Earlier this month at the I/O developer’s conference, Google announced that they were bringing some new things to Google Lens to make it more useful in practical ways. The new things were connected to the dining and translate features and if you eat out a lot or go to foreign places regularly, these things will be very useful for you. They have started rolling it out today and by the end of the week, all compatible devices should be able to experience these new features.
To recap, the updated Google Lens has new filters so you will be able to see specific results and actions without so many steps. When you’re dining in a restaurant and you can’t choose what to order, Lens can highlight which dishes are popular from their physical menu. You can tap on a dish and see what it looks like as well as other people’s reviews through photos and reviews on Google Maps.
As for the Translate feature, it has now been enhanced as well. When you point your camera at a text, it will automatically detect what language it is and then overlay the translation on top of the original words. Previously, you would have to manually choose which language it is and the translation is on another page. This should make it easier for you to “read” text in other languages. The feature is currently supported in more than 100 languages.
You can do a lot of other new things on Lens from their previous updates. You can now copy and paste text from the real world onto your phone. For example, phone numbers on business cards, gift card codes, WiFi passwords, etc. You can also make shopping easier by pointing your camera at things like clothes, furniture, etc and see similar items. Or you can also use Lens as a barcode scanner for the exact product.
To know if your smartphone is ARCore-compatible, you can click on this link to see their updated list of devices. Let us know if your Google Lens is updated already and if you’ve tried