Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that Google Lens is there. But when it’s used, it can work surprisingly well depending on the image or object captured. In case you don’t know what Google Lens is, refer to the following tweet by Google:
With Google Lens, your smartphone camera won’t just see what you see, but will also understand what you see to help you take action. #io17 pic.twitter.com/viOmWFjqk1
— Google (@Google) May 17, 2017
Google Lens, which was available only on Pixel and Pixel XL, has now become, in an indirect way, available on all Android phones through Google Photos. The move to Android phones is allowing Google Lens to live inside the Photos app. It’s reportedly not available for iOS yet.
The idea behind this feature is that you take a picture of an object or product, which will allow “Lens” to possibly recognize the image, and ultimately provides an identification or annotation and an option to initiate a search.
Lens will usually perform best when there’s text associated with the image. It does great for products with product labels, business cards, movie posters, and the like.