Android will soon let you use Circle to Search on messaging bubbles

[phillynews215]

• Code in Android 15 suggests you’ll be able to use Circle to Search while a messaging bubble is on screen.
• Currently, Circle to Search doesn’t work on messaging bubbles, forcing you to use alternative methods to look something up.
• It’s unclear when this change will go live, but we managed to activate it already, suggesting it could go live soon.

Search is Google’s core business, which is why its Circle to Search feature makes so much sense. The feature makes it really easy to search Google for information about whatever is showing on the screen. Google wants to bring this feature to as many Android users as possible, which is why they’re working on making it compatible with as many surfaces as possible. Currently, Circle to Search doesn’t work when a messaging bubble is shown on the screen, but that will change in a future Android 15 release.

While digging through the Android 15 source code, I found code that enables Circle to Search to be run when a messaging bubble has been expanded. Right now, if you try to invoke Circle to Search when a message bubble is showing, nothing happens. The Circle to Search overlay doesn’t appear, nor does any sort of message that tells you that bubbles aren’t supported. As a result, if a friend sends you something that you want to search Google for, you’ll need to use an alternative method to look it up.




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