned it on again - it could simply store the metadata locally and wait until it found internet.
    - OzzyB 7y ago
      I think the point the above is making is that you can turn off internet/tcp/http access at the application level, say like we do with Notifications. Surely this could be a welcomed thing.
      - cynix 7y ago
        iPhones sold in China allow you to do this. When an app is run for the first time, you’re asked if you permit it to access the Internet.
- ikurei 7y ago

Terretta 7y ago

Keep It has OCR and search for screenshots, etc., “but” also gets them out of your photos. https://reinventedsoftware.com/keepit/ https://reinventedsoftware.com/keepit/

rick_e 7y ago

lol at comments "Google Photos does this" You missed the point: Privacy (⌐■_■)

pgt 7y ago

I am buying this IMMEDIATELY. Do I need to go through each photo to have them indexed, or does it OCR in bulk based on wherever it detects text? Feature request: can it also add tags for every day recognized objects with filter composition? E.g. "person lake".

pgt 7y ago
OK, I bought it. Some UI feedback. I got stuck at the "Select Photos" screen. I pressed Next and nothing happens, so I assumed it had crashed or was processing with no user feedback. Turns out you have to select from the list options, so a checkbox appears. It's not obvious at all these are checkbox lists. Please use the built-in toggle controls in iOS!
- pgt 7y ago
  Argh, additionally you can only select one at a time of "All Photos", "Screenshots" and "None". Don't use checkboxes for this - this is what radio fields are for. Better yet, just index everything at once and let me deselect what I don't want indexed.
  - pgt 7y ago
    Now it's asking me about iCloud Photos. I don't know, man. Just start indexing, then tell me how much data it will use to process the cloud stuff later. Now I have anxiety about saying "Yes Include iCloud Photos" or "No exclude iCloud Photos" because I don't know if I'll be able to change my mind later. And I'm worried when I leave the office it will use up all my prepaid data, so I'm just going to say Exclude.
pgt 7y ago
It would be cool if Memos could do the indexing on my Macbook and beam it to my iPhone via WiFi (no cloud plz)

escapologybb 7y ago

Oh man, I really wish this was available on my Mac and not just mobile. I'm quadriplegic and cannot hold my camera to take pictures, but if I could get my PA to snap pictures throughout the day and then have my Mac process them with an application like this on my iMac… Seriously, my life would be 17.25M percent easier. Seriously. If the dev is reading this, any chance of a port? There may be some chocolate in it for you! (Also cash, totally willing to pay cash :-))

seltzered_ 7y ago
There’s prizmo, screenotate, onenote, Evernote...

kemayo 7y ago

Apps like this are an interesting outgrowth of Apple's recent-ish API improvements. It's (fairly) easy on iOS to do bulk on-device OCR now, because the Vision framework[1] natively supports it in a fancy hardware-accelerated manner. [1]: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/vision/detecting_objects_in_still_images https://developer.apple.com/documentation/vision/detecting_o...

shaneprrlt 7y ago

Bravo! I hear people talking about a web based version which would be cool, I have so many photos I've taken of my drivers license, license plate, random addresses, contacts, etc. Always a hassle scrolling back months worth of photos or retaking just to get the same info again. Bookmarking is really cool! I think having a "Save Contact" quick action would be a really great added feature, but quick email/call is great as well! Well done, mate!