Google Lens Standalone App Now Available In Play Store

If you’re looking for an easier way to access Google Lens, look no further than the new shortcut app now available in the Google Play Store.

The stand-alone app allows folks to take advantage of the relatively new feature, even if your existing Android device doesn’t offer built-in functionality. (The LG G7, for example, has a dedicated button on the handset that lets you go straight to Google Lens.) With the new Lens app, you’ll be able to access the same functionality as you would otherwise — and you can still access Lens via Google Assistant.

Lens uses the smartphone camera to scan and identify real-world objects. It can recognise species of flower, translate menus in a foreign language, and add phone numbers from physical business cards into the contacts app on a phone. Until now, the feature was only available on smartphones that had been updated to include support for Lens within the native camera app.

As for the Google Lens app itself, all features such as real-time object recognition, in-camera text selection and object recognition among others are available to use and work fine. The app works in tandem with the camera, and employs Google’s search engine and the company’s virtual assistant for object identification in real-time.

How it works

Opening the Lens app for the first time brings up the viewfinder through which Lens can ‘see’ and identify nearby objects, landmarks and text. The lens can recognise species of dog, translate menus in a foreign language, and add phone numbers from physical business cards into the contacts app on a smartphone. The standalone app has exactly the same functionality as those phones which have Google Lens built directly into the operating system.

At this year’s I/O, Google Lens got a number of new features such as smart text selection, style match, and real-time search. Also, the company announced that Google Lens will come natively into a number of Android smartphones from leading brands like, HMD/Nokia, Transsion, TCL, Pixel, Pixel 2, Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact and OnePlus phones.

Google lens will additionally rolled out support to LG, Motorola, Xiaomi, Sony Mobile, Nokia, BQ, and Asus. You can download the Google Lens app from Play Store here.