Circle to Search gets a massive upgrade to understand everything on your screen all at once

Since it launched, Circle to Search has become one of those how did I live without this? features on Android phones. Whether you are trying to identify a pair of shoes or find a specific hiking trail from a random photo, the ability to just scribble and search is a game changer. Up until now, it’s been a bit of a one-and-done experience: you search for one thing, get one result, and move on.

Google is changing that today. A new update is rolling out that levels up Circle to Search from a simple identification tool to a full-blown AI researcher that can understand the entire context of your screen all at once.

Deconstructing the vibe

The biggest shift here is that you aren’t limited to a single object anymore. Google’s example is spot on: if you’re redesigning a room, you aren’t just looking for a lamp; you’re looking for the whole “mid-century modern” vibe.

Now, you can circle an entire scene and Circle to Search will deconstruct it. It identifies the individual components, explains how they coexist, and gives you deep links to learn more. It’s no longer just “what is this?” Instead, it’s “tell me about everything I’m seeing.”

Shopping powerhouse

For those of us who use this for shopping (which Google says is one of the top use cases thus far for Circle to Search), the update is huge. On the upcoming Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 series, you can circle an entire outfit to instantly identify every component – accessories, shoes, and clothing – all in one go.

They are even integrating Virtual Try-On directly into the search results. If you see a look you like on your feed, you can circle it, find the items, and hit a “Try On” button to see how that gear would look on you right then and there.

The Gemini 3 magic

Under the hood, this upgraded experience is of course tapping into Gemini 3. Google says the model is now using “agentic planning” and reasoning, so instead of just matching an image to a database, the AI actually creates a multi-step plan. it identifies the important parts of your image to crop, runs multiple searches simultaneously, and then cross-references all that data to build a comprehensive final response. It’s essentially doing the research for you in the split second it takes for that search overlay to appear.

As you might have guessed, this high-level AI processing is headed to the top-tier hardware first. Google specifically mentions the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 series for the more advanced features like the deconstructed fashion search and virtual try-on, but we’d freely assume more devices will be added to the fold down the road just a bit.