Google stops Goggles and redirects users to Lens

Google is shutting down its Goggles app. If you install the app, you’ll see a reference to Google Lens instead. The Lens app is very similar to Goggles, but Google did not speak of a successor when it was introduced.

The Goggles app received an update this week for the first time since 2014, Android Police notes, but when you open the app, you get nothing but a welcome screen, with a link to the Lens app. According to the text, Goggles is going away, but users can resort to Lens “to explore the world.”

Google introduced Goggles in 2009 as a visual search application. The app could, among other things, scan barcodes and QR codes, recognize images, solve sudokus and translate texts from photos. The operation therefore partly corresponds to that of Google Lens, which the company announced last year.

The image recognition of Lens, however, goes a lot further. For example, the app can also recognize flowers and restaurants, thanks to a link with the Google Assistant. However, Google Lens only works on recent Android devices. In the Play Store, some people complain that they have switched from Goggles to Lens, but that the latter does not function or does not function properly on their smartphone.

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