These days, all you have to do is take your mobile phone out of your pocket and take a picture. to find out in just a few seconds what plant is in front of us or what animal has just crossed our path. Google Photos, along with Google Lens and other applications, has made commonplace what previously required books, magnifying glasses and a lot of experience.
If you're one of those who constantly ask themselves “What kind of tree is this?”, “What species is this insect?”, or “What is the name of this flower?”You're in the right place. Let's take a detailed look at how identification works with Google Photos and Google Lens, what its limitations are, what other apps can help you, and when it's best to put technology aside and consult a specialist.
What is Google Lens and how does it integrate with Google Photos?
Google Lens It's the visual brain behind many of your mobile phone's smart features.It is a computer vision technology that analyzes what appears in the image and is able to copy or translate text, recognize points of interest, suggest similar products, find similar images and, of course, identify plants and animals from your photos.
When you open a photo in Google Photos and tap the Lens icon, The image is sent to Google's servers to be compared with millions of photographs available on the web. From there, the system calculates which results are most similar and shows you the possible matches along with links to additional information.
This integration makes it so that You don't need to install anything extra on many recent Android phonesSimply use Google Photos, tap the Lens icon, and wait a few seconds. On some phones, you can also activate Lens by pressing and holding the home button or using specific system gestures, and then draw a circle or highlight the item you're interested in on the screen.
Lens does not only recognize living beingsIt can also read business cards to save them to your contacts, scan QR and barcodes, translate signs, add events to your calendar from a poster, or show you the most popular dishes on a restaurant menu using Google Maps reviews.
How Google Lens actually works to identify plants and animals
To understand his successes and failures, it is important to know that Google Lens does not "see" a living being the way a biologist would.Instead, it processes a digital image and mathematically compares it with many other stored images.
In practice, what it does is look for patterns of visual similarity: general shapes, colors, textures, backgrounds, composition… Then, it combines this information with additional clues, such as the text associated with those photos, the tags that other users have put, the data of the pages where they appear and other metadata.
The result is an internal list of possible matches, each with a probability. Lens usually keeps several options and orders them according to their estimated relevance.If one of them has a much higher probability than the others, it will only show you that one. Imagine a picture of a dog: if the system calculates a 95% probability that it's a German Shepherd and a 5% probability that it's a Corgi, it will only show you the German Shepherd option.
In other cases, when the image contains an identifiable product or a barcodeLens directs results to the product page, reviews, stores where it's sold, or purchase information. If it detects a book title, it takes you to the Google search results page for that book, with a synopsis, edition details, etc.
It is important to be clear that In the analysis of living beings, Lens prioritizes photographic similarity.In other words, it's not applying a botanical key or a morphological study of leaves, flowers, or feathers as a taxonomist would, but rather comparing images that are generally similar. Therefore, it can be confusing if the photo of your animal or plant looks very similar to another image that's been incorrectly labeled, or if the background and colors match a different species.
Accuracy, filters, and location usage in Google Lens
One of Google's strengths is that Their search engines are designed to prioritize useful and relevant results.In the case of Lens, the ranking of matches is not directly conditioned by ads or commercial agreements; when it shows Shopping products or general search results, it relies on the algorithms of each service.
Furthermore, Google uses filtering systems for sensitive contentFollowing the same criteria as SafeSearch in Search, this means that if you search for something that could generate explicit or inappropriate images, the system will attempt to block or soften those results to ensure a safe experience.
Another very important factor is geolocation. If you allow Google Lens to use your locationThe system can adjust suggestions to what is reasonable to find in your area. For example, if you are in Paris and point to a large metal structure, Lens is much more likely to identify the Eiffel Tower than a similar structure elsewhere in the world.
In the case of fauna and flora, Location helps rule out species that do not live in your regionHowever, this filtering is more evident in specialized apps like Seek or iNaturalist, which explicitly integrate geographical distribution data and observation records from other users.
