GoKawiilTL;DR Google briefly released an upcoming Googlebook app called Look up, before scrubbing all references from the Play Store listing.
While users can no longer download it directly from the Play Store, the app can be sideloaded on phones running Android 17.
In addition to instantly answering questions based on the highlighted text, Look up also features a conventional chatbot experience for additional questions.
Following years of developing Chrome OS, Google took a big leap with the introduction of Googlebook, a flagship laptop platform that the company says brings together the best aspects of Chrome OS and Android. Ahead of the first set of Googlebooks slated to arrive this fall, we’ve been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some of the platform’s features, including its camera app. One more Googlebook app has just appeared online, and this time it’s a useful utility tool.
Google appears to have inadvertently pushed the Play Store page for an app called “Look up” live ahead of time, although the screenshots and other details have since been scrubbed entirely. We’ve managed to get ahold of the app on a couple of our Pixel phones, though users can no longer directly install it from the Play Store listing (via 9to5Google).
As the screenshots above show, Look up lets you query any word, sentence, or paragraph using Google services like Search, Maps, and Flights. Once installed, users should be able to select/highlight text and tap Look up on the text selection menu that pops up. On smaller devices, the tool may be hidden behind the three-dot button. When you activate it for the first time, you’ll see a prompt asking for your permission to enable Look up, along with details on what it can do.
The Look up settings toggle
There’s even a familiar chatbot-like text box available to “Ask another question” when you scroll to the bottom of the result. This should be useful if the results aren’t to your liking. It’s easy to see the upcoming Googlebook app’s resemblance to Apple’s feature of the same name across its devices, including macOS laptops.
While you can no longer download the app from the Play Store, you can still sideload the APK of the initial Look up build from APKMirror to run it on your Android device. Check out our guide on sideloading Android apps if you’re new to the process.
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