Google is rolling out an update to its Lens camera search tool, which will automatically save a user’s visual search history so it can be accessed at a later time; Think of it as the browser history option in Chrome, but for Lens.
If 9to5Google According to reports, this new feature will only allow you to find visual search history in the Google app on your phone, and will not automatically save searches performed with more recent tools like the rather useful Circle to Search.
For the uninitiated, Google Lens has long been an easy way to point your Android phone’s camera at an object and trigger a Google search for it. All you have to do is find the square icon in the camera option and let it scan the image. Google’s machine learning algorithms will then attempt to identify the object you’ve highlighted and return search results for it, or at least as close as possible to what you’re viewing.
In practice, Lens works quite well, although there are limitations: it can’t or won’t find people, which is probably good in terms of privacy, and it doesn’t always provide correct identification. But that’s why the ability to save searches can be quite useful. If Lens hasn’t quite worked on, say, a type of chair you’ve targeted it for, you can reference that search at a later date if you happen to run into your chair expert friend.
One thing to keep in mind is that Lens scans an object and then sends it to the cloud along with the relevant data, so the search history isn’t stored on the device. Instead, you’ll need to go to myactivity.google.com to access it. It’s also an opt-in feature, meaning you’ll need to access the ‘Record visual search history’ option to ensure your Lens searches are saved. Don’t assume Google will do this automatically. You’ll find the option to do this under ‘Data & Privacy’ and then in the ‘Web & App Activity’ section.
All in all, this may sound like a small update, and it is. But such tweaks help make using machine learning-powered tools more useful, preparing us for a future where AI features and options will become more common in some of the best phones.
While I’m not happy about an era where smart robots enslave us all, I’m open to useful AI tools that make getting information a lot easier. I’m also waiting to see what Apple could do with generative AI when it comes to the iPhone 16.