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Google Lens in Google Assistant rolls out to all Pixel users

Google Lens is finally being added to Google Assistant on Pixel devices. The Google Goggles-like feature will help users identify objects around them.

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Published onNovember 28, 2017

Google recently announced that Lens would be coming to Google Assistant, but the rollout would take a while. It trickled out to some Pixel owners, but not everyone could get their hands on it. Now, Google Lens is rolling out for all Pixel owners in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, and Singapore. The only caveat is that your device must be set to English.

Google Lens offers a snapshot of the future for augmented reality and AI

Features

If you want to try Lens, open up Google Assistant and look in the bottom right corner. You should have a grayed-out Lens icon. Tap that icon and give Lens access to your camera. You’ll only need to do this the first time— every time you open Lens after that, it’ll immediately launch into the viewfinder.

As you can see above, Google Lens isn’t perfect. It’s excellent at identifying objects like books and landmarks, but can fall flat with other objects from time to time. The feature has previously only been in Google Photos, where it could identify objects from your pictures and screenshots. Unlike Photos, you do not need to snap a picture for Lens to work in Assistant. It’ll start to identify an object in your viewfinder when you tap the object.

In addition to identifying objects, Lens can pull off neat tricks like connecting to Wi-Fi networks by scanning the password on the rear of the router. We can see this coming in handy when you’re staying over at a friend’s place or crashing at an Airbnb for the night.

What do you think of Google Lens? Will you use it to search for more information on objects around you? Let us know down in the comments.