That isn't a launcher specific functionality. It's the recent menu on Pixel phones and I guess it should be a part of Android 13, but it might be locked to Pixel phones right now. I'm using a custom launcher on my Pixel 7 Pro and I still have access to the OCR functionality in the recents menu.
I wholeheartedly agree with the swiping punctuation. That and swiping on the space bar to switch keyboard configuration is the main reason for sticking to SwiftKey. Writing in several languages where you need special characters in each language, having to hold down a button in order to switch the keyboard is frustratingly slow.
One extra point is also that SwiftKey inserts the most likely prediction when clicking space. Whenever I've used gboard, it's so frustrating, that my fingers have to click the prediction in order to insert it.
I mean, in all honesty, it's the same show as All About Android, but now with potential to shake up the formula a bit. They lean more heavily into community engagement and I appreciate being able to support them specifically on Patreon.
I would guess it should be possible. Unfortunately I'm not really active in the modding community these days, so I cannot really recommend anything. It's quite annoying with these Pixel locked features :-\
Just to clarify, on pixel phones, when you go to the recents menu, you are able to select text from all the app previews. If you have a photo with text open in an app and go to the recents menu, you can select and copy the text from that preview. Same goes if you use an app that doesn't allow selecting and copying text. If you go to the recents menu, you will be able to select that text ;-)