Google is expanding a mobile search feature introduced in late 2015, which allows users to star images they find in image search directly on their mobile devices. This feature will now be available for desktop searchers, enabling them to star images in image search results similarly.
Google is taking certain liberties with the use of the word "save" in its announcement. The headline reads: "Easily save the images you love…now on desktop." A more accurate description would be "favorite," "bookmark," or "star," as that is essentially what Google is allowing users to do.
In reality, you are not saving anything; rather, you are bookmarking it for easy access later. What you’re saving is the information about the location of that image on the web. Additionally, you can organize your starred images with tags. While this feature is convenient, the use of the word "save" is somewhat misleading.
Interestingly, when Google first introduced this feature for mobile, it was never referred to as "saving" images. The company has since changed its wording for this announcement, despite it being the same feature on a different platform.
If you want to save an image to your desktop computer in the true sense, that feature has been available in operating systems for as long as most people can remember. However, if you’re interested in marking images with stars (which you could have otherwise saved to your computer), this feature is now available in the US.
Featured Image Credit: Gil C / Shutterstock.com
