You can circle, highlight, or press almost anything on your screen to search for it on Google thanks to Google’s AI-powered Circle to Search function.
It seems to have been inspired by Cher Horowitz from Clueless. In only a few seconds, you can identify the brand and location of a handbag by highlighting it in an Instagram snap of someone carrying it. Asking folks where they received their belongings is no longer necessary.
There is just one issue. The functionality is only available on Android, which is unfortunate for iPhone owners. More precisely, only compatible Galaxy and Pixel devices are able to use it.
There is yet hope. It’s not as easy as you may assume to implement a Circle-to-Search-like functionality on iOS.
As long as you have the Google app installed, you can make an iOS shortcut that, like Circle to Search, takes a snapshot of your screen and then instructs the app to utilize Google Lens’ visual search function to look for anything in the screenshot. Although it’s a clearly flawed workaround, it’s currently the only option if you want to utilize something like Circle to Search on your iPhone.
See also: iPhone 16: What We Know About the Date of Release, Leaks, and Other Details
Below, we’ll go over how to search on your iPhone using Circle. For further information, see 15 Years of Android vs. iPhone and Everything You Need to Know About Circle to Search.
How to use your iPhone’s Circle to Search alternative
Google Lens’ design manager Minsang Choi wrote on May 7 about a shortcut made by the Google App iOS team that lets users use the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to activate Google Lens’ visual search function. Although the shortcut Choi described cannot be downloaded, you may make your own. The post was quickly removed. The best part is that earlier iPhone models without the Action button can still utilize the shortcut.
If you don’t already have the Google app on your iPhone, download it first.
The next step is to build a shortcut that launches Google Lens’ visual search function after first taking a screenshot of your iPhone. For this, you will use the Shortcuts app, which is already installed on your iPhone. The procedure is quite easy:
Launch the Shortcuts application.
Press the plus symbol in the upper-right corner.
Press “Add Action.”
Look for “Take Screenshot” and choose it.
Press the bottom search bar.
Tap Search Image with Lens after doing a search.
Click “Done.”
Making an iOS Circle to Search shortcut
The shortcut’s default name is Search Image with Lens, but you may give it any name.
Aguilar Nelson/CNET
Lastly, you’ll need a method for rapidly initiating the shortcut. We’ll go over how to use the Action button and Back Tap to execute the shortcut.
Only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max feature the Action Button, but if you have one of them, this is the best method to use the shortcut. To finish, choose the Search Image with Lens shortcut under Action Button > choose a Shortcut in Settings. The shortcut may now be launched by pressing the Action button.
Using the Action Button to create a shortcut
Find Shortcut by navigating through the different Action Button alternatives.
You may utilize the Back Tap accessibility feature to activate the shortcut by touching the back of your iPhone if you don’t have the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. To use the Search Image with Lens shortcut, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap > Double/Triple Tap. The shortcut may now be accessed by tapping the back of your iPhone.
Making use of a Back Tap shortcut
Double or triple tapping are options.
Note: The shortcut may also be used with Siri. Simply say “Run the Search Image with Lens shortcut.”
The shortcut will take a snapshot of whatever is on your iPhone when you launch Search Image with Lens. It will then send the image to the Google app, where it will utilize visual search to show you the Google search results for whatever is mostly in the screenshot. If you first choose the incorrect item or person, you may shift the mouse box around what you wish to search.
Making use of the iOS Circle to Search shortcut
Finding the sweater brand in the screenshot and the Google buy option is the shortcut in operation. Although it’s not as smooth as Circle to Search on Android, using a comparable function on the iPhone is still possible. Additionally, it is much quicker than capturing a screenshot, opening the Google app, uploading the image, and then using Google’s visual search function.