Google Lens is a visual search tool that the internet search giant announced last year. It analyzes what the smartphone camera sees and then provides relevant content. The feature is called Google Lens and while it was initially kept exclusive to Google's Pixel handsets, the company decided to bring Lens to all Android devices running Google Photos last week.
The company had also said at the Mobile World Congress 2018 last month that the camera-based Google Lens experience would be rolled out to select “compatible flagship devices.” While it didn't mention any of Samsung's devices, the company's flagships have received it. The camera-based Google Lens experience is available on the Galaxy S9, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8.
Camera-based Google Lens on Galaxy S9
The camera-based Google Lens experience provides functionality similar to Bixby's AR features. First, launch Google Assistant on the device and then tap on the Google Lens logo in the bottom right corner. This will launch the camera UI and that's when you point at an object and if Lens recognizes it, it will provide relevant information about the object.
Google Lens also comes in handy when you want to quickly add information from a business card to your contacts. It can create a contact from a business card and can also be used to identify landmarks around you.
However, it appears that this functionality hasn't been made available to those who are running the stable version of the Google App on their devices. We've also tested this on our devices and confirmed that the camera-based Google Lens experience is only enabled on the Galaxy S9, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 when the beta version of the Google App is installed. Those who don't have it can head over to the Play Store right now to sign up for the beta and download the app.
Since Google is already testing this feature in the beta version of the app, it may only be a matter of time before the stable version of the app gets this functionality as well.
