Mozilla is rolling out a new feature in recent versions of the Firefox web browser that introduces visual search functionality. This allows users to run visual searches by right-clicking on images.
Mozilla lists several main applications for the new feature on its Connect website.
- Find similar products, places, or objects.
- Copy, translate, or search text from images.
- Get inspiration for learning, travel, or shopping.
Right-click on any image displayed in the browser and select the new “Search Image with Google Lens” option to start a new search.
The feature is limited to Firefox on the desktop currently and it is rolling out worldwide. Most Firefox users won’t see it right away, but it can be enabled via about:config.
Here is how that is done:
- Load about:config in the browser’s address bar.
- Search for browser.search.visualSearch.featureGate.
- Click on the toggle icon to set the feature to True.
- Restart Firefox.
This enables the feature. You can test it by right-clicking on an image in Firefox and selecting the new Google Lens visual search option from the context menu.
Tip: you can turn off the feature at any time by setting the experimental flag to false in about:config. This removes the context menu entry in Firefox.
Here is what happens when you select the option: Firefox redirects the search request to the official Google Lens website. From there it is all Google and you should see similar images and information about the image among other things.
The feature addition will likely see mixed receptions. Some Firefox users may like the ability to run visual searches quicker through the browser’s context menu. Before that, they had to go save and upload the image to Google Lens manually or install a browser extension such as Search on Google Lens.
Others may dislike the additional entry in the context menu, for instance in fear or accidentally sending an image they view in the browser to Google Lens.
To be honest, it is unclear why Mozilla would introduce the feature natively in Firefox if an open source browser extension is already available
Now You: what is your take on this? Useful addition in Firefox or something that you have no use for?
It’s fashionable to react negatively whenver Mozilla does, well, anything, and nobody with any sense trusts Google. But Lens is pretty amazing, and it’s more secure adding this feature as OG code as opposed to as an unreviewed 3rd-party extension. I’ll reserve judgement until I see how the FF implementation handles the privacy/tracking issues.
I initially wasn’t thrilled about AI chatbots being available through the FF sidebar, but now I use it all the time.