Rob LeFebvre/Engadget
Last year, Pinterest started encouraging its users to buy things with just a photo. Last February it gave everyone in the US access to its new Lens beta, which lets you search for pins of cool things with a snapshot. Today, Pinterest continues to improve its Lens feature with a new update that gives you the power to "lens" more than one thing at a time, snap QR codes and use app shortcuts on the iPhone, along with improvements to Lens' analysis.
Now you can search between multiple objects in a single photo, which should come in handy when you want to search for Pinterest boards about kitchen decorating ideas. Simply snap a photo of the entire room and Lens will detect a bunch of objects in the scene and give you the option to dig deeper for boards about it. A tap on the back arrow takes you to the original snap, so you can basically just search around a single photo. If you still live in a world where QR codes are relevant (education, libraries), Lens now acts as a QR-reader — just point your phone and Lens at one of those squiggly squares and Lens will bring up whatever it links to without you having to tap.
Lens shortcuts migrate their way from Android to the iPhone with this new update, as well. If you have an iPhone with 3D Touch, you can hard press on the Pinterest icon on your home screen to find shortcuts that will take you directly to Lens, Explore, Search and your Saved Pinterest boards without having to navigate within the app itself.
Pinterest's Lens feature will make mistakes from time to time, of course, but you can always tap the plus button if it analyzes your photo incorrectly to help the entire system do better. So whether you're looking to find a sweet antique coffee table for your swank apartment or an adorable pair of shoes to match that cute little outfit you just got, snapping a photo for Lens could be a solid option.
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Rob LeFebvre/Engadget