Google Lens has a powerful optical character recognition (OCR) filter that can pull text from any image. Available in Google Photos, the backup service this month is adding the ability to search for text in images.
The official Twitter account quietly announced the feature this afternoon after it was spotted by a user. Search in Google Photos can already recognize objects, events, and people or pets (when their faces are labeled.)
Meanwhile, the app leverages GPS data in pictures to allow for location queries.
Photos will now also look for text that appears in images. This allows you to search for words and bring up all results where that phrase physically appears, no matter how small or if it’s at an angle. It performs particularly well on screenshots, but also works on any text that appears in an image.
Google Photos text search is ideal for documents, Wifi passwords, and anything else that you’ve saved by taking a picture. This works on both the Android and iOS apps, as well as the web client.
This feature is rolling out now, and live on several devices we checked. Once on the desired image, Google advises users to click the Lens button in order to easily copy and paste text.
