ONE of Google’s most popular tools has received a massive boost that will benefit millions more people.
Google Lens is already hugely helpful for quickly comparing products to find cheaper alternatives, as well as stepping in to identify monuments and buildings you don’t recognise while on holiday.
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But now it’s been infused with even greater capabilities utilising the company’s AI Overviews tech for results without even having to type a question.
“For many years, Lens has been able to identify billions of different objects — like plants, products or landmarks — by matching against a database of images indexed from the web,” the firm said.
“But now, with help from our advanced AI models, Lens can go much further and provide information on the contents of more novel or unique images.”
Experts from Google showed The Sun how the tool might be more helpful, such as identifying a strange texture left on a car’s hood.
But that’s not all.
The Google Lens tool is expanding to appear in the Chrome and Google apps for iPhone too from today.
This means iOS users will no longer need to take screenshots or open a new tab.
A new button allows you to simply draw, highlight or tap what you want to search on-screen.
All you need to do is open the three-dot menu and select Search Screen with Google Lens.
TIPS FOR BETTER GOOGLE LENS RESULTS
Lou Wang Senior Director, Product Management on Google Search, spoke exclusively to The Sun sharing his top tips for better Google Lens results.
“The angles, lighting, the quality of the image actually helps quite a bit in terms of getting the best result,” he said.
“Oftentimes we’ll see a very blurry image of, let’s say a shoe or something and it’s in the dark.
“We’ve actually become quite good at deciphering those images but the more clear the image, having a good photo, is always helpful.
And while AI Overviews will help you spend less time typing added context on some Google Lens searches, adding information is still helpful.
“We’ve become better and better at understanding the intention of the user but sometimes it’s just hard,” he continued.
So it’s always good to provide extra information to identify specific elements within an image.
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best…
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen (or swipe left to right on an iPhone X or later model), then tap in the bar and type a currency (like $200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
