Undoubtedly, Google’s Circle to Search is one of the most popular AI features introduced this year. It’s not as widespread as we’d like it to be. Tt’s exclusive to the Galaxy S24 series and the latest Pixel devices for the moment. Well, Google is hard at work expanding Circle to Search to more platforms, as we got word that it is working on adding this functionality to Chrome.
This is exciting news, but you’ll want to take it with a grain of salt. Google hasn’t officially announced this feature. As such, there’s a chance that it could either be changed or taken away before the official launch. We will keep you up to date with more news about this feature’s progress.
Google is working on Circle to Search for Chrome
Circle to Search is a very useful feature. It allows users to quickly initiate a Google Lens search through the content on their screen. All they have to do is summon Google Assistant using the designated gesture and draw a circle around what they see on their screen. The feature is slowly making it to more devices, but Samsung announced that we shouldn’t see it spreading widely until October this year.
After getting news that Google is working on a way of bringing a similar feature to iOS, we got word that Chrome is also said to be getting this feature. As spotted by @Leopeva64 on Twitter/X, Google is currently testing this. It’s in very early production, as the feature isn’t live on any of the canary builds of Chrome. So, not many people have access to the feature.
How this feature could work
Looking at the video below, we see that there will be a dedicated Google Lens button in the toolbar at the top right of the screen. When you click on that, you will see a search icon located right next to your cursor. You will then drag to select the region of the screen you want the lens to ascertain. Then, you will see a panel slide in from the right. This will house your results.
You can already use Google Lens within Chrome, but the Circle to Search feature will let you do a search of specific parts of what’s on your screen.
Right now, we have no idea when Google is going to officially launch this feature. Google I/O is only days away, so there’s a chance that Google could speak about this feature during the event. However, that’s not guaranteed