TL;DR The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 are the first devices to receive the improved Circle to Search with AI Mode.
AI Mode supports longer questions in Google Search and enables more descriptive answers.
With AI Mode in Circle to Search, you can add context to screen snippets for improved results.
AI Mode is also coming to Google Lens.
Among all other touchpoints, Google has been especially bullish on injecting AI into our Search experience. After first launching its AI Mode in Google search for folks in the US, the internet giant recently began rolling it out in other regions and through the Google search bar widget on Android. Now, AI Mode is being extended beyond the Google app on Android and is more easily accessible.
Alongside the Galaxy Unpacked event, where Samsung is announcing its newest set of foldable phones and smartwatches, Google has announced significant changes coming to its visual search experience, particularly for Circle to Search. With this update, Google’s AI Mode is now deeply embedded within Circle to Search. That means when you select a portion of the display, it will not only use reverse image search to find relevant information or look up products, but also augment the experience with AI Mode, where you can add specific queries for refined results.
This experience is coming first to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7, and should be expected to roll out to more devices soon. Android Authority first reported this development last month in one of our APK teardowns, where we also spotted a dedicated widget for the AI Mode.
If you haven’t had a chance to try out Google’s AI Mode just yet, let us break it down. As our colleague Ryan Haines puts it, AI Mode is a combination of Gemini chatbot and AI overviews from Google Search. In addition to the regular search experience, you can use AI Mode to ask longer, less specific questions or multiple queries clubbed into one. Google uses Gemini to deconstruct the inquiry and offers a much more descriptive response, unlike AI overviews, which tend to compress results into more easily digestible points.
This latest development can be seen as Google’s way to provide more efficient results when using Circle to Search, although a similar experience can be achieved through screen sharing on Gemini Live. Alongside this, Google is extending the Circle to Search functionality to games so you can search online resources, such as tutorials, immediately.
AI Mode in Google Lens In addition to rolling out AI Mode in Circle to Search, Google is also upgrading its de facto visual search interface, Google Lens. With the update, AI Mode will also be available as a shortcut in Google Lens apps on both Android and iOS.
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