Google lens is a very beloved feature of the app as it helps to search for anything and everything by just using the phone’s camera. It can be used on multiple devices like phones, laptops and desktops. The feature is one that makes searching easy and almost eradicates typing.
Updates are the backbone of every app as it keeps the users interested and invested in the app. It also makes the app easier to use and more fun. Likewise, Google is updating its desktop version of Google Lens to not open in another tab but appear on the same page as a side panel.
In order to search for an image a user would right-click on the image to get a menu that has an option named “Search image with Google Lens”. Once that option is clicked a side panel will open that will allow the user to use visual search on that specific image and/or any of its components. Actually this panel is the same one that opens when you click on bookmarks or the in-Chrome extensions. As for the main window that will resize itself according to the panel automatically once the panel opens.
The panel that will appear will bear many similarities to the full screen version and the image which has to be searched will take up most of the panel. The options to switch between the search, text and translate will appear directly below the image. The results will come downwards like in the mobile version of the app and can be accessed upon scrolling. If a user wants to find out which website the image came from they can use the option “find image source” which will appear right above the image panel. That will direct them to the website from where the image was sourced.
For the people who preferred the earlier version of the app aka opening in another tab they can use the top right corner. By clicking on that corner the panel will open in another tab entirely. The side panel can also make an appearance when a user uses that option with no specific thing in mind and then makes a box around the thing that they want to find more about.
This feature has been out for a few weeks now but two days ago Google made it official for every type of device.
Introducing a new side panel search for Google Lens in #Chrome.
— Chrome (@googlechrome) May 24, 2022
Now, instead of opening a new tab, stay on the same page while you translate image text, identify an object, or get the original source from an image. Get the steps here: https://t.co/ocM9OaFOnh pic.twitter.com/UtqdAZ16p6
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