Enhanced visual search on the iPhone improves the Photos app and protects privacy.

The Photos app on iPhone uses several features that help users find images within the library. One of them is called Enhanced Visual Search. This explains how it works and privacy protection methods when using it.

Visual Search vs. Enhanced Visual Search

How does Enhanced Visual Search differ from Apple's Visual Lookup feature? Visual Lookup was introduced in iOS 15, allowing users to identify objects, landmarks, plants, etc., within the Photos app.

For example, when you swipe up on an image in the Photos app, you can learn about the breed of dog depicted in the image. Additionally, it recognizes washing instructions for clothes and the meaning of random symbols on a car dashboard.

Enhanced Visual Search is different from regular visual search. While regular visual search helps find details within images you are already viewing, Enhanced Visual Search allows finding all photos in the library when searching for landmarks or locations. This feature works even if the photo does not contain geographic information data.

For example, searching for "Golden Gate Bridge" in a library will return related library images. This feature works even if the landmark in the background of the image is blurred or out of focus.

How Enhanced Visual Search Protects Your Privacy

Recently, news spread that Enhanced Visual Search sends your location information to Apple to help find landmarks and points of interest. In the Settings app, Apple states, "This device will be able to match places in photos with a global index maintained by Apple and protected by privacy."

This naturally raises questions about the impact on privacy, especially since the toggle is mainly for use where data is lacking.