Circle to Search could soon get new features on Google and Samsung phones

We've been enjoying being able to play around with the AI-powered Circle to Search feature since it arrived – first on the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 phones – and it seems it could be getting some new capabilities in the near future.

According to well-known tipster @AssembleDebug (via PiunikaWeb), hidden snippets lurking in the Circle to Search code seem set to boost the feature with options for capturing parts of the screen and sharing them with other people.

Sections of the screen can be selected with a tap, a circle, or a scribble with Circle to Search, and you're then able to tweak the area that's been selected. As it stands now, you can then run a search based on the highlighted pictures or text.

What's apparently coming soon are new Copy image and Share image buttons that'll pop up whenever something is selected. It's effectively a quick and easy way of capturing part of the screen, to go alongside the existing screenshot options on Android.

More AI to come

As yet there's no indication of when this might roll out to smartphones – and of course there's always the option that Google software engineers will change their minds and decide not to add the extra Circle to Search capabilities after all.

However, considering that the source of this leak has been able to get the feature working – complete with new-look blue handles at the sides of selections, rather than white brackets – it can't be too long before this feature gets introduced (if indeed it does).

Circle to Search and various other AI features have slowly been rolling out to older Pixel and Galaxy phones, after making their debut in the latest flagships. It's not clear exactly what kind of hardware performance is required to get the tool to run smoothly.

We're likely to get even more artificial intelligence tricks with the Google Pixel 9 and the Samsung Galaxy S25 over the next 12 months too – with more of the AI likely to be running locally on the devices themselves as they get more powerful.

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