Images Google desktop version

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Ever had the urge to look up an image, but dont have a computer close to hand? These days, most of us do the bulk of our online searching from our phones, and Googles image search is not as easy to use on an iPhone as it is on a desktop.

But its also not terribly difficult either: it just requires a few extra steps.

[Read:Use Chromes picture-in-picture mode to watch videos while browsing other tabs]

There are two apps from which you can do a Google image search from an iPhone or iPad: the Chromeapp (appropriately enough), and the native Safari app. Well show you how to use both with Spider-Man as a visual aid, because why not?

Lets start with Safari. First, make sure theimage inquestion is saved to yourPhotos gallery. To do this, do along-press on theimage inquestion andhit Save toPhotos. You can always delete it when youre done looking up theimage.

Next, enter the URL images.google.com in the bar, which will take you to the images site. Then tap the double A button on the left site of the bar. This will show you Safaris mini settings menu, and from here tap Request Desktop Website. This will force the site to reload in its desktop form. The primary difference between desktop and mobile, on this particular page, is that the desktop site has a camera icon that makes it easier to search with an image.

So tap that camera. If youve copied an image to your keyboard you can paste it here with Paste Image URL. But to make sure you get the correct picture, I recommend using Upload an Image. When you use this option, you can select Photo Library. Choose the photo you saved earlier from your Photos gallery. Google will now search for matches to the uploaded image.

Now for Google and just as an aside, this process works on the Chrome app. Trying to use the Google app itself makes the process a little more complex the Chrome app keeps things simple and is plenty worth downloading on its own.

For this one, copy the image you want by doing a long press on the image, and select Copy Image (note: this will work even if youre in Safari when you copy). Then open a tab in the Chrome app and tap the search bar. Under the bar, youll see the option Image You Copied. Thats the image you want to search for. Selecting it will copy the image and search for similar ones.

And there you go: now you can do image searches on your iPhone. Good luck!