The search engine giant Google’s visual search service Google Lens which used AI and machine learning to recognise the surroundings will no longer be limited to Pixel smartphones. The company has begun rolling out the features to all Android-powered smartphones this week.
This means that any Android user with the latest version of Google Photos app installed can use Lens to identify their environment or scan business cards, among other things. Presently, the rollout is for Android only, however, Google says that iOS users will get Lens in Google Photos soon as well.
The first announcement of Google Lens was made at I/O 2017, the company’s conference that held in last May. The service relies heavily on AI and machine learning to recognise certain objects like a flower, a restaurant or a landmark by pointing the phone’s camera at it.
After the Lens recognises something, it brings up relevant information on it and it also allows you to perform certain actions. Upon the rollout, Lens will also be spotted within the Google Photos app.
While Pixel owners can also find Lens within Google Assistant as well, however, this feature will not be released to other Android phones just yet.
With Google Lens, Android users can do things like creating a contract from a business card or get more info about a famous landmark. Users can get the latest version of the Google Photos app for Android from a tweet sent by Google from its Photos account.
Android users can activate Lens withing Google Photos by opening the app and tapping on the Lens icon on the bottom bar. Point the phone’s camera to an object or thing that you would like some information about and Lens will muster whatever it can find. One of the more notable aspects of Lens includes the ability to automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network by pointing the camera to the routers username and password.
Google in a blog post last month announced that Lens will be available to all Google Photos English-language users on the latest version of the app on Android and iOS over the coming weeks. The company also said that compatible flagship devices will get Lens within Google Assistant as well. However, there is no word on when the service for Assistant will roll out and which flagship devices will be getting the feature.