Our mission has always been to help with the connection between people’s curiosity and the information they’re looking for. Additionally, we’ve created entirely new methods to convey what you want in the way that comes most naturally to you thanks to our investments in AI.
In addition to text, we’ve already added the ability to ask questions out loud with your voice, locate song names by just humming them, and use Lens to search what you see. We’re getting closer to being able to assist you with your search anytime, wherever, with each new technical advancement. We’re presenting Circle to Search, our most recent step toward achieving that aim, today.
Using Circle to Search
Our phones are a window into the world of knowledge, which we can use to follow our passions, discover the ideal present, solve problems, pick up new skills, or just make ourselves happy. Additionally, it might feel interruptive to pause what you’re doing and open a different app to continue learning while you’re fully engrossed in an exploratory or discovering moment.
We’re introducing Circle to Search as a new method for searching anything on your Android phone without having to navigate between applications because of this. Now, all it takes is a simple gesture to choose what piques your interest and obtain further information right at your location. You can choose to highlight, circle, scribble, or tap.
For instance, you could require assistance recognizing a few pieces that a creator wore in their “Outfit of the Day” video, but they neglected to include the brands. Circle to Search may be accessed by long pressing the home button or menu bar on your Android phone. Subsequently, you may use your favourite motion to choose any item you see, such as circling their sunglasses, to quickly uncover comparable, shoppable choices from online merchants. Without moving from where you are, you may gaze up the boots and doodle on the bag. You only need to swipe away when you’re finished to return to your starting point.
In other instances, you may wish to inquire about what you observe with more detailed inquiries. Imagine that when you’re on social media, you see a picture of a mouthwatering corn dog with some unusual toppings. You’re interested in finding out more because you’ve been seeing a lot of these online.
With the aid of our most recent AI-powered enhancements and multisearch, which allows you to simultaneously search for text and images, you may more readily comprehend thoughts, ideas, or themes from useful material that has been compiled from all across the web. Just put a question mark around the corn dog, such as “Why are these so popular?” It won’t take long to discover that these savoury and sweet delicacies are Korean corn dogs. They’re also in style due to the rising vogue of Korean food and its distinctive blend of tastes and textures, which includes meat or oozy melting cheese encased in a crispy shell. Your curiosity is immediately satiated (but the pictures may make you impoverished).
Alternatively, you may be on YouTube Shorts and come upon a video about a strange subject—thrift flipping. Using Circle to Search, you can quickly type the term “thrift flip” over to discover that it refers to the practice of buying things from a thrift shop, giving them some TLC, and then reselling them for a profit. You can quickly exit and return to the video now that you know.
The Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series are among the high-end Android devices on which Circle to Search will go live on January 31 in all languages and regions where they are sold.
