April 8 2025
New Arrival

Google to update Circle to Search with full-screen visual search

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Google is rolling out a notable upgrade to its Circle to Search (CtS) feature on Android, aimed at making searches more relevant by combining visual context with text input. The feature will now automatically attach a full screenshot of the user’s display when a Google Search is initiated within the CtS interface. The update is currently in beta testing and is expected to roll out widely in the coming weeks.

However, when the feature first becomes available, users will see a prompt titled “Search using your whole screen” explaining the update.

What’s New

According to the report, Google has now integrated text search with screen-wide visual analysis. When a user taps the search bar within the Circle to Search interface, a screenshot of the entire screen is automatically attached. This allows Google to analyse on-screen content and offer more tailored search results—whether it's identifying an object, summarising a paragraph, or answering a question based on an image.

This new system enhances the original concept of Circle to Search, which allowed users to interactively circle or tap elements on their screen to trigger a Google Search without leaving the app they were in.

Now, instead of requiring manual interaction with the screen, users can simply tap the search field to get full-screen contextual results, with Google treating the query as a question about the current screen—essentially, “Ask about this image.”