How using Circle to Search on my Pixel made 3 other apps totally useless
Android Police 2026-06-27 12:15:10
Context: The author, Sanuj Bhatia, a freelance tech journalist, has found that the "Circle to Search" feature on his Google Pixel 10 Pro has made three other apps useless. He has been using this feature extensively over the past few months, especially after some of the newer updates, and believes it has become one of the most versatile features on Android. This feature has effectively replaced apps for translation, music identification, and OCR and QR scanning on his phone.
Key Facts
- The author uses Circle to Search's translation feature more than any dedicated translation app, such as Google Translate, as it instantly translates text on the screen and overlays the translated version on top of the original text.
- Circle to Search can identify songs playing around the user, similar to Pixel's Now Playing feature, by launching the feature and tapping the music icon, and then displays information about the song along with quick buttons to play it on various music services.
- The feature has replaced OCR and QR scanning tools for the author, allowing him to invoke Circle to Search anywhere, highlight text on the screen, copy it, search it, or open links directly, and also recognize and open QR codes immediately.
- Circle to Search is available on most Android phones released since 2024, including most Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones, and can be launched by pressing and holding the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
- The author believes that Circle to Search has become far more than the shopping tool Google originally marketed it as, and has quietly become one of the AI tools he relies on the most every day.