Google Lens

Following Android (and even iOS with a shortcut), Circle to Search — officially “Drag to search” —  is coming to desktop Chrome/Chromebooks with a very prominent Google Lens icon.

As part of several safety updates today, Google is updating Circle to Search and Lens with “About this image.” The company is also working to combat explicit fake imagery.

Back in March, Google Lens introduced the highly-requested ability to save your Visual Search History, and it has now gotten a big UI update. 

In a rather interesting move, the search bar in YouTube for Android has gained a new Google Lens integration.

Circle to Search on Android is a very useful feature because of its simplicity and, from the looks of it, it’s also coming to Google Chrome on desktop platforms.

Earlier this year, Google launched a Circle to Search feature for Android that takes a screenshot and lets you select what to look up. Thanks to Google Lens and iOS Shortcuts, the underlying Circle to Search capability can now be replicated on any iPhone.

My technological “how often do you think about the Roman Empire” is the double twist shortcut introduced with the Moto X that would launch the camera from anywhere, including when the screen is off.

Google Lens is rolling out the highly-requested ability to save your Visual Search History so that you can return to any analyzed image in the future.

The Google app on Android is starting to roll out a new design for context-aware buttons that extends out of the search bar.

Circle to Search is great – and very much a continuation of Now on Tap that Google should have prominently maintained as a core Android experience instead of relegating to Assistant for a few years – but how you launch it with gesture navigation is driving me mad.

Google’s super-useful new Circle to Search feature on Android has a couple of functions that went a bit under the radar, including the ability to zoom in on what you can see, as well as moving the search bar around.

Announced earlier this month and then made part of the January Feature Drop, Circle to Search is beginning to roll out to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. It’s very much the latest version of “Now on Tap,” “What’s on my screen?” in Assistant, and later “Search screen.”

Google is following “Now on Tap,” “What’s on my screen?” in Assistant, and later “Search screen” with a new “Circle to Search” feature debuting on the Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S24 series. 

Google has simplified Lens so that users only have to decide between three filters when performing a visual search.

Back in February, Google announced that Assistant would gain a Lens-powered “Search screen” feature that’s a true “What’s on my screen” replacement. We’re now seeing it rolled out on more Android devices.

After getting a refreshed logo in April, the latest update to Google Lens changes the UI to now offer a light theme.

Google is giving Bard its “biggest expansion to date” by coming to Europe and Brazil, as well as supporting additional languages. The AI chatbot is also getting new productivity and personalization features.

Along with Maps Live View, Lens is Google’s most promising AR service, and it now has the ability to recognize skin conditions. Today, the company is also announcing other new generative AI features across Search and Shopping.