ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — Smartphones can do a lot of things to help with everyday chores, including figuring out what the symbols on laundry tags mean.

New in the iPhone’s iOS 17 is visual search which can tell you how to wash that nice sweater. Just take a photo of the clothing label. Then, tap the “i” icon for information that contains details about where the photo was taken, the lens and other data saved by the camera.

But above all of that is ‘laundry care’. Yep, the iPhone now understands that these symbols come from a garment label.

Tap it and each symbol is interpreted as something we can understand. This symbol, which appears to be a round face and two eyes, means tumble drying is okay but at a maximum of 176° Fahrenheit.

On a sweater, that symbol has just one eye or dot. which means tumble dry at a maximum of 140° F. There are symbols for the recommended wash temperature, and whether an article can be dry cleaned or ironed.

Who knew that symbol could be an iron?

Tap on a translation to go to a website with more details. You can also use the camera and visual search to translate warning or notification lights on a car dashboard.

Sorry Android users, I thought Google Lens might do this for laundry tags but it doesn’t. I only wish I had discovered this earlier. Maybe my shirts would still fit.

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