Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google Circle to Search offers a convenient way to use screen input for looking things up online.
- Last month we spotted a “Circle Screen” tool that appeared to offer similar functionality for Gemini.
- We’re now able to share a demo of this kind of Gemini input in action.
Even though Android’s been around for well over a decade, some of its most useful tools are only recent additions, and one of our favorites has been the ability to ask Google about stuff we’re seeing right on our screens. Circle to Search has emerged as a surprisingly powerful way to interact with Google’s classic search tools, but these days everything’s going the way of AI, and we’ve been wondering when a similar input mechanic might be coming to Gemini. Last month we spotted an early tease of a “Circle Screen” option in a Gemini video from Google, and now we’re finally getting the chance to go hands-on.
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Unlike the Gemini Live demo we shared with you last month, this time we’re working with regular Gemini. We’re using version 6.18.37.sa.arm64 beta of the Google app, and while this functionality isn’t yet publicly accessible, we were able to manipulate the software into giving us an early look.
When asking Gemini to check out your screen, you’ll be able to circle a specific area you want to highlight for further inquiry. Whether that’s an image or text, you just need to circle it and then ask Gemini your question about what you’re seeing. Google then does its analysis and comes right back to you with some results.
In operation, it functionally feels a lot like Circle to Search as we’ve come to know it, albeit with some important changes to the order of operations in the workflow — there’s much more of an emphasis on what you want to do with your image input here, while Circle to Search tends to hit the ground running, and then only prompts you to refine your interest after the fact.
While we no longer see any on-screen “Circle Screen” branding like we did when Google was dogfooding (internally testing) this in its video, this appears to be the same thing, or at least an input mode that works in the very same manner. As such, we’re unsure how Google might end up promoting this when it comes time to announce it, but we’re just happy to get a chance to play with it in operation.
