Circle to Search – how the best software feature works on Samsung’s Galaxy S24

Samsung’s equipped the new S24 series with countless new software features. Some with AI, others conventional; some developed in-house, others together with Google. This article is all about the Circle To Search feature. Why? For three reasons: it’s ingenious, it works really well and it’s not limited to the S24 models.

What is Circle to Search?

Know Google image search? It allows you to search for something using an image instead of keywords.

This also works on a smartphone, but only if you visit a website and upload a picture. Circle to Search offers a shortcut. You can start an image search directly from the screen – with anything that’s on it, i.e. your own photo, a website or an app.

How does Circle to Search work?

First, press the home button or the navigation bar for two seconds – depending on whether you use Android’s gesture navigation mode or the conventional navigation bar.
The Google search pops up and you can type something in immediately. Or, and here’s the cool thing, you can circle an area on the screen with your finger. This works with a photo, a website or an app.
The search results appear immediately at the bottom of the screen.

Tips and tricks for image searches

Adjust your selection: The system doesn’t take exactly the section you circled, but creates a rectangle of roughly the same size. To make the selection larger or smaller, just drag the white borders and the search results are adjusted.

Draw with the S-Pen: With Samsung’s Ultra devices, you don’t have to draw with your fingers – you can use the integrated S-Pen instead. That makes it even easier and more convenient.

Refine your search: If you don’t get the result you want, you can refine the search with keywords. Simply add text in the search bar, directly behind the small icon with your selection.

Search with your camera: Circle to Search works in every app – even in the camera app while you’re taking a picture. So you don’t even have to take a photo of something to find out what it is. Just hold the viewfinder over it and long press the home button or the navigation bar at the bottom. The image freezes and you don’t need to keep the subject in sight.

Switching Circle to Search on and off: On your Android phone, go to «Settings». Click «Display» and then «Navigation bar» to turn Circle to Search on or off.

These devices have Circle to Search

Circle to Search is already set up on the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series – the S24, 24 Plus and S24 Ultra. Samsung is also providing many AI functions from the S24 as an update for the S23 and the Fold models from last year. However, Circle to Search isn’t one of them.

Google will deliver the feature as an update to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro from 31 January on. In addition, further «select premium Android smartphones» will be equipped with Circle Search this year.

By the way, I’ve also taken a closer look at Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s zoom function. Here’s my verdict: