How to use Google Lens on your iPhone or iPad | TechRadar

Simply open the image you'd like to search with, then tap the Google Lens button at the bottom of the screen. It's second from the right and ... Skiptomaincontent TechRadarThesourceforTechBuyingAdvice Search Subscribe RSS AsiaIndiaSingaporeMiddleEastAfricaSouthAfricaEuropeDanmarkSuomiNorgeSverigeUKItaliaNederlandBelgië(Nederlands)FranceDeutschlandEspañaNorthAmericaUS(English)CanadaUS(Español)AustralasiaAustraliaNewZealand TechnologyMagazinesTechnologyMagazinesWhysubscribe?Thebesttechtutorialsandin-depthreviewsTryasingleissueorsaveonasubscriptionIssuesdeliveredstraighttoyourdoorordeviceFrom$7.15View News Reviews Phones TVs Laptops BlackFriday More Wearables Computing Audiovisual Gaming SmartHome Appliances Cameras CarTech Components Fitness Entertainment Tablets Downloads Deals Huawei Trending CES2022 Holidaydeals GalaxyS22 GTAremaster iPhone13 HaloInfinite TechRadarissupportedbyitsaudience.Whenyoupurchasethroughlinksonoursite,wemayearnanaffiliatecommission.Learnmore (Image:©Future) Jumpto: HowtoinstallGoogleLensonaniPhoneoriPad HowtouseGoogleLensinreal-timeonyouriPhone HowtouseGoogleLensonphotosinyouriPhoneoriPadcameraroll HowtoimproveyourGoogleLenssearchresultsoniPhoneoriPad WonderinghowtouseGoogleLensonyouriPhoneoriPad?Whetheryouwanttotranslatetext,identifyplantsorfindanswerstoequations,GoogleLensisanincrediblyusefulimagerecognitiontool–andit’sreallyeasytoinstallanduseonaniOSdevice.Insimpleterms,GoogleLensallowsyoutosearchforanswersusingthecameraonyoursmartphoneortablet.ChannellingthepowerofAI,pairedwiththehugeamountofdataonGoogle’sservers,GoogleLensisabletorecognizeobjectsandpresentyouwithrelevantinformation.Aimitataplant,forexample,andGoogleLenscaninstantlyidentifythespecies.YouriPhonewillsoongetApple'sanswertoGoogleLensInfact,GoogleLenscanrecognizeeverythingfromtextandequationstoanimalsandlandmarks.Itcantranslateforeignlanguagesinrealtime,takeyouthroughyouralgebrahomeworkandrecommendplacestoyoubuysomethingyou’vespotted.ScanaflightticketandGooglecanaddthedetailstoyourcalendar.PointitatafamousbuildingandGooglewillgiveyouitshistoryanditsopeninghours.ThegoodnewsforiOSfansisthatGoogleLensisn’tlimitedtoAndroiddevices.Whileit'smorepowerfuloniPhone,itdoesletyousearchyourexistingphotosoniPad,too.Here’showtogetstarted.GoogleLens:howtomasterGoogle'ssuper-usefulAIcameraappHowtoinstallGoogleLensonaniPhoneoriPadGoogleLensdoesn’thaveitsowndedicatedapponApple'sAppStore.Instead,itsfunctionalityisbakedintotwodifferentGoogleapps.WhichoneisthebestforyouwilldependonhowyouplantouseGoogleLensandonwhichdevice.ThefirstoptionistheGoogleapp.ThisgivesyouaccesstoawholerangeofGoogleservicesonyouriPhone,includingpersonalizednewsstories,sportsupdatesandweatherinfo,aswellasafullsuiteofGooglesearchtools–includingGooglelens.Installtheappandyou’llbeabletouseGoogleLenswithyourcamerainrealtimeoniPhone(thoughnotoniPad,sadly),aswellassearchingwithimagesalreadysavedtoyourcameraroll.Togetstarted,downloadthelatestversionoftheGoogleappfromtheAppStore.