Google Chrome Working on Feature Similar to Circle to Search on Android: Report

Chrome could soon get a new AI-powered lookup feature that is likely to be an improved version of the existing functionality offered by Google Lens.

Written by Sucharita Ganguly, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 10 May 2024 19:30 IST

Google Chrome Working on Feature Similar to Circle to Search on Android: Report

Photo Credit: Google

Google's Circle to Search feature was introduced in January this year

Highlights

Google could soon introduce new AI-based features on Chrome
The company already offers image lookup using Google Lens
Circle to Search is currently available on select Android smartphones

Google Chrome could introduce new features powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to users that could help them perform certain tasks easily on the browser. One of these new features is likely to be related to performing visual lookups while browsing the web. New information that has recently surfaced online suggests that Chrome is likely to bring a version of Google's Circle to Search feature that arrived earlier this year with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and is available on some Android smartphones.

X (formerly Twitter) user @Leopeva64 shared in a series of posts that Google Chrome is testing a new Lens UI element which is an animation, similar to the Circle to Search feature on Android phones. As per to videos shared in a series of posts, with this feature, there will be a dedicated Google Lens button in the toolbar on Chrome.

(1/3) The new Lens UI in Chrome now has an animation that is similar to what you see when you activate Android's "Circle to Search" (in case there was any doubt that this feature will be Chrome's version of "Circle to Search"):https://t.co/XQGSzmicpt pic.twitter.com/NSXoILdoRT
— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) May 7, 2024

When the new Google Lens button is selected, a search icon appears next to the cursor and users can drag and select the portion of the screen they want to look up. The results related to the image or text in the selected area appear in a tab on the right side of the screen. This is similar to the Google Lens feature existing in Chrome, but it is expected to be presented as an improved version, allowing users to conduct searches by selecting elements on the screen.

Google is yet to officially confirm that such a feature is in development for the desktop version of its Chrome browser. However, Google Chrome Director of Engineering Adriana Porter Felt recently hinted that newer AI-backed features are likely to come to Chrome.

Reading webpages, similar to summarisation tools that we see in Microsoft's Copilot and Samsung's Galaxy AI, could be a feature that Google Chrome's AI-integrated upcoming features could include alongside the aforementioned Search-related feature, that could arrive on a future version of Chrome.

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Google Chrome, Circle to Search, Android, Google, AI

Sucharita Ganguly

Email Sucharita Ganguly

Sucharita is a writer with Gadgets 360 and is mostly found playing with her cat in her free time. She has previously worked at breaking news desks across organizations. Powered by coffee, The Beatles, Bowie, and her newfound love for BTS, she aims to work towards contributing to a better media environment for women and queer folk. More