Google Lens now available via Assistant on Pixel phones

When the Pixel 2 launched this past October, one of its new software tricks was Google Lens. Up until this point, the only way to actually use Lens was by taking a picture, going to Google Photos, and then tapping the Lens icon so it could scan whatever you'd captured. It worked, but it wasn't the most graceful process in the world.

Thankfully, Lens is about to get a lot more useful now that it's finally being integrated within Google Assistant. A couple of employees at Google confirmed that this would be happening soon late last month, and the final product is pretty much everything we were expecting.

When you bring up Google Assistant, you'll now see a Lens icon near the bottom right of your screen. Tapping this will bring up a viewfinder for Google Lens, and tapping on something of interest will have Lens scan it and then provide you with any info it finds on that subject.

In its current form, you can use Google Lens to identify landmarks, look up movies, books, and art, scan barcodes/QR codes, save contact information from a business card, navigate to addresses, and more.

Google Lens is rolling out to all Pixel phones that are using Assistant in the English language in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, and Singapore. It may take some time for Lens to hit your phone, but Google says the rollout should be complete within the coming weeks.

Google Lens: Everything you need to know

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.

10 Comments
  • How is "will be available for everyone in a few weeks' time." the same as "Google Lens now available"??
  • It's not, it's a click bait headline
  • "Google Lens now available" simply means Google Lens is available. And it is available--for some people. Literally nowhere in that phrase are there any words that provide indication that it is available for everyone, so anyone who reads it that way needs to work on their comprehension skills.
  • The first sentence literally says "Lens is rolling out now and will be available for everyone in a few weeks' time."
  • Available for everyone "in selected countries"TM
  • I have lens now, on a rooted phone. Thank gooodness for root, and xda.
  • goo·gle ˈɡo͞oɡ(ə)l verb:
    the act of forgetting something supposedly impressive to occur in the coming weeks.
    "you'll like your phone even more if you google anything about it--and then just try to do something cool with it later"
  • It's available on Pixel phones and will be coming to other phones at a later stage. That's how I'm reading this article.
  • That's what I got out of it.
  • How about a fix for the horrible audio captured in videos we take? Seems like with the holidays approaching, it might be useful to have a phone that can capture watchable moments with family and friends. Just my $0.02.