In an announcement that will surprise no one, Google has officially declared its Goggles app to be dead. As spotted by Android Police, users who open the app will see a message directing them to install the new Google Lens app instead.
If you"re unfamiliar with Goggles - or just forgot it existed - it was an app that allowed users to do Google searches by pointing their camera at certain objects, which certainly sounds a lot like what Google Lens aims to do. The app hadn"t been updated since 2014, and with Lens offering very similar functionality, it was clear that the end of Goggles was upon us, but now it"s been officially confirmed.
The rise and democratization of artificial intelligence in recent years means that Google Lens now offers capabilities that are likely to be much more advanced than those previously offered by Goggles. One might think that it"s unlikely that anyone would be using this app in 2018, but there"s still a number of recent reviews for it in the Play Store listing.
If you"ve been using Goggles until now, it may be time to move on. Google Lens was recently released as its own standalone app - which you can download here if you have Android 6.0 or higher - but it"s also available through Google Assistant, Google Photos, and the camera app on some devices.
Source: Android Police via Engadget