Google Lens is rolling out a new feature that lets users ask questions about moving objects while recording videos. Users can now capture a video through the Google app and inquire about the things they’re seeing in real time. The app will then provide AI-generated responses along with additional online resources based on the video and voice prompt.
According to Lou Wang, Director of Product Management for Google Lens, the feature uses a "customized" Gemini model to interpret the video and relevant inquiries. He explained that this AI model analyzes the video and identifies relevant moments or frames that relate to the user's question.
Who can access this feature?
This update is available globally for both Android and iOS users and currently supports queries in English.
How users accessed the feature at launch
At the October 2024 launch, to use the video feature, users needed to sign up for Google’s Search Labs program and opt into the “AI Overviews and More” experiment. Once users were set up, they could hold their phone shutter button to activate the video-capturing mode in the Google app.
In addition to video searches, Google has also added support for asking voice-based questions when taking still images with Lens. Users can point the camera, hold the shutter button and ask a question to get more information about what's in the frame.
Can Google Lens search a video?
Yes. Lens can pass a live camera feed to Search rather than a single still image, and users can ask questions aloud about what the camera is seeing while it sees it. The path Google documents from Lens into that live-camera questioning is Search Live, its real-time conversational mode inside AI Mode. Google’s Search Help documentation describes it as a mode where users “can have back-and-forth voice conversations with Search and use your camera to show Search what you see.”
Google states that the experience “is available only in the Google app on Android and iOS.”
How to search with a video in Google Lens
Google documents two entry points, both inside the Google app. Starting from Lens, users open Google Lens and tap the Live option below the shutter button, which opens the conversation with the camera already sharing. Starting from Search, users tap the Live icon under the search bar in the Google app, then tap Video to turn the camera on.
Announcing the United States launch on 24 September 2025, Liza Ma, Director of Product Management for Search, wrote that users already pointing a camera with Google Lens can “simply select the new Live option at the bottom of the screen”, and that “Camera sharing will be enabled by default”.
Two documented limits are worth knowing before relying on it. The camera switches off automatically when the screen locks or when the Google app moves to the background, and it does not switch back on by itself; Google adds that “You cannot share your camera when using Search Live in the background.” Google also asks users to “Respect others’ privacy and ask permission before recording or including them in a Search Live conversation.”
What changed since the October 2024 launch
The Search Labs requirement above applied at launch and has since been dropped. On 18 June 2025 Google launched Search Live with voice input in the Google app, “Available in the U.S. for users enrolled in the AI Mode experiment in Labs”. That gate came off on 24 September 2025, when Google wrote: “Today, Search Live has officially launched in English in the U.S. — no Labs opt-in required.”
The geographic limit came off on 26 March 2026. Google announced it was “expanding Search Live globally to all languages and locations where AI Mode is available”, so that “people in more than 200 countries and territories can have interactive conversations with Search in AI Mode, using both voice and camera.” Google credits the expansion to Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, an audio and voice model it describes as “inherently multilingual”. Its current Search Help page states the feature “is available to users in all regions and languages where AI Mode is available.”
For site owners, that traffic became measurable in September 2026, when Search Console began reporting traffic from image searches — including searches made through Google Lens — as a separate multimodal line in its Performance report.
Recap
Can Google Lens search a video?
Yes. Lens can pass a live camera feed to Search Live, Google’s real-time conversational mode, and users can ask questions aloud about what the camera sees. Google’s instructions are to open Google Lens and tap the Live option below the shutter button, which starts the conversation with camera sharing already on.
Do users still need Search Labs for Google Lens video search?
No, not since September 2025. Google announced on 24 September 2025 that Search Live had “officially launched in English in the U.S. — no Labs opt-in required”, and on 26 March 2026 expanded it to all languages and locations where AI Mode is available.
Which devices support Google Lens video search?
Google states that the experience “is available only in the Google app on Android and iOS”. The camera also switches off automatically when the screen locks or the Google app moves to the background.