Google Wants to Improve Its Circle to Search Feature by Eliminating Accidental Touches

Google could also merge the Search result page with the Lens result page in the Circle to Search feature.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 17 April 2024 14:47 IST

Google Wants to Improve Its Circle to Search Feature by Eliminating Accidental Touches

Photo Credit: Google

Google introduced the Circle to Search feature in January this year

Highlights

The Circle to Search feature was introduced with the Galaxy S24 series
Circle to Search can perform visual lookups without switching apps
Google also lets users copy text using the feature

Google is planning to improve Circle to Search by eliminating the accidental touch issue found with the feature. Circle to Search was launched in January this year with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series as a visual lookup feature where users can circle an image or block of text and the feature recognises what is being highlighted and shows Google Search results for it. However, reportedly, some users have complained that the feature activates even when not intended. The tech giant is now looking to fix this issue.

In the latest episode of Made by Google Podcast, which was released on Monday, Product Manager Erin Lynch and Director of Product Management Alistair Pott, who closely worked with the team that built Circle to Search, discussed the feature in detail. During the conversation, the duo also addressed the issue that several users have complained about the feature's activation being too sensitive to touch. The feature can be triggered by long-pressing the navigation bar or the Home button, and some users have reported that despite not trying to activate it, Circle to Search still turns on.

Admitting the existence of the issue, Lynch said, “We still have further to go, and we're working a lot on making sure it's triggered when you want. It's not triggered when you don't want.” But no timeline for the improvement was shared. However, this confirms that the team is indeed working on a fix.

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Another interesting information shared in the podcast was that Circle to Search utilises the capabilities of Google Lens to perform visual lookup. While this was rumoured to be the case, this is the first time the company has officially confirmed it. This integration is also set to get better in the future. “We're bringing lens and search together more[..]I'm really excited about our actually merging of both the search result page with the lens result page. And that's going to be rolling out over many, many months.” This could unify the search view users see when they look something up using the feature.

Google's Circle to Search uses artificial intelligence (AI) to process the information displayed on the screen and then run it through Google Search to show results. It can be used to explain a particular word or phrase, find out the price of a dress, know more about a famous building, and more.

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Samsung Galaxy S24

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Compact design
Vibrant 120Hz display
Capable processor
Good overall camera performance

Bad
Average battery life
Recycled design
AI features free till 2025

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy S24 review

Display 6.20-inch

Processor octa-core

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 10-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

Battery Capacity 4000mAh

OS Android 14

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Circle to Search, Google Search, Circle to Search features, Google, Google Lens

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More