You’ll Soon Be Able to Search Google by Drawing a Circle
Samsung announced a lot of exciting products and features at its latest Galaxy Unpacked event (including the Galaxy S24 series ), but one of the most exciting developments isn’t actually unique to the Galaxy brand itself. The Circle to Search feature was developed in collaboration with Google, which means it will be available on Google phones.
What is a search circle?
In short, Circle to Search is a new way to search for anything without switching apps. To activate this feature, press and hold the Home button or the navigation bar (if you have gesture navigation enabled). Then, when you see something on the screen you want to search for, draw a circle around it with your finger and your phone will return the search results. For example, you can use the Search Circle to find an item of clothing you may have seen in a YouTube video, or get more information about a dish in a recipe you’re viewing online.
You also don’t have to just circle the item you’re looking for: you can also highlight it, write over it, or click on it. As part of Google’s artificial intelligence upgrade for search, you can search text and images you’ve circled using multiple searches. Google says the Circle to Search gesture works with images, text, and videos. Basically, you can find anything and everything with this feature.
These results appear inside the app you’re currently using, so you don’t have to stop searching. When you’re done, you can simply swipe the results to return to the previous task.
When will Circle to Search launch?
Circle to Search will launch globally on January 31st for select premium Android smartphones such as the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro , as well as the recently announced Galaxy S24 series. This feature will come to other Android devices later.