Google Photos is Testing a New Search Button With Lens Features on Android

Users will be able to examine photographs and identify faces thanks to a new “Search” button that Google Photos is testing for its Android app.

It is anticipated to take the place of the Photos app’s Lens button.

For further information about a specific subject in a photo, users must currently tap a “Lens” button in Google Photos. Google first introduced the Lens as a standalone app back in 2017, however it was eventually made into an integrated service.

The new general “Search” button, according to a report by Android Police, can both scan the faces in a photo and perform a reverse search for them in your Google Photos Library.

The search functionality will also include Google Lens options like OCR text selection and object recognition. According to the research, you can tap other objects in the image to learn more about them or to gain context.

Although the button might seem intriguing, they aren’t brand-new features that will be added to Google Photos. The three-dot menu that is present in the top right corner of a photo already allows you to search for further pictures that contain the same individuals or faces. According to the article, the new capability is currently being sent out to a restricted group of customers. It is anticipated that it will be implemented more widely in the upcoming months.

Google revealed in September that it was revamping the Memories feature in the Photos app as part of a wider update to Memories, which was first released in 2019. To make switching between AI-generated images simple, the revised feature has a cleaner visual and a smoother vertical scroll gesture.

The firm also improved Cinematic Photos, an AI-based tool that is intended to produce 3D rendered representations of photos from users’ memories, in order to turn a number of still images into a complete cinematic experience, according to the company.