How to Do a Reverse Image Search on iPhone and iPad

In today’s world where millions of images are available online, finding the origin of each image is akin to a needle in a haystack. Do you want to know the origin of a line in a movie or book? Any search engine will quickly help you uncover the answer. The source of a photo? That’s a little more complicated. However, thanks to reverse image searches, you can easily find the original source. Here we show you eight ways to perform a reverse image search from your iPhone or iPad.

1. Using Visual Look Up in Apple Photos App

If you have an iPhone running iOS 15 or higher, you can use the Visual Look Up feature to find similar images on your iPhone. This feature basically detects the type of object present in a picture and finds similar images. Follow the steps below to use it.

Note: Visual Look Up is not available in all regions and languages. Check availability.

1. Launch the Apple Photos app on your iPhone.
2. Open the desired photo for the reverse image search.
3. If the photo supports Visual Look Up, you will see an “i” icon with stars at the bottom. Tap on it. If the picture doesn’t support it, you will see a regular “i” icon.

3. The feature will identify the type of object in the photo. Tap on the “Look Up” button to see similar images from the Web.

2. With Google Lens

To do a reverse image search on a picture present in your iPhone’s Camera Roll, such as a screenshot or a photo you took, you can use Google Lens, an image recognition tool. Google Lens can be accessed from the Google app.

1. Install the Google app on your iPhone.
2. Open the app and tap on the “Camera” icon in the search bar.
3. Make sure the “Search” tab is selected, then tap on the desired photo from your own library to find similar images or tap on “Search with your camera” to take a photo.

4. Use the bounding box to select and search part of the image instead of the entire image. Swipe up to see similar results.

5. Recently, Google added a new feature where you can add text details to your image search. Once you swipe up, tap on the “Add to your search” button and type in more details about the picture, like color or brand, to generate more accurate results.

3. Using Google Chrome for Online Pictures

The Google Chrome browser offers a native functionality to do a reverse image search on any picture on the Web.

1. Install Google Chrome on your iPhone.
2. Go to the desired image.
3. Touch and hold on to the image and select “Search Google for This Image” from the menu.

4. A new tab will open showing related images and websites that have the picture.

Tip: learn how to customize Google Chrome like a pro.

4. Using Google Chrome for Pictures Saved on iPhone

1. Locate the image you want to reverse search and make sure you have it saved in your Photos app. If it’s currently on a website or in your email inbox, save it to the Photos app first.
2. Open the image in the Photos app.
3. Press the “Share” icon and select “Copy Photo” from the Share menu.

4. Open the Chrome app and double-tap on the search bar. Tap on the pop-up that opens and says, “Search for copied image.”
5. Select “Allow paste” if a pop-up shows up.
6. Wait a few seconds for results to populate the search. The most likely or closest matches will be shown first. Scroll down to see other possible image options in the search result window.

5. Via the Google Search Mobile Version in Any Browser

Alternatively, you can do a reverse image search on any image directly from Google search results. It works in any browser, including Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. The only requirement is that you must use Google search to find the image as shown in the following steps:

1. Launch any browser, like Safari or Chrome, on your iPhone.
2. Go to www.google.com and enter the keyword for the image, such as “cat.”
3. Tap on “Images” at the top.

4. Select the desired image for the reverse image search, then tap on the “Google Lens” icon.

5. You will see related images in the bottom panel. Scroll down to see other visual matches.

6. With the Google Search Desktop Version From Any Browser

If the above method to do a reverse image search doesn’t work on your iPhone, there’s a browser-based workaround for it. We are using Safari to demonstrate, but you can employ any browser, such as Firefox, Edge, or Brave.

1. Open images.google.com in Safari on your iPhone.
2. Once you have that URL open in Safari, request its desktop version by tapping on “AA” on the far left of the address bar. The site will instantly adjust and look like its desktop counterpart.

3. Hit the Camera icon located on the right side of the Google search bar.

4. When the next window opens, tap on “Upload a file.”
5. Tap on “Photo Library” if the photo is present in the Photos app or select “Choose File” if it’s in the Files app. You can also opt to take a photo and upload it instantly using the “Take Photo” button.

6. Once a photo is selected, perform the search and wait for the result. Tap on “Find image source” to see similar images.

7. Using Other Reverse Image Search Engines

Even though most people think of Google as their first stop for a reverse image search, it’s not the only option. Alternatives like TinyEye and Yandex are both dedicated reverse image search tools that make it incredibly easy to perform your own image search.

TinEye

1. Open TinEye in any browser on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the “Upload” button, then locate a photo on your iOS device by choosing “Photo Library,” “Take Photo or Video,” or “Choose File.”

3. Once you have selected your photo (JPG, GIF, or PNG), TinEye will begin an immediate search for results utilizing its own technology.

4. After a few seconds, TinEye will generate a set of results. Each result offers a date for when the image was first located as well as the size of the image. Clicking on any of the results will take you to that page, and you can download or look for the image.

Yandex

1. Open Yandex in a browser on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the “Images” icon underneath the search bar.

3. When the next screen appears, locate the camera icon at the far right of the search bar and tap on it.
4. Similar to TinEye, you can choose to upload an image using your Photo Library, take a new photo, or browse Files for an image you have already downloaded. Select the preferred option.

5. Once you have selected the image, Yandex will begin the search and show results.

Between Google, TinyEye, and Yandex, the latter provides the most detail about the image as well as similar images and a description of the image, if available. You can also locate other sizes and scroll down to see your search results.

Tip: another worthy reverse image search engine that you can try on your iPhone is Labnol.

8. Using Third-Party Apps

If the above methods are not hitting your reverse image search needs, third-party iPhone apps will fill the gap. One of the most popular, Reversee, is intuitive and free, which makes it a strongly recommended option.

1. Download and install the Reversee app on either your iPhone or iPad, then open the app.
2. As the app opens, you have a few options to work with, such as using the last used photo or pasting from a source. Tap on “Choose a Picture” to select a photo.

3. Once you have chosen an image, Reversee adds extra options that are not seen in either of the above methods. For instance, you can crop the image, select a different size, or choose search engines. Tap on the icons at the bottom for these actions.

4. When you have finished editing your photo – you can choose not to make any edits – tap on “Search” at the top right of the screen. The results will start populating in a familiar format.

Other iPhone-based reverse image search apps that you can try are Photo Sherlock and Reverse Image Search App.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you do reverse image search on Android?

Yes, you can find similar images on Android, just as on iPhone, using the Google Chrome browser, Google Lens, or image search engines.

How to identify fonts present in an image?

You can use third-party font identification tools, such as FontSquirrel and WhatFontIs, to find fonts similar to the one present in a picture.

Is there a Google Lens app for iPhone that I can download?

No. There is no dedicated app for Google Lens on iPhone. You have to access it from the Google app search bar, Google app home screen widget, or via the Google Photos app.

All screenshots by Mehvish Mushtaq.