Those who read me regularly andYou know how positively I value Circle to Search, the Android feature that debuted at the beginning of the year and that allows you to search for visual elements from any “place” in the operating system and the apps installed on the device. It was initially available on the Pixel 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S24, but has subsequently jumped to more devices from both manufacturers, with the very recent official announcement that it will soon also be available on the Pixel Tablet.
At this time, furthermore, We have also known about the arrival of new functions, which make this function even more practical. In March, for example, we told you that Circle to Search is going to add the function of translating texts, and more recently it has been announced that we can also use this function to select what we want and share it through various means. That is to say, Circle to Search is also going to be Circle to Translate and Circle to Share, all this in less than six months of the “life” of the function, personally I find it more than remarkable.
Many of the functions of Circle to Search are already found in Google Lens, but The big difference is that this tool is integrated into the operating system, so we can invoke it at any time and from any app, instead of having to take a screenshot or download an image to later take it to Lens. This, of course, makes it an exclusive tool for Android… or maybe not?
Screenshot of the deleted tweet. TechCrunch.
It seems that Google has decided to go further and, as we read in TechcCrunch, Google has already managed to bring Circle to Search to the iPhone, although in a limited way, since in order to use this function it is necessary for the phone to have the new Action Button, so for the moment it is limited exclusively to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Now, since it is possible to transfer the function to iOS, it is only a matter of time before other methods appear that allow this function to be used in more models.
It seems, however, that this function It is already operational but not yet available for iOS users who want to try it, since it seems to be limited to a version of the Google app for iOS that has not yet been approved in the App Store and, therefore, cannot be downloaded. This would also explain why Minsang Choi, head of design for Google Lens, published the tweet that you can see above, but later deleted it. However, unless Apple puts obstacles in the way of this new version, we can understand that the wait will be short.
