Circle to Search now offers one-tap actions for phone numbers, emails, and URLs

Today it might seem like it’s all about the Galaxy S25, but if you’re using an older Android phone, there’s something new for you too. Starting today, Google is rolling out an improved version of Circle to Search for all Android devices.

As a reminder, Circle to Search is an AI-based feature released by Google on beginning of last year. You can access it by long-pressing your phone’s home button and then surrounding something with your finger. At its most basic, the feature is a way to use Google Search from anywhere on your phone without having to switch between apps. This is especially useful if you want to do an image search, since you don’t need to take a screenshot or describe what you’re looking at to Google.

As for those improvements I mentioned, Google is adding one-tap actions for phone numbers, email addresses, and URLs, meaning that if Circle to Search detects them, it’ll let you call, email, or visit one touch website. Again, you don’t need to switch between apps to interact with these items.

In less exciting news, Google brings AI reviews to Circle to Search. As long as your device is set to English, search summaries generated by the company’s AI will appear when relevant. Google said it is preparing to greatly expand the availability of AI Overviews when it debuts Gemini 2.0 late last year, so the fact that they are now integrated with Circle to Search should come as no surprise. As with any Google release, it may take a few days before you see today’s update arrive on your device.