Google has officially put the final nail on Google Goggles's coffin. A new update released just now effectively renders the app unusable, displaying instead a splash screen that encourages users to download Google Lens and use that moving forward.
Goggles was released in 2009, one of Google's burgeoning attempts to develop a visual experience around search. Since then, Google has had enormous development in that arena, and with the unveiling of the much better, much faster, much more intelligent Google Lens, Google essentially had to ring the death knell for Goggles.
Google Goggles Receives Death Update
Android Police was the first to spot the update. Just note that the last time Google Goggles received an update was in 2014. Loading the latest version of the app now results in a landing page instructing users to use Google Lens from now on, or Google Photos for phones that can't support Lens natively.
The death of Google Goggles was entirely expected; it was only just a matter of when. Earlier this year, Wired reported that Google had "more or less shut down" development on the app by 2012 after users lost interest.
Even so, development of visual search didn't languish. Google continued to make advancements in artificial intelligence and object recognition, but instead of improving the Google Goggles experience, it chose to introduce an entirely new platform altogether, one that offers a vastly better user experience than its predecessor.
Google Lens Could Someday Be Shut Down, Too
Google doesn't explicitly say just how many people are actively using Lens daily. The company has managed to create a more robust platform for visual search, sure, but it's not clear just how long it'll keep users' interest. At this point it's only a few steps above being a tad bit gimmicky. That's not to say visual search isn't incredibly useful when it works — just that people can probably live without it. Google has to find a way to make visual search so excellent that people simply won't be able to use any other method.
Google could kill Lens in a few years' time, who knows? Internal operations at Google are reportedly very competitive, with teams working on projects that often overlap. A new team might present a much better implementation of visual search than Lens, and if people also lost interest in Lens over time, Google will definitely stop pumping fuel in that vehicle.
Do you find Lens useful? Do you use it at all? If so, how often? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
