Have you ever ordered the wrong meal on vacation because you couldn’t read the menu?
Or maybe you’ve found yourself wandering around a city for hours, unable to reach your destination because the signs weren’t in English.
Well, a little-known app could save you from both of these major Christmas stresses.
Google Lens is a free app, available on both Android and iOS, and is described as a “travel companion” during the holiday season.
Google Lens is a free app, available on both Android and iOS, and uses your smartphone’s built-in camera to identify objects in the real world.
It’s essentially a real-life Google search and uses a smartphone’s built-in camera to scan and identify real-world objects.
According to the Google blog website: ‘(He) can instantly translate the text in front of you, whether you’re looking at a menu or a street sign.
“Point the Lens at any text and it will automatically detect the language and overlay the translations right on top of the original words.”
You can find Google Lens in the Google app, it’s the little camera icon next to the search bar.
Once you’ve tapped on it, you’re offered several options, including ‘Search’ and ‘Translate’.
The app directly translates over 100 languages and will instantly detect the native dialect and translate it into the language of your choice.
Many people have used it to solve their menu problems by simply hovering the camera over the menu and looking at it.
The travel hack has been highly appreciated by TikTokers, who are just discovering the feature.
The app directly translates over 100 languages and will instantly detect the native dialect and translate it into the language of your choice.
It is capable of translating real-world objects such as medication labels, food packages, and menus.
One user @TravelTok described the app as a “game changer” and demonstrated that it could quickly translate both medicine and food packaging.
Another frequent traveler, who goes by the username @raimeetravels, showed how quickly the app can identify buildings or objects.
Hovering her phone in front of the entrance to the Pompidou Center in Malaga, the app instantly gave Raimee the name of the contemporary art museum.
Adding the caption, he wrote: “My new favorite thing.”
Some TikTokers just found the hidden feature and are sharing their discovery on the app
A TikTok traveler demonstrated how to make Google Lens identify buildings and scanned a building in front of her
The app quickly identified the building as an art museum in Spain called Centro Pompidou Málaga.
TikTokers flocked to the comment section, grateful for the post, with one saying, ‘I used the translate option a lot last week in Japan. So helpful!
The same feature is also available in the Google Translate app, which was demonstrated by TikTok user Kate Bacon.
Posting a tutorial on his @kbacon account, he said: “Go to the Google Translate app, select your languages, click the camera icon and it will translate all the text you see.”
Phone owners can access the same feature through the Google Translate app, all you need to do is click on the camera option.
The application will access Google Lens and translate the object in front of them word for word.
The ‘quick and easy life hack’ was appreciated by his followers, who commented ‘Thank you’ and ‘That’s definitely been a big help!’
Google Lens not only works for travel, but it can also improve your shopping skills.
For example, if you see a random item you want outside of the store, all you need to do is scan it and Google Lens will give you similar suggestions, all without having to articulate what you’re looking for.
