In iOS 15, Apple made further advancements in on-device machine learning and integrated them into the Photos app to make your iPhone more intelligent at recognizing the contents of pictures.

ios 15 visual lookup
In other words, the ‌Photos‌ app can now identify various objects, landmarks, animals, books, plants, works of art, and more in your image library, and then offer information about them that it draws from the web.

This new intelligent feature is called Visual Lookup, and the following steps show you how you can use it to get more clued up on the things you've taken pictures of with your ‌iPhone‌ through the years.

  1. Open the Photos app on your ‌iPhone‌ and select a picture with a clearly defined subject, such as a flower or animal.
  2. Check the info ("i") icon at the bottom of the screen. If it has a little star over it, tap it – this indicates there's a Visual Lookup you can examine.
  3. Tap the little icon in the center of the photo to bring up the Lookup search results.

photos
In Visual Lookup, search results consist of Siri Knowledge, similar images found on the web, and other online sources of information. For all the details on the other new ‌Photos‌ features in iOS 15, be sure to check our dedicated roundup.

Related Forum: iOS 15

Top Rated Comments

Mac Rules Avatar
40 months ago
Only available when region set to US
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HQuest Avatar
40 months ago
Still needs work ?



Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Barron Avatar
40 months ago

Must be only in IOS 15 - just tried this is 14.6 and can not find any "i" button.
The article does say iOS 15.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jimmy Goodwood Avatar
40 months ago
I would like this to work the other way around. Would be nice to be able to search my almost 20,000 photos with words. For instance "Red Car" might help me quickly find that old mustang picture. I suppose it would mean that Apple would use AI to search all your photos and tag them with what it thinks the content is. Now that would be useful.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrTemple Avatar
40 months ago

Funny enough LAST NIGHT I tested googles version of this and it got my dog right. I was amazed.
Neural Nets are great at identifying things similar to what people label them. If you've got a dog that a lot of people would call a certain breed (and train it close to that), the NN will come to the same conclusion.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andysw9 Avatar
40 months ago

I would like this to work the other way around. Would be nice to be able to search my almost 20,000 photos with words. For instance "Red Car" might help me quickly find that old mustang picture. I suppose it would mean that Apple would use AI to search all your photos and tag them with what it thinks the content is. Now that would be useful.
You already can... Photos are searchable by keyword, although it's a little basic and can't do the colour bit. I can search for 'car' and get a bunch of photos with a car or cars in it. Divided up into Moments, Categories (car, carton, car park) and Places. Also things like sun, snow, beach, tree, flower, sea, river, dog, fire - and you can use multiple keywords to narrow the search as well (eg 'dog fire' to find pics of the dog by the fire).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...