Robert Triggs / Android Authority
You unlock your phone and bam, you’re greeted by an AI widget showing you the weather. Utter “Ok Google,” and there’s Gemini, ready to chat with you in whatever language you speak. Make a circular gesture on your screen, and voila, you’ve got information on whatever you were just staring at in wonder.
We’re surrounded by AI tools, so much so that we often stumble into them without even meaning to. So instead of resisting AI, I’ve been leaning into it — and how! In a recent experiment, I couldn’t even survive a few days without my favorite AI tools.
Here are the ones I actually use and can’t live without, followed by a few that show up here and there but are honestly better off staying turned off.
How often do you use AI on your Android phone? 55 votes Daily 24 % A few times a week 31 % Rarely 24 % Never 22 %
Let’s start with the good stuff:
Circle to Search
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
You’d easily make it to my favorite-people list if you remember Google Now on Tap. Circle to Search is basically a makeover of that: a smarter, AI-powered version that can still read your screen, but with more flair. And if you’ve got a phone with a stylus, it’s even better — it feels way bossier.
I just long-press the home bar and circle whatever image or text I’m looking at, and Google looks it up for me. Simple. That’s the kind of smart, frictionless tool that makes you want to use AI, not one that force-feeds it to you. It’s now one of my favorite additions to Android in recent times.
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