Google’s Circle to Search feature has recently gained two exciting new capabilities that enhance its usefulness. This feature, already a hit on Android devices, continues to evolve with the introduction of these updates. For those unfamiliar, Circle to Search allows you to quickly search for anything on your screen simply by drawing a circle around it. It’s an easy-to-use tool that taps into Android’s gesture navigation to offer a seamless experience.
Now, with new improvements, it’s becoming even more powerful.
In the latest version of the Google app (16.22.44.sa.arm64 beta), Android Authority discovered that Google is adding two new features to Circle to Search. One focuses on song recognition, while the other improves translation capabilities, both of which are useful upgrades for users.
To use Circle to Search, you’ll need to enable gesture navigation on your Android device. Start by long-pressing the home gesture bar, which is the small line at the bottom of your display. After holding it, draw a circle around the item you want to search for. If you’re interested in identifying a song that’s playing nearby, the process is simple: long-press the home gesture bar and wait for a Google search bar to appear
. Inside, you’ll see a musical note in a circle, along with another circle containing the Google Translate icon.
To search for a song, tap the musical note. Once the song is identified, tap the clock-like history icon in the upper-right corner, which will take you to your ‘Recent Song Searches’ page. This page shows the songs you’ve listened to recently, complete with album covers, artist information, and even a ‘Show full history’ button for easy access to past tracks. You can even listen to a song directly from this page and view its lyrics if available.
If translating is what you need, you can now use the Google Translate feature from Circle to Search. Tap the circle with the Translate icon, and it will translate the entire page you’re viewing with just one tap. This makes translating foreign sources for stories or information much easier and faster, although keep in mind it won’t work if you’ve already circled something specific on the screen.
With these new features, Circle to Search is becoming even more useful for Android users, offering enhanced music discovery and translation capabilities in a simple, intuitive interface. It’s a small feature that’s growing into something even more essential for users in their daily tech interactions.