Google Lens’ Images feature recognizes objects you might want to buy

By Christian de Looper Published October 24, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Google’s artificial intelligence is getting better and better. The company first announced Google Lens, and artificial intelligence system for images and video, at Google I/O in 2017, but since then it has brought the tech to the Google Pixel camera, Google Assistant, and more. Now, Google Lens is being integrated into another Google service: Google Images.

Recommended Videos

This year has already been a big one for Google Images. Earlier, Google announced a redesign of Google Images, which aimed to use a new ranking algorithm to help users more easily find what they were looking for. Now, with Lens integration, Images is set to get even more helpful.

Similar to how Lens works in other Google services, the system will now be able to identify objects within images. With that knowledge, you will be able to “draw” around something you’re interested in or click on the dots related to an object in an image, after which Images will surface information about that object from around the web.

Lens in Images is also aimed at helping users more easily find things they’re interested in buying. The example Google gives is that you might find an image of a couch you like, but not know exactly what model it is or where to buy it from. You could then draw around the couch or click on the dot in the image, and then visit sites to learn more about the couch and potentially even buy it.

Google Lens in Images is now live on mobile in the U.S. in English but Google says it will soon roll out to other countries, languages, and platforms. In other words, expect it to show up on desktop at some point, even if it takes a few months.

Lens is likely to continue being integrated into other Google products. The service is already available in Google Assistant, which allows users to point Assistant at an object or location in real time, after which Assistant will surface information about the object or location. On top of that, you can find Lens in Google Photos, and in the Camera app on Google Pixel smartphones. It’s available on iOS, too, so if you’re an iPhone user, you can try Lens for yourself in the Google Assistant app.

Topics

Christian de Looper

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Mobile

You’ll soon be able to see more text in Google Messages

The Google Messages app on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

If you've been lamenting the relatively limited size of the Google Messages text box, good news: it can now get bigger than just four lines. Last month, Google Messages redesigned its compose field — the area where you write your message — but a lot of fans took issue with the fact it could only display four lines of text at once. This was a particular pain point if you had to share a long URL that took up the majority of the field.

Now, though, things are changing. In the latest version of the Google Messages beta, the text field can expand up to 14 lines before you need to scroll to see what you've typed. It's not yet available in the stable release but should be soon.

Android

Google’s new rule could give Android 16 gaming a boost

Google is making a major change to how Android phones handle gaming. Starting with Android 16, any new phone or tablet that hits the market must support a new feature called Host Image Copy. While the name might sound like something only developers care about, the real-world impact is clear: faster load times, less stuttering, and games that run more smoothly overall. And that's something anyone who games on their phone can appreciate.

Host Image Copy helps games load their visuals more efficiently by letting the phone’s processor take care of moving image data, rather than relying only on the graphic chip. That frees up resources and helps your games run better. It also cuts down the amount of memory games need to use behind the scenes, which is a win for performance and battery life. That could mean the end of the long pauses and lag spikes that have frustrated mobile gamers for years, or at the very least bolster them with enough speed and performance that it's more attractive to some players who haven't decided to buy in on mobile or specifically Android.

Mobile

Google Messages might finally fix this frequent annoyance

The Google Messages app on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Though most text messages you typically send might be just a few words long, occasionally you need to draft out a longer message -- and that can be annoying on an Android device. Google Messages has an infamously small compose box, which has been a source of annoyance for many users. Now, though, that looks set to change, with a new feature spotted in the latest beta version of the Messages app of an expandable compose box.

The change was spotted in an APK teardown of the latest Android beta by Android Authority, which suggests that a change to the way the Google Messages app functions is in the works. Getting at the new compose box took some "tinkering," according to the site, but they were able to unlock a version of the compose box which can be expanded to 12 lines of text rather than the currently available four lines.