Google Camera 7.2 has quietly added other Lens features to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4, including the ability to scan files, copy document, and translate languages.
With how useful Google Lens is, these new camera features will make it even easier to get powerful features without ever using the dedicated app or launching the Google Assistant. Lens leverages Google Search and computer vision’s ability to work out and contextualize precisely what your camera is pointing to (via XDA Developers).
We saw the Google Camera included the ability to detect URLs, email addresses, and QR codes on existing Pixel phones. The latest update to Google Camera 7.2 will now include recommendations for scan document, copy text, and even translate foreign languages.
When the camera recognizes these specific things, the small pop-up will automatically appear. When you hover over an letter, for example, the pop-up “scan document” will appear. Tap that and it will detect the edges and help you to refine them before converting them to a more digestible flat format— you’ll even be able to share them as a PDF from the camera app. This, of course, is linked to the “crop document” extension now available on Google Photos.
XDA reports that the translation feature currently only seems to work in English, Spanish, German, Hindi and Japanese. That’s not the most comprehensive list, but over time we’d expect that to rise. Copying text is as simple as pointing to a document or sign, and the option to “copy text” will be bring by tapping to focus.
I was able to confirm that Google Camera 7.2 includes the ability to scan documents. copy text, and translate foreign languages on the Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 4 XL, all without having to load the Google Lens standalone app. It’s unclear whether these changes rely on the Pixel Visual Core, or whether we’re going to see the features coming to older Pixel phones as well. Occasionally triggering the translation pop-up is also a bit tricky, and it only seems to work seven out of the ten times I’ve tried so far— just something to note.
