Chrome Tests Material You-Inspired Redesign for Google Lens Overlay

Google Chrome is testing a new user interface (UI) for the Lens overlay, featuring animated visuals and a Material You-style design.

Google is currently working on a refreshed version of the Google Lens selection overlay within Chrome, aiming to modernize its visual design and introduce animated user interface (UI) elements.

Google Lens Overlay Updated Visuals UI

The update is available behind an experimental Chrome flag titled “Lens overlay updated visuals”, currently available in Canary builds across platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS.

The redesigned overlay improves the interface users interact with when selecting areas of the screen using Google Lens—a tool commonly used for text recognition, translation and screen searches.. It may also allow page searches from the address bar.

Once the flag is enabled, the overlay adopts a Material You-style vertical menu, updated animations, and a more polished design. The new interface introduces rounded corners and a stacked contextual menu offering three primary options: “Copy text,” “Translate,” and “Copy as image.”

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What’s new in Google Lens Overlay UI Update

A colorful gradient animation bar appears at the top of the selection box, adding a dynamic, modern touch to the interface.

The selection area now features rounded, touch-friendly handles, making resizing more intuitive.
While Google has not explicitly stated that this redesign uses Material You, the update incorporates many of its visual principles—such as smooth animation, clean layouts, elevated menus, and rounded UI elements.

Subtle color accents and animations—like the rainbow gradient bar—are part of the Google Lens overlay update.

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We don’t know when the updated Lens overlay will roll out to the stable version of Chrome, but users can expect it after successful testing and feedback in Canary.