(Imagecredit:Future)Alternatively,youcaninstalltheGooglePhotosappinstead.ThisisthebestoptionforiPad.GooglePhotosisGoogle’scloudphotobackupserviceanditincludesawholehostofneatfeaturesforeditingandorganizingyourimagesonline. ItalsoincorporatesGoogleLens:openanyimagefromyourcamerarollintheGooglePhotosappandwithjustatapyou’llbeabletoanalyzeitforinformationusingGoogleLens. (Imagecredit:Future)Thekeydifference,though,isthatGooglePhotosdoesnotallowyoutosearchinreal-timewithyouriPhoneoriPadcamera.Ifthat’snotaproblem,though,justdownloadthelatestversionoftheGooglePhotosappfromtheAppStore.BothappswillrequestaccesstoyourphotolibrarythefirsttimeyouopenthemortrytousetheGoogleLenstool.It’snecessarytograntthissothatGooglecanrunyoursnapsthroughitsservers.Evenifyou’reusingGoogleLensinrealtime,severalofthefeaturesrequireyoutoshootastillofyoursubjectbeforethesoftwareisabletoanalyzeit.ShouldyouquitGooglePhotosin2021?HowtouseGoogleLensinreal-timeonyouriPhoneIfyouwanttosearchinreal-timeusingyouriPhone,startbylaunchingtheGoogleapp.Fromtheapp’shomescreen,tapthecameraicontotherightofthemainsearchbar(thisissadlymissingintheiPadversionoftheapp).Ifit’syourfirsttimeusingtheapp,youmaybeaskedtograntGooglepermissiontoaccessyourphotos.YoumayalsoseeadialogueboxexplainingthatGoogleLenswillcontinuouslytrytoidentifyobjectswheneverit’srunning.WithGoogleLensopen,youcanswipeleftandrighttoswitchbetweenthevariousmodes,thenamesofwhichwillappearalongthebottomofyourscreen.Eachlabelisrelativelyself-explanatory.Translate,forexample,willallowyoutotranslatewritingfromonelanguagetoanother.Textletsyoutakeaphotooftext,whichcanthenbereadaloudtoyouorcopiedintoadifferentapp.Diningallowsyoutakephotooffood,foridentificationandrecipesuggestions.(Imagecredit:Future)Onceyou’veselectedtherelevantmode,simplyaimyourcameraattheobjectwhichyou’dlikeGoogleLenstosearchwith.WhitecircleswillappearacrossthescreenasGoogleanalysesthecontentsoftheliveimage. Whenitidentifiesanobjectintheframe,alargerwhitecirclewillappearoverit.Ifitrecognizesmultipleobjects,eachwillbemarkedwithawhitecircle.Toselecttheobjectyouwanttosearchwith,justaimyourcameraattheappropriatecircleuntilitturnsblue.Amessagewillappearwhichsays‘Taptheshutterbuttontosearch’.(Imagecredit:Future)DoasitsaysandGooglewilltakeamomenttocommunicatewithitsservers,beforepresentingyouwithalistofresultstailoredtotheitemdetectedandthemodeyouselected.Notethatyou’llneedanactiveWi-Fiormobiledataconnectionforthisprocess.Theimageyoushotwillalsoremainonscreen.Iftheobjectyouselectedcouldfitwithindifferentcategories–saytext,translationandhomework–youcanswitchthesearchmodefromthisscreen,bytappingthewhitebuttonontheleftcontainingthreehorizontallines.Thelistofresultsbelowwillupdateaccordingly,withoutneedingtotakeanotherphoto.Wanttosearchwithadifferentobjectfromthesamescene?Asabove,youdon’tneedtotakeanotherphoto:justtapononeofthewhitecircleswithintheimageyoualreadyshot,tofindoutwhatGoogleLenshasidentified.Orifyouthinkthere’sanobjectwhichGooglemissed,youcantapthewhitebuttonwiththemagnifyingglassontheright.ThisletsyougiveGoogleahelpinghandbyfocusinginandreframingthesearchareaaroundaspecificobjectinthescene.HowtouseGoogleLensonphotosinyouriPhoneoriPadcamerarollSometimesyoumightneedtheskillsofGoogleLensatalaterdate.Sayyouspotamysteriousplantwhenyoudon’thaveastrongdatareception,oryoutakeaphotoofyourfoodatdinner–butdon’twanttoantisociallysearchatthetable.Don’tworry:youcaneasilyuseGoogleLenstosearchwithphotossavedtoyouriPhoneoriPad’scameraroll,anytime.Therearetwowaystosearchwithsnapssavedtoyoursmartphoneortablet.Ifyou’reusingtheGoogleapp,startbytappingthecameraiconnexttothesearchbaronthehomepage.WithGoogleLensactivated,tapthepictureframetotheleftoftheshuttersearchbutton.Thiswillbringupyourphotolibrary.SelectanyphotoandGooglewillanalyzeitforobjects.