You also have to remember that Some Lens features are not available in all countries or languages And many require an internet connection, since much of the heavy processing is done in the cloud and not directly on your device.
Specialized apps for identifying plants, animals, and fungi
However powerful Google Lens may be, It was not created as an exclusive tool for identifying speciesIts objective is generalist: it works with any type of image. When you're looking for maximum reliability in flora or fauna, it's advisable to know other apps designed specifically for this.
Seek and iNaturalist: citizen science and real-time reconnaissance
One of the most interesting options is Seek, developed by the iNaturalist teamThis app keeps the camera active and attempts to recognize what it sees in real time: plants, animals, or fungi. Unlike Google Lens, it's much more focused on biological patterns and distribution data.
Seek takes geography into account and uses models trained on large databases of observations. Created by iNaturalist users. As you point to a plant or animal, the app refines the suggestion: it can start with the group (for example, family), then the genus, and, if it's confident enough, it goes all the way to the species.
Yes, Because it covers different groups of living beings, it sometimes falls short in precision.It's not uncommon for certain plants to remain within the same family or to suggest related but incorrect species. Even so, it's a very useful tool for amateur naturalists and for starting to learn about local biodiversity.
Behind Seek is iNaturalist, an online citizen science community where Anyone can upload photos of living things they findFrom a snail in your backyard to a rare plant on a trip, other users (amateurs, experts, and scientists) help identify the species, and all these observations are displayed on interactive maps.
This approach has a huge impact: iNaturalist has become a key source of biodiversity dataTheir records are used to track the presence of threatened species, detect changes in distribution due to climate change, and document the rediscovery of organisms that haven't been seen in decades. Citizen participation allows for the collection of millions of observations that no scientific team could gather on its own.
Apps focused on animals: insects, birds and fish
Not all applications are willing to work with all biological groups. Some specialize in certain types of animalsThis allows them to better refine their models and offer more reliable results.
An example of a generalist wildlife app is Animalwhich attempts to identify animals from different groups using photographs. In addition to suggesting the species, it usually provides a short fact sheet with information about size, conservation status, and a direct link to Wikipedia. However, The analyses have shown that their success rate is not particularly highTherefore, it is advisable to take its results with caution.
When what interests you is going into detail, Next Vision's collection of applications stands out for its specializationThey have three separate apps: Picture Fish for fish, Picture Bird for birds, and Picture Insect for insects. By focusing on specific groups, they can train highly refined models for each one.
In the case of birds, Picture Bird not only works with photosIt can also identify many species by their song, which is very useful in the field when the bird can be heard but not clearly seen. For those starting out in ornithology or wanting to identify the birds they hear from home, it's an ideal tool.
These apps usually offer a very limited free version and a much more complete premium optionwhich sometimes includes a few days of free trials. The paid version usually unlocks unlimited IDs, more detailed profiles, and features like personal logs, statistics, and maps.
Mushrooms and fungi: extreme caution with identifications
In the world of fungi, things get especially complicated. Many mushrooms look extremely similar to each other and they only differ by microscopic details or specific chemical reactions, so the applications have a greater margin of error.
Next Vision also has its proposal in this area, with Picture Mushroom (see the best apps for looking for mushroomsIt works similarly to their other apps: you take a photo, it analyzes the image, and suggests a species with an associated profile. The free version has quite a few limitations, while the paid version expands its functionality.
Another interesting option is the application “Mushroom and Fungus Identifier” developed by AnnapurnApp TechnologiesLike Seek, it can work in real time, keeping the camera active to adjust the identification as you change the angle or get closer to the specimen. Even so, it usually offers better results when working with well-focused photos.
In any case, with mushrooms You should never base a consumer decision on an app.While these tools are useful for orientation and learning, their accuracy is far from infallible. The risk of mistaking an edible species for a toxic one is too high to rely solely on your mobile phone.
