Google Lens facts for kids
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The Wikipedia Logo used as the subject for Drag to search on Google Chrome
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| Developer(s) | |
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| Initial release | 4 October 2017 |
| Stable release |
1.18 (Build 250731009) / 5 August 2025
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| Operating system | Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux |
| Included with | Google Pixel phones |
| Predecessor | Google Goggles |
| Available in | Lens is able to translate text into most languages supported by Google Translate. Shopping results are available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, and the United States. |
Google Lens is a smart technology from Google that helps you understand the world around you using your phone's camera. It uses a special computer brain, called a neural network, to identify objects and show you helpful information about them.
Google first showed off Lens in 2017. It started as its own app. It was later added to the Google Camera app, but then removed in October 2022. Today, Google Lens also works with Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Google's AI helper, Gemini (which used to be called Bard), since 2023.
Contents
How Google Lens Works
Understanding What You See
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When you point your phone's camera at something, Google Lens tries to figure out what it is. It can read barcodes, QR codes, labels, and text. Then, it shows you helpful information, like search results or websites.
For example, if you point it at a Wi-Fi sticker with a network name and password, it can connect your phone to that Wi-Fi automatically. Lens can also read text in pictures. It can search for that text on Google or translate it into other languages right on your screen, almost like magic! It also works with your Google Photos and Google Assistant apps.
Before Google Lens, there was an app called Google Goggles. It did similar things but wasn't as smart. Google Lens uses more advanced computer learning to recognize things. Other apps like Bixby Vision (on Samsung phones) and Image Analysis Toolset (IAT) do similar things.
In 2019, Google added even more cool features to Lens:
- It can recognize food items on a menu and suggest popular dishes.
- It can help you calculate tips and split a bill with friends.
- It can show you how to cook a meal from a recipe.
- It can even read text aloud to you using speech synthesis.
Circle to Search Feature
On January 17, 2024, Samsung and Google introduced a new feature called Circle to Search. This lets you search the internet by simply circling an image on your screen. Google Lens helps make this work.
This feature first appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 phones. It has since become available on other phones from Samsung and Google. This includes the Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25, and foldable phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
When Google Lens Became Available
Google Lens officially launched on October 4, 2017. It first came pre-installed on the Google Pixel 2 phone. It wasn't available on many other devices at that time.
By November 2017, it started appearing in Google Assistant for original Pixel and Pixel 2 phones. A test version of Lens was also added to the Google Photos app for Pixel phones. On March 5, 2018, Google made Lens available in Google Photos for phones that weren't Pixels. It came to the Google Photos app on Apple iPhones (iOS) on March 15, 2018.
From May 2018, Google Lens became available in Google Assistant on OnePlus phones. It was also built into the camera apps of many other Android phones. A separate Google Lens app became available on the Google Play Store in June 2018.
Not all phones can use Google Lens. It needs Android Marshmallow (version 6.0) or a newer version to work. On December 10, 2018, the Lens visual search feature was added to the main Google app for iPhones.
In 2022, Google Lens slowly took over from the "reverse image search" feature in Google Images. It first replaced it in the Google Chrome browser and then became available as a website tool. In July 2023, Google's AI chatbot, Bard (now called Gemini), got Google Lens built-in. This means you can upload pictures to Gemini and ask questions about them, making your conversations smarter.
See also
- Bixby Vision
