8 Nifty Apps to Identify Anything Using Your Phone’s Camera
For many people, your phone’s camera is one of its most important aspects. It has a ton of uses, from superimposing wild creatures into reality with AR apps to taking sharp pictures even at night.
But you might be missing out on another major ability your phone’s camera has: it can work as a visual search engine and identify just about anything you see in the world. Here are the best identification apps for Android and iPhone.
1. Google Lens: For Everything
Google has brought its search engine chops to your camera. With computer vision, its Lens app is capable of recognizing a ton of items. Google Lens understands a wide range of items including animal breeds, plants, flowers, branded gadgets, and more. The biggest exception is people.
Plus, for compatible objects, Google Lens will also pull up shopping links if you’d like to buy them. There’s not much of a setup process. You simply install the app or launch it from the Google Assistant and point it at an object. Google Lens will let you know if it’s found a match by displaying a little blue icon on top of the item.
Instead of a dedicated app, iPhone users can find Google Lens functionality in the search bar of the main Google app. We’ve looked at some of the interesting uses for Google Lens if you’re curious.
2. Pinterest: For Design and Art
Similarly, Pinterest has a visual search tool where you take a picture and the app fetches links and pages for the objects it identifies. Pinterest’s solution can also match multiple items in a complex image, such as an outfit.
Like Google, it shows you shopping links through which you can directly purchase the product.
Pinterest’s visual search is primarily designed for what the social network is known for, like designs, outfits, and other similar categories. For purposes such as exploring nature, you’ll have a better time with Google Lens.
3. Snapchat: Amazon-Powered Visual Search
Snapchat comes with a nifty visual search engine too. It’s powered by and integrated with Amazon’s vast database of products. The concept is identical to the above.
You take a picture of an object you’re interested in. If successfully identified, Snapchat will bring up an Amazon card so you can visit the listing. You can also scan barcodes instead of tapping the item, for a quicker response.
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