Google Images may have a lot of smart features, but the incredibly capable search tool comes in very handy in our daily use. Its AI prowess allows it to pull up your old photos and videos just by typing what’s in them—you can find your photos by the people they’re in, the location they were taken at, and even by date. Google Image search is already powerful, but the company is looking to make it even better with support for more complex queries.
In its current form, the Google Image search tool can handle simple inputs, such as the name of the person tagged, locations, pets, objects, or setting (beach, lakes, etc.). But with recent improvements, Google is making searches more precise and specific, allowing you to find the exact image that matches your most detailed description.
Google Photos recently showed some users a new pop-up about its more powerful search feature, according to 9to5Google. If you already have one, you can enter a longer search query with more detail for the images to find the closest match, like “colorful sunset” in the example screenshot below.
Google Images will display the image that matches your description and highlight it at the top, sorting the results by relevance rather than by date. The outlet notes that you can even search for people in a specific location (like someone on the beach), and the app will show you those specific photos first. This update to search should speed up the process of combing through your media, especially if you’ve collected thousands of photos and videos over the years.
In a statement to 9to5Google, the company described this search feature as an experiment, which may be why it isn’t widely available yet. Google will probably run a limited test with a handful of users and it may take a few weeks to roll out the new search to everyone. Even those who already have the feature can only use it on the web and not on the Google Photos app. But we’ll be watching while we await a broader release of these helpful search improvements.