(Imagecredit:Future)Alternatively,youcandothesamethingthroughtheGooglePhotosapp.Simplyopentheimageyou’dliketosearchwith,thentaptheGoogleLensbuttonatthebottomofthescreen.It’ssecondfromtherightandlookslikeapartiallyframedcircle.HitthisandGooglewillagainanalyzetheimageforanyidentifiableobjects.Whichevermethodyouuse,thenextscreenwillbethesame.Googlewillpresentarangeofresultsrelevanttowhatitdetectsinyourchosenimage.Asabove,youcanchangethesearchmodebytappingthebuttonontheleft,orre-framethescenetozero-inonadifferentobjectusingthebuttontotheright.Andagain,ifGoogledetectsseveralobjectsinthescene,youcanswitchbetweenthembytappingthewhitemarkerswhichlabelthem.GooglePhotosvsAmazonPhotos:whichcloudstoragegiantisthebest?HowtoimproveyourGoogleLenssearchresultsoniPhoneoriPadGoogleLensisgenerallyveryimpressivewhenitcomestoidentifyingobjectsandreturningrelevantresults.Fromanimalstoplantvarietiestodeliciousdishes,itcanbescarilygoodatdetectingandrecognizingthesubjectofyoursnaps.ButoccasionallyGooglegetsitwrong.Inlowlighting,forexample,oriftheobjectinquestionhasanundefinedshape,Googlecanstruggletounderstandwhatit’slookingat.Likewise,evenifGoogleLensdoesrecognizetheobject,thesuggestedsearchresultssometimesaren’tthemostuseful–oraccurate.IfyoufindthatthisisthecasewhenusingGoogleLensonyouriPhoneoriPad,youcanhelptoimprovethetoolbygivingfeedback.Scrolldowntothebottomofthelistofsearchresultsandyou’llseeaquerysaying,"Didyoufindtheseresultsuseful?"Youcanthentap‘yes’or‘no’.Thelatteroptionwillthenallowyousendfeedbackdetailingyourissues,whichshouldhelpmakeperformancebetterinfuture.HowtoscanQRcodesonyourAndroidphone ChrisRowlands FormerlyNewsEditoratStuff,Chrishasrarelybeenabletoresistthebiteofthetravelbug–sohenowwritesabouttechfromtheroad,inwhicheverWi-Fi-equippedcaféhecanfind.Fondofcoffeekit,classiccarsandsustainablegear,ifthere’sonethingChrislovesmorethanscribbling,shootingandsharinghiswayaroundtheworld,it’salliterativetriplets. Seemorehow-toarticles TechRadarnewsletter Signuptogetbreakingnews,reviews,opinion,analysisandmore,plusthehottesttechdeals! ContactmewithnewsandoffersfromotherFuturebrands Receiveemailfromusonbehalfofourtrustedpartnersorsponsors ThankyouforsigninguptoTechRadar.Youwillreceiveaverificationemailshortly. Therewasaproblem.Pleaserefreshthepageandtryagain. MOSTPOPULARMOSTSHARED17newmoviesandTVshowsonNetflix,PrimeVideo,HBOMaxandmorethisweekend2ChromecastwithGoogleTVfinallygetsanewupdate,andit'saprettygoodone3NowthatthebestSSDisavailablewithaheatsinkImightactuallyusemyPS54Researchersfilmraredeepseafishwithtransparenthead5Sorry,TheWitcherseason3won'tbearrivinganytimesoon1Handson:AppleMusicVoicereview2InfinixInBookX1goesonfirstsaletoday:specifications,priceandmore3Sorry,TheWitcherseason3won'tbearrivinganytimesoon41.5billionAndroiduserscouldswitchovertoiPhones-here'swhy5No,theiPhoneSE3won'tconvert1.4billionAndroidusers