Google Announced Three New Gemini Updates for the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10.
Coinciding with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26, Google announced three Gemini-related Android updates, which will initially arrive on both the Galaxy S26 series and the Google Pixel 10 lineup. In fact, one of these new features appears to be a significant step forward for smartphone AI: the ability for Gemini to handle multi-step tasks on an Android phone. Google cites examples like ordering an Uber ride or reordering food from DoorDash, where the AI handles all the background processing, freeing you from worrying about whether everything will work.
Google wants Gemini to perform tasks on your behalf.
“When you’re working on a recurring daily task, it’s easy to daydream about handing it off to someone else,” Google explains in its blog post announcing the announcement. “Now we’re showing a preview of what’s possible.” Clearly, this is labeled “beta” and also “preview,” and will initially only be available on the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 phones ( the Pixel 10a is not included). Furthermore, it will initially be limited to the US and South Korea.
According to Google, the process will be strictly controlled: automation begins with your voice command and ends once the task is completed. You’ll receive real-time notifications and can take manual control at any time. What’s more, the app runs in a “secure virtual window” on your phone with limited access.
It will be interesting to see how well this works. If successful, it will be a significant step toward AI actually performing tasks for us on mobile devices. It’s unclear whether Google requires third-party app permission for this, but for now, the feature will be available “for some apps” in the food, grocery, and taxi categories.
Google is updating Circle with search and fraud detection features.
Next, Google is updating Circle to Search for Android—a feature that lets you circle any object on the screen and search for it. Circle to Search can do everything from searching for a lamp online to warning you about phishing scams .
The “Circle to Search” feature now lets you search for multiple items on the screen at once. These could be different pieces of furniture in a room or different items in a set of clothes. You don’t have to manually select the items: simply circle the desired area (or the entire screen), and Gemini automatically selects their components.
“We know sometimes you want to search not just for one thing on a screen, but for everything,” Google says . “Whether you’re creating a mood board, curating an entire look, or simply satisfying your multifaceted curiosity… Circle to Search is about to get a whole lot more useful.”
Google is also integrating the ability to virtually try on clothes from your phone into the Circle to Search process. This is similar to the multi-step Gemini process described above, where AI performs several sequential tasks to (theoretically) be even more helpful—technically, Google calls this a method called “query expansion.” Again, this feature will be exclusive to the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 phones, and there’s no word yet on whether it will be available to other models.
Finally, the latest update represents a broader rollout rather than a new feature. Fraud detection AI, which Android uses to identify call fraud in real time, will be coming to the Galaxy S26 series for users in the US. It is already available on several Pixel models in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, and Ireland. The same technology is currently also available in Google Messages for text message fraud detection, and Google says it is “improving” its performance to recognize a wider range of fraudulent types, starting with the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 devices. The new, improved technology will leverage device models to more effectively identify the methods used by fraudsters.