Circle to Search update lets Google look beyond your screen content

Credit: C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL;DR

• Google has rebranded Circle to Search’s “Search using your whole screen” feature to “Ask about screen” in the latest Google app beta (v17.18.24).
• The feature now automatically sends URLs, page content, and PDF data to Google to provide more contextually relevant AI-generated results.
• This functionality is currently rolling out to beta users and is expected to hit the stable branch in the coming weeks.

Google has various ways to search spread across the Android system, but Circle to Search remains one of its most useful additions. It is very convenient to trigger and very easy to run a search result, but it is a little limited in that it can only see the content on your screen. If you ever wished you could automatically add more context to a Circle to Search query, Google has heard your prayers. Changes rolling out to Circle to Search now allow users to add more context in the form of URLs and PDFs, extending beyond your visible screen content, for searching through Google Search’s AI Mode.

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Circle to Search on Android already lets users attach a screenshot of their screen content to generate suggestions and search results when using the “Search using your whole screen” option. The results are processed in Google Search’s AI Mode directly for this.