Have you ever looked at a flower and wondered what kind of plant it is? Fortunately, some apps promise to reveal the names of plants and flowers found in nature. Just point your phone’s camera at them to get the answer.
Of the available applications, few are as successful as Microsoft’s Bing and Google Lens. In addition to identifying flowers and plants, these applications can identify products, books, and, in the case of Google Lens, even places.
Here’s how to use Bing and Google Lens for flower identification. We’ll also give you some additional plant identification apps to try out.
1. Identify plants with Bing Search
While you can dismiss Bing as inferior to Google, the Bing mobile app is really great at identifying flora. When you open it the first time, you’ll see a large search button with a camera and microphone button nearby.
To use Bing as a flower identifier:
- Touch the camera icon to open the camera search function.
- Point your camera at the flower or item you want to identify. Take a picture of it.
- If you prefer, you can also extract an image from your camera roll.
- Once you take a photo, Bing will scan the image and provide you with three possible search results, including accompanying images. It will also display similar images.
To download: Microsoft Bing search for Android The | iOS (Free)
2. Identify plants with Google Lens
Google Lens is available as a standalone application for Android users. Meanwhile, iPhone owners get Google Lens included as part of the Google Photos app. The dedicated Google lens is much simpler to use. When you open the application, the entire screen of your phone becomes a camera lens.
To use this to identify a flower by an image:
- Touch the screen when you want to take a photo of an item.
- Once you take a photo, Google Lens will display a top result for that item, accompanied by a photo, a list of related content, and similar images.
- By tapping the main photo, you will access a Google search page with a description of the plant.
If you are using Google Photos for iPhone:
- Take a photo with your normal camera, then open that photo in the Google Photos app.
- Then tap the Google Lens button at the bottom of the screen. It will tell you what type of flower it is in seconds.
To download: Google Lens for Android (Free)
To download: Google Photos for iOS (Free in-app purchases available)
Is Bing Search or Google Lens better?
Before we move on to the other available apps, let’s consider whether Microsoft Bing or Google Lens is better for plant identification by photo.
If you judge only how the app successfully identifies flowers, Google Lens ends Bing. Both applications repeatedly failed to identify certain plants and flowers, but both also successfully identified different flowers such as the lesser-known hydrangea and lantana.
They also identified petunia and mint. However, with Bing’s results, these were identified through a similar photo, rather than the Bing app suggesting it as one of its top three options.
Google Lens sets itself apart by making your IDs a little faster than Bing. Also, the more you use the app, the more it will contribute to Google’s AI identification skills. You can also do much more with Google Lens, such as extracting contact information from business cards and identifying unusual foods.
The only way that Bing is better than Google Lens is that it gives you more image results. So if you don’t correctly identify the plant, there is a chance that it will offer an image that allows you to discover which plant you are looking at.
Now that we’ve taken a look at which is better, let’s take a brief look at some other apps you can use to identify plants. Don’t forget about other apps to identify anything else using your phone’s camera.
3. PictureThis
PictureThis is a plant identification application with free and premium versions. It’s one of the most widely available identification apps, and for good reason.
Easy to use, easy to navigate, and with excellent search results, this application showed during tests that it could identify the plants in each photo we take. It also helped us figure out what type of plant something was when the other two apps failed.
Some aspects to consider:
- Every photo you take with the app is stored in your My collections section. You can easily access this information again if you need to.
- There is a community of plant enthusiasts in the app to connect. You can like and comment on images or share them.
- By activating Location Services with this application, PictureThis can “show the plants you identified and help you find nearby flowers.” These flowers are anchored on the map. You can also see nearby plants identified by other users.
The premium version allows you to identify plants without limits. It also allows you to use the app without ads or interruptions. However, even with the limited free version of PictureThis, you can still get a lot out of the service.
To download: PictureThis for Android The | iOS (Free, subscription available)
4. Identification of the plant.
Plant Identification ++ is another plant identification app that is free to use with an optional premium subscription. However, the free version still works well if all you hope to do is identify the plants quickly and easily.
When you open the app, take a photo of a plant or take a photo from your photo album. Once you take a photo, the application searches its database and obtains possible results.
We found these search results to be overwhelmingly accurate. Also, when you touch the results, Plant Identification ++ locates the plant information page on Wikipedia.
Other characteristics you should know:
- Once you take a photo of a plant with the app, that photo ends in your My collections section.
- By subscribing to the premium version of Plant Identification ++, you can get unlimited identification tools.
Essentially, this app is simple to use and low stress. It is perfect for plant enthusiasts who don’t want to connect with others on social media. The main drawback is that it shows too many ads for your premium subscription, plus it’s only available to iPhone users.
To download: Plant identification ++ for iOS (Free, subscription available)
5. NatureID
Like the other apps on this list, NatureID allows you to explore the world around you. With the option to directly access a premium plan after a three-day trial or continue with the limited free version, NatureID has a solution for everyone. It is perfect for both power users and occasional enthusiasts.
When you identify a flower by image, NatureID pulls out an ID card. On this card, you will see:
- The name of the plant
- Its taxonomy
- A list of subspecies
- Cultivation and practical uses of the plant.
- Additional information and sections (where applicable), such as Symbolism and folklore
This last section is particularly interesting. With Symbolism and folklore, For example, the app talks about what flowers or plants have historically meant and what they symbolize now.
Unfortunately, nature is only available for iOS.
To download: NatureID for iOS (Free, subscription available)
Identify plants with these Green Thumb apps
Identifying plants can be a lot of fun once you start. The best part of these apps is that if you use them often enough, you’ll start to recognize flowers and vegetables on your own.
Once you’ve improved, you can also check out these mobile gardening apps for Android and iPhone to help you create a beautiful garden.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.