14 DAY TRIAL // The Photos app has become an essential part of the Windows 10 experience, as it’s not only the default image viewer in this OS, but also a powerful choice for quick edits and 3D effects.
Photos has evolved a lot since it first debuted in Windows 10, and the most recent update brings a new feature that’s supposed to make working with photos a more convenient process.
And at the same time, it’s an update that makes sense in the long term, especially from Microsoft’s perspective.
The latest pack of improvements for the Photos app comes with Bing integration, which means that features of the search engine are now available right within the app. The whole purpose here is to let you search for similar images on Bing with just a click.
And because Photos has become a central hub for photos and videos on Windows 10, Bing integration helps make sure you never leave the app. And by the looks of things, it more or less manages to do this.
First and foremost, let’s see how the whole thing works.
After updating to the latest version of the Photos app (from the Microsoft Store), all you have to do to find this Bing feature is to open an image and right-click it. If the feature is ready for you, in the context menu there should be a new option called:
“Search for similar images on Bing”
While I don’t think this is really the best name for the feature, and it could actually change over time if Microsoft finds a better version, it serves its purpose right and clearly highlights what it’s supposed to do.
Clicking it for the first time brings up a popup that explains what the feature does:
Send this image to Bing?
Bing will process the image and may use it to improve Bing image processing services.
Windows 10 automatically loads the Bing search engine in the browser with a search conducted for images that are similar to the one you opened in the Photos app. For Bing users, this is a familiar interface that includes pages where the image is stored, similar pictures, and a link to see more images.
In the background, the Photos app returns to the image you loaded, so you can continue searching for similar images on Bing using your default browser.
While this entire approach works just right, I would actually like it even more if Microsoft integrated the Bing search right into the Photos app. This would have made the whole process run in the Photos app from one end to another, and users wouldn’t be forced to switch to another app for completing their search.
Needless to say, this is something that can be further refined in the coming updates, but for the time being, if you’re trying to quickly search for a specific image on Bing, this is pretty much the easiest way.
As an alternative, you can just fire up your browser, head over to Bing.com, click on images, upload the photo to the search engine, and then use it to perform a search for similar pictures.