iOS 17 Photos App Can Tell You What Those Confusing Laundry Symbols Mean

The Photos app in iOS 17 can identify a wide range of symbols, including the laundry symbols that you see on clothing tags. As noted by MacStories' Federico Vittici, if you take a photo of a tag with laundry symbols, it is highlighted through the Visual Look Up feature, and can be tapped for a symbol translation.

ios 17 look up laundry
The iPhone will provide an explanation for each symbol that is on the tag, with a tap on the explanation able to provide more information from the website that Apple is sourcing. Apple is getting information for laundry instructions from the Online Browsing Platform that is run by the International Organization for Standardization.

Visual Look Up appears to recognize all of the laundry symbols that we tested with, including washing machine temperatures, bleaching recommendations, dryer restrictions, ironing temperatures, and more. It should recognize almost any laundry tag, but note that the image does need to be fairly zoomed in for the ‌iPhone‌ to detect the symbols.

ios 17 visual lookup laundry symbols close up
Visual Look Up is also able to detect car symbols on vehicle dashboards, so it looks like Apple has quietly added Visual Look Up support for many of the common symbols that you might come across in your day to day life.

Other features in the iOS 17 ‌Photos‌ app include pet recognition, one-tap crop, animated stickers made from Live Photos, recipe searches based on food pictures, and more. A full list of features in iOS 17 can be found in our dedicated iOS 17 roundup.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

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Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
30 months ago
Love it! That's so cool. Such a useful feature.

Question: What about the regulatory symbols on iPhones?

Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
30 months ago

Why don’t the manufacturers use plain English. I like this feature though.
Maybe it's because not everyone reads/speaks English. ?‍♂️
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anappleaday29 Avatar
30 months ago
that's pretty cool
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BrownyQ Avatar
30 months ago
Truly we live in the best timeline.

There was life before being able to easily identify those laundry symbols, and life after. A glorious future awaits all humanity.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adrianlondon Avatar
30 months ago

Love it! That's so cool. Such a useful feature.

Question: What about the regulatory symbols on iPhones?


Wash at 80°C with other portable electronics only. Tumble-dry low. ?
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iamgalt Avatar
30 months ago

Love it! That's so cool. Such a useful feature.

Question: What about the regulatory symbols on iPhones?




Attachment Image
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)