Apps for identifying plants: trees, wildflowers and ornamentals
If we focus on plants, the range of applications is especially rich. Recognition technology appears to have been greatly refined in this fieldThis is partly because there is an abundance of good quality photos of leaves, flowers, and fruit.
In Spain, a well-known reference is TreeAppDeveloped by the CSIC in collaboration with the Royal Botanical Garden. This app does not use automatic image recognition. It works using a simple dichotomous keyIn other words, it asks you questions about easily observable features (leaf type, shape, arrangement, etc.) and, based on your answers, filters until it offers a list of probable species.
ArbolApp includes more than a hundred species of trees from the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary IslandsIt includes detailed fact sheets and a glossary to understand the terminology. It doesn't require an internet connection, making it ideal for taking on excursions. Its main limitation is precisely its focus: only Iberian and Canary Island trees, and no direct identification with photos.
For general wild flora, a very comprehensive app is Flora IncognitaDeveloped by scientists and engineers from the Technical University of Ilmenau and the Max Planck Institute in Jena, their specialty is the wild plants of Europe, and Its database includes several thousand speciesSimply photograph a leaf and flower for the system to suggest an identification, along with information about the species and even whether it is threatened or endangered.
If in addition to identifying you want Receive advice on how to care for your indoor or garden plantsThere are also more maintenance-oriented apps. For example, Planta, developed by Ströming AB, acts as a gardening assistant: it reminds you when to water, fertilize, or prune, and also incorporates an image recognition system that works reasonably well for common ornamental plants.
In terms of raw accuracy, some apps boast very high figures. LeafSnap, for example, reports around a 95% success rate. It allows you to identify not only plants, but also flowers, fruits, and trees from a simple photo. Its engine uses artificial intelligence algorithms that compare your images with a large collection of labeled photos and allow you to save the species you've looked up.
Another app that often stands out in comparative studies is picturethisIt claims to achieve accuracy rates close to 98% in many tests and offers disease diagnostics, watering alerts, pet toxicity information, and the ability to create a personalized record of your plants. Its database includes thousands and thousands of specieswhich helps it find matches even with less common flora in the home.
Finally, in the scientific and citizen science fields, PlantNet has established itself as one of the best alternativesWhen taking a photo, it asks if you are photographing the leaf, flower, fruit, or bark, and you can add several images of the same specimen to improve identification.
Limitations of identification apps and the role of experts
Behind all these tools are years of development, but none of them are infallibleStudies that have evaluated plant identification applications, for example, show that success rates vary greatly depending on the group, photo quality, geographic region, and species rarity.
In many cases, Mistakes are not of great importance if we are only seeking to satisfy curiosityAn app confusing two very similar garden species isn't usually a serious problem. However, when it comes to sensitive issues—toxicity, edibility, invasive species control, or scientific research—the situation changes completely.
For tasks such as to determine if a mushroom or fruit is safe to eatWhether it's identifying a poisonous plant in the garden or accurately defining the species present in a professional study, apps should be considered only as a helpful guide. No application can replace the expertise of a mycologist, botanist, or zoologist with specialized training and access to laboratories.
Do not forget that The rigorous identification of many species requires techniques that go beyond simple photography: detailed analysis of anatomical structures, microscopic observation of tissues, chemical tests and even genetic studies to distinguish cryptic species that are externally almost identical.
Therefore, when maximum precision is required, the most prudent course of action is consult a specialistThey might be experts from a botanical garden, a mycological society, a natural history museum, or a university. Many of these professionals also participate in citizen science projects and respond to profiles on platforms like iNaturalist, where their contributions are recorded and used to improve algorithms and databases.
Combining technology, citizen participation and expert knowledge It's changing the way we relate to nature. With a simple mobile phone, we can discover names, stories, and interesting facts about plants and animals that previously went unnoticed, contribute data to conservation projects, and learn to observe our surroundings in greater detail, always keeping in mind that apps are a powerful tool, but that there are situations where only the expertise of a qualified specialist can give us the certainty we need.
