Google Lens is an amazing piece of software that can look up similar images, identify objects in the picture, extract text from pictures, and do much more. If you are really impressed with Google Lens’s capabilities and are looking for Google Lens-type features on your iPhone, Apple has you covered.
There are two Google Lens alternatives for iPhone:
1. What Is Visual Lookup and How to Use It Like Google Lens?
Just like Google Lens, Apple’s Visual Lookup, as the name suggests, will identify the objects in the picture and show relevant information about them from the internet, including similar images. However, unlike Google Lens, it only works for a few categories. You cannot use it on any image to do a reverse image search. Also, it works on iPhones running iOS 15 and above and iPadOS 15.1+ only.
What Can Visual Lookup Do?
Identify plants and flower
Identify animals and their breeds
Identify landmarks and show facts and location details
Identify artworks like paintings and statues
Identify food and suggest recipes
Identify laundry instructions
Identify vehicle issues shown on the dashboard
Identify books
How to Access and Use Visual Lookup to Identify Things?
Open the Apple Photos app and tap on the i icon at the bottom or the button may have changed to a relevant symbol of the object in the picture. Then, tap on Look Up [Subject name] on the next screen to see the results. Or, open apps like Messages, Notes, or Mail and tap on the image to open it in full-screen view. Then, tap the i or the Look up icon.
Note: Go to Settings > Siri & Search and ensure Show in Look Up is enabled for this feature to work.
2. How to Use Live Text on iPhone Like Google Lens
Google Lens can extract and translate text in a picture. The same capabilities are offered by the iPhone’s Live Text feature, available on iOS 15 and above.
What Can Live Text Do on iPhone?
Copy text from the picture
Translate text
Identify phone numbers and suggest relevant actions like call, message, add to contacts, FaceTime, etc.
Identify an email address and create an email
Identify dates and create events
Look up directions from the address text
Find text on the internet using Look Up
Convert units
How to Access and Use Live Text?
Open any photo in the Photos app with text. A scanner-like icon will show at the bottom right. Tap on it to activate the Live Text feature. Then, tap on the text on which you want to take some action and choose an appropriate action.
Similarly, open the picture in any other app and tap on the Live Text icon. It works with printed text in a picture, handwritten text, or text in real-time from any picture using the Camera app.
Note: Go to Settings > General > Language & Region and ensure Live Text is enabled.
Bonus Tip: How to Use Google Lens on iPhone
While the above two features offer most of the capabilities present in Google Lens, some features, like reverse image search, are still missing on iPhone. So, if you aren’t satisfied with the Google Lens equivalent on iPhone, you can use Google Lens itself on iPhone.
How to Access Google Lens on iPhone
Install and open the Google app and tap on the Google Lens icon in the search bar, or add the Google widget to your home screen to access Google Lens quickly.
Install and open the Google Photos app and tap the Google Lens icon at the bottom of a photo.
Mehvish Mushtaq is a computer engineer by degree. Her love for Android and gadgets led her to develop the first Android app for Kashmir. Known as Dial Kashmir, she won the prestigious Nari Shakti award from the President of India. She has been writing about technology for 6+ years and her favorite categories include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for iOS/iPadOS, Android, social media, and web apps.
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