Google Anticipated to Launch Text-Based Functions in AI Summaries for Circle to Search Capability

Google Upgrades Circle to Search with Enhanced AI Summaries for Extensive Text

Google is enhancing its Circle to Search functionality with innovative AI-based tools aimed at making engagements with lengthy text more effective and user-friendly. These improvements are designed to offer users faster insights and practical information when interacting with text-dense material on their mobile devices.

What Is Circle to Search?

Circle to Search is a visual search feature launched by Google, enabling users to circle, highlight, or tap on parts of an image or screen to begin a search. Initially released with the Galaxy S24 and broadened with the Galaxy S25 series, this tool employs Google’s AI capabilities to provide contextual information regarding the highlighted content.

New AI Overview Chips: Clarify, Summarize, and Extract

A recent APK teardown by Android Authority reveals that Google is trialing three new AI-driven chips within Circle to Search:

• Clarify: This option offers a concise description of the highlighted text, identifying it as a news piece, displaying the title, and mentioning the author. It also provides a link to the source website, though not directly to the article.
• Summarize: This feature distills the material into a brief summary, even drawing context beyond visible text. It operates similarly to Google’s Gemini AI summarization found in Google Drive and Gmail.
• Extract: This chip retrieves important text components from the image and organizes them into structured sections like “Top Section,” “News Section,” and “Bottom Section,” based on the arrangement of the captured content.

These chips are intended to activate when users capture images filled with substantial text, such as articles, documents, or web pages. They are part of a continuous initiative to enhance AI Overviews, making them more practical and user-oriented.

How the New Features Enhance Usefulness

While Circle to Search already provides a robust means to engage with visual content, these new chips introduce extra utility, particularly when addressing dense or intricate text. Here’s how:

• Quicker understanding: Users can swiftly grasp the main idea of a lengthy article or document without needing to read every word.
• Improved context: The “Clarify” chip aids users in recognizing the type and origin of the content, which is valuable for fact-checking or validating authenticity.
• Practical insights: By extracting and organizing text, the “Extract” chip enables users to find specific information more efficiently.

Integration with One-Tap Actions

These new chips build on Google’s “one-tap actions” initiative, designed to simplify interactions with detected items like phone numbers, email addresses, and URLs. When such items are identified in a Circle to Search capture, users can tap a chip to call, email, or visit a site directly. The addition of text-specific chips broadens the range of these quick actions.

Availability and Future Outlook

The new features were observed in the beta version 16.11.36 of the Google app, indicating they are still under development. While the timeline for a wider rollout of these chips remains uncertain, their inclusion in the beta shows that Google is actively testing them for a future release.

There is also speculation that these upgrades could be extended to Google Lens, another visual search tool, although no official confirmation has yet been released.

Conclusion

Google’s recent enhancements to Circle to Search mark a significant move towards making AI Overviews more functional and user-focused. By introducing capabilities to clarify, summarize, and extract text from images, Google is enhancing the practicality of its visual search tools while reinforcing its dedication to AI-driven efficiency. As these features progress, users can anticipate even more seamless and intelligent interactions with the content they engage with daily.