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Lens closed last year with a Pixel camera-inspired redesign and more shortcuts in other apps to launch the visual search tool. Google is currently testing a new Lens icon that better communicates its functionality.
As spotted by Android Police, the new Lens icon was spotted at the top of the Google app in the search box. This location, which appears next to the microphone icon, was introduced on Android in October. The shortcut has been on iOS for a while now.
Instead of a rounded square, this logo is rectangular and shaped like a DSLR. Always composed of four colors, blue is the most dominant for the lens, the upper left corner and the viewfinder. Green remains the least prominent at the top right.
This change is not widely deployed today, and Google’s Rajan Patel said it was just an “experiment to see if we can communicate better that pressing that button will open the camera.” Seems to be doing well!
Google is looking to increase the use of Lens. Today, it’s available in Assistant, Photos, Camera apps, Search (Pictures), and Chrome when you tap and hold a photo. Its placement in the Google app is already prominent, but the company wants to increase the tool’s obviousness.
Lens officially had two icons in his life. That said, when it was announced on stage in 2017, the company had a rectangular version that isn’t too different from what’s being tested today. In fact, this variant also appeared on the retail packaging of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL – the first phones with Lens.
In software, the icon has always been a rounded square. In 2019, Google made it less blocky with rounded corners and visual separation to look more like a viewfinder than a square camera. The company also briefly followed another icon last year.
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