Now, one would think that such a feature should have been available at the onset, given that Google Lens is technically a search-based feature. However, some have long speculated that the hesitation to add a history feature was probably due to the specific privacy considerations of automatically logging visual data (with no apparent usage restrictions).
With this most recent development, it seems that such a theory may not be valid anymore. The new “Visual Search History” option effectively solves this inconvenience by automatically saving images captured and analyzed using Google Lens within the Google app.
Google’s Outlook
After capturing and analyzing images via the updated Google Lens app, users can then access these saved visual searches at myactivity.google.com, providing a centralized place to view, download, and re-analyze past Lens queries.
“We’re excited to bring this much-awaited capability to Google Lens users,” said Sarah Thompson, Google’s Head of AR and Lens Products. “Visual Search History makes it easier to revisit objects, landmarks or anything else you may have searched for previously using Google’s machine learning image recognition capabilities.”
Using the Feature
To enable the feature, users must navigate to their Google Account settings (via browser, myaccount.google.com), select “Data & Privacy” followed by “Web & App Activity”, and turn on the “Include Visual Search History” option. If the option is not yet available, you might have to wait a bit more until a full rollout is implemented. Notably, this option seems to be disabled by default, which is perhaps Google’s last stance to strike a balance between utility and the (previously conceptualized) privacy concerns around logging visual data.
Once enabled, any Google Lens image analyses performed within the Google app will be automatically logged and viewable alongside text and voice searches under the My Activity section. Users can download original images for re-analysis or delete individual visual searches as needed.
Visual Search History currently only captures searches from the Google app itself. Lens queries via Google Photos or other recent camera integrations like “Circle to Search” are not included for now.
More Steps Ahead
The Visual Search History rollout begins today and will be fully available to all users over the coming weeks, with Lens users also receiving an in-app notification about this option.
For frequent Google Lens users needing to reference past visual searches, this update provides an easy way to access and leverage that visual analysis history. However, as we always emphasize with these updates, it also represents a broader move by Google into creating more intelligent, integrated search experiences via AI.
