Noah Johnson 
Jan 18, 2024
Tech giants Google and Samsung on Wednesday joined hands as the latter announced two new updates to its Search — Circle to Search and multi-search experience — during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event 2024, where the South Korean mobile manufacturer unveiled its flagship S24 series.
Circle to Search — introduced to make contextual search easier — will allow Android users to search for anything on their device without switching apps.
Usually when you look at something on any of the other apps and feel like you want to know more about it or if you want to know what you are looking at you switch to your Google app and search following which you get distracted from what you were actually doing, however, Google has now solved your problem as with Circle to Search you can just draw a circle with your fingers and search loads will appear.
Read more: Everything that happened at the AI-powered Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked Event 2024
During the Galaxy Unpacked, Google demonstrated how to use the feature in videos about fashion where the representative gave a demo by circling the shoes and the search offered similar shoppable options from retailers across the web. It removed the hassle of juggling between apps for the users.
It should be noted that Circle to Search will be available on select premium Android smartphones, including the newly launched Galaxy S24 series, Pixel 8, and Pixel 8 Pro, from January 31.
How to use Circle to Search feature
Follow the steps to use the latest search feature:
- Long-press the home button or navigation bar to activate Circle to Search on an Android smartphone
- Once activated, select anything by drawing a circle around it
- Swipe away to return to your original screen or app when finished
Multi-search + Gen AI
The second feature announced by Google was an AI-powered multisearch experience, which is expected to make exploring easier for users.
While the Circle to Search feature will be available later this month, the multisearch can be used from onwards on select Android smartphones. On queries not limited to text but also clicked images or screenshots, the multi-search experience will show results with AI-powered insights.
How to use multi-search feature
US-based users can launch Lens via the Google app for Android or iOS and get started, while users outside the US have to opt for Search Generative Experience (SGE) in Search Labs and they will then preview this feature in the Google app.
