Available for Android devices Lookout is a free app that uses your phone’s camera to help you identify text, objects, images and more in the world around you.
It is designed to support people who are blind or visually impaired, helping you access information quickly and independently.
How to install Lookout
Open the Google Play Store on your phone.
Search for Lookout (one word).
Tap Install.
Open the app
You can open Lookout by:
Saying: “Hey Google, open Lookout”, or
Finding Lookout in your apps list and tapping it.
First time using Lookout:
Follow the on-screen instructions to review how your data is used.
Allow camera access
When prompted:
Select Allow to let Lookout use your camera.
Hold your phone so the camera faces outwards (the camera is on the back of your device).
Using Lookout
Lookout has several modes (functions) for different tasks.
Switching between modes
Tap the menu button at the top left of the screen and choose a mode.
If you use TalkBack or a voice assistant, double-tap to select.
You can also swipe left or right with one finger.
The app will announce which mode you have selected.
Mastering TalkBack can greatly enhance your device interaction, making it more accessible and empowering. This document offers a brief overview of its capabilities. For more details, explore the accessibility resources on your device’s website or check out tutorials on YouTube. Alternatively, feel free to reach out to us—we’re here to support you as best as we can.
Mode: Text
Point your camera at printed text and Lookout will read it aloud.
Works well with letters, signs, newspapers and magazines.
If the text is unclear, try:
- Rotating your phone (portrait or landscape), or
- Moving closer or further away.
Mode: Explore
Point your camera around you to hear descriptions of nearby objects and visible text.
Mode: Food labels
The first time you use this mode, you will be asked to download extra data so it can work faster and offline.
Scan barcodes or the front of packaged food.
Hold the product in front of the camera and slowly rotate it.
Lookout will announce product details such as ingredients.
Mode: Documents
Use this mode to read full pages of printed or handwritten text.
How to scan a document:
Place the document on a flat surface.
Hold your phone in portrait position.
Start very close to the page.
Slowly move your phone away, with the screen facing upwards.
Listen for guidance from Lookout to capture the page.
Tip:
You can tap Take snapshot to capture the page. Sometimes this reads more clearly than the live view.
Mode: Currency
Scan one note at a time.
Identifies some banknotes (not coins).
Mode: Images
Describes what is in a photo.
You can:
- Open an image from within Lookout, or
- Share an image to Lookout from your gallery or another app.
Lookout provides a summary and may include details such as the location or time the photo was taken (if available).
Settings and results
When you open Lookout, your results are shown one at a time. You can select any item to hear more details, or choose Share to send the information to another app on your phone, such as email or notes.
For privacy, recent items are automatically deleted each time you close the Lookout app.
Changing Lookout settings
To change your settings, open Lookout from your apps list, then open the account menu and select Settings.
You can choose to turn on better image recognition, which allows images to be securely processed by Google’s servers to improve accuracy. You can control how this works by selecting Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi and mobile data, or turning it off completely.
Lookout also includes an automatic torch option, which uses your phone’s light to improve image recognition in low light, and document scan hints, which provide spoken guidance when scanning pages.
You can enable haptic feedback if you would like your phone to vibrate to confirm actions.
The app has its own text-to-speech settings, separate from your phone’s main settings. These allow you to adjust the speech rate and pitch, and to play a sample so you can hear how it sounds.
All images captured by Lookout are stored on your device.
