Free home inspection tool: Google Lens

Google Lens is a fantastic tool that every home inspector should know about. It’s a free mobile device app to help you identify stuff. You take a photo with the app, and Google searches the internet for similar images, giving you pretty good results.

Check out the examples below:

Funky-looking trap 

What is this thing? Who makes it? Where can I find out more about it? Google Lens gave me this:

Aha. It’s a SinkGENIE trap from PF WaterWorks.

Funky-looking bath fan controller

What kind of fan controller is this? How does it work?

Aha. It’s an IPHS5-1LW humidity-sensing bath fan controller from Leviton. It’ll kick the fan on automatically when the bathroom gets humid.

Unknown device at soffit

What’s that thing at the soffit? Is it a speaker? A light? A security camera?

Aha. It’s a PFA130-E waterproof security camera junction box.

It’s not just for home inspectors

I could continue with these examples, but I think you get my point. This is a cool tool that helps to identify unknown stuff, including plants, animals, buildings, clothing… you name it. And besides all of this, it’ll also identify text, translate foreign text, scan business cards, and bunch of other stuff. I played around with the live text translator while writing this, and it blew me away. It translates text in live time! It’s wild. Check out my video above for a demonstration.

If you’re not already using it, give it a try.