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Google Photos Update Brings Fresh Lens Animation For Pixel

Google has started pushing out the latest version of its cloud-based photo sharing and storage service, Google Photos, to users and one of the most notable parts of the update is the addition of new animation to Google Lens on Google Pixel and Google Pixel 2 smartphones. The Lens animation in version 3.8 of Google Photos displays an array of dots and lines arranged in an organized method with multiple colors, spread across the entire screen of your device. Before, a white display with Google’s pulsating dots colored with the search giant’s signature colors would pop up once Google Lens was activated and started analyzing images.

For those who may not be familiar with Google Lens yet, it’s a Google Photos mobile tool that was announced in May of this year and introduced to the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL earlier this month, as well as on the first generation of those phones in the last week as part of the Google Assistant voice-enabled companion, allowing Android phones or tablets running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or up to recognize objects and other visual details with the aid of location data, provided it is warranted. Google Lens then draws up additional details about a certain place, for example, once the app identifies the place in question. One notable difference between the updated Google Photos and its previous version is that Google Lens in the new version of Photos would show up only when the result of the photo analysis has been completed.

On top of the fresh animation for Google Lens, the latest Google Photos update also delivers some user interface overhaul and a promotion that offers free shipping on photo books worth more than $19. Keep in mind that the promo lasts until November 9 and is available as a card in the Google Assistant tab or within the photo books maker. Another minor update that comes with the newest iteration of Google Photos is the ability to view the notification channels in the Settings app via a shortcut added to the Notifications in Android 8.0 Oreo, so it is now easier to get an update of events that matter to you.