Google’s Real-Time Translation on ‘Circle to Search’

Google has announced a major upgrade to its Circle to Search feature, allowing users to see live translations as they scroll through content on their screens.

What Is Circle to Search?

Circle to Search is a relatively new tool on Google’s Android that allows users to search directly from whatever they’re viewing on their phone. Introduced globally in January 2024, the feature lets users activate a search by circling, highlighting, scribbling on, or tapping any part of their screen, without needing to switch apps or open a browser. The tool is essentially designed to make on-the-fly research and translation faster, more contextual, and more seamless across Android devices.

To launch it, users simply long-press the home button or navigation bar. Once activated, they can interact with whatever is on their screen, e.g. an image, a product, a word in another language, and instantly trigger a Google Search related to that element.

Google originally introduced Circle to Search on its Pixel 8 series and Samsung Galaxy S24 devices, positioning it as a flagship AI-powered search interface. Since then, its capabilities have expanded rapidly. For example, earlier in 2025, Google added AI Overviews (summary answers generated by generative AI) and smart tap functions for phone numbers and URLs visible on screen. In May, it also rolled out “AI Mode,” which lets users ask follow-up questions related to what’s on their screen, similar to how you might query a chatbot.

Now “Scroll and Translate” Added

Last week’s update focused on translation. Previously, users could translate foreign-language text using Circle to Search, however, the feature had a frustrating limitation, i.e. the translation would disappear whenever the user scrolled, refreshed the page, or switched apps. To continue translating, they had to restart the whole process manually each time.

Now, Google has added a new “scroll and translate” mode that keeps translation active while users move through content. This means that translated text updates continuously as a person scrolls down a webpage, swipes through images, or even switches between apps. There’s no longer any need to keep reactivating the tool.

The updated feature is being rolled out first to (select) Samsung Galaxy devices running Android, with wider availability expected in the coming weeks. To use it, users just activate Circle to Search as normal, tap the “Translate” icon, and select “Scroll and translate.” The live translation then stays active until they exit the mode.

Why This Update Could Make a Real Difference

According to Google, translation has become one of the most widely used features within Circle to Search, particularly for users encountering foreign-language content on social media, in images, or while navigating websites and apps abroad. However, until now, it hasn’t been particularly smooth to use.

As Google explained in a recent blog post: “You can get more context for social posts from creators who speak a different language, or browse menus when you’re booking restaurant reservations while travelling abroad. But until now, you had to restart the translation process every time you scrolled or the content on the screen changed.”

The new “scroll and translate” mode, therefore, has been designed to address that limitation directly. Once activated, it allows translation to remain on as users move through pages, swipe across photos, or even switch between apps. Google says the aim is to make interacting with foreign-language content feel more continuous and intuitive.

How This Could Help More Than Just Travellers

While this might appear to be a minor user interface tweak, the impact could actually be broader than it first appears. For international teams and mobile professionals, the ability to get uninterrupted translation in real time may reduce friction in daily workflows.

For example, reading through a contract, document, or website in another language no longer means repeatedly triggering a translation tool. With the new update, translated content can stay visible as the user moves through it, which may prove especially useful when skimming longer texts, working with multilingual sources, or reviewing supplier and customer information on the go.

The feature also reduces reliance on third-party translation apps or copy-paste methods. For businesses, that could mean smoother collaboration across regions, fewer errors introduced by switching tools, and a faster way to understand what’s on screen without leaving the task at hand.

Google and Its Competitors

The update may strengthen Google’s position as a leader in mobile search and ambient AI integration. Circle to Search is one of the company’s most visible efforts to embed AI more deeply into the daily experience of Android users, without requiring them to open dedicated apps.

By removing friction from multilingual browsing, Google is also essentially extending its dominance in the translation space. For example, Google Translate already reportedly serves over 500 million people each day, and the new feature effectively bakes that capability into Android’s navigation layer. This could reduce usage of rival apps and services such as Microsoft Translator, DeepL, or third-party browser extensions.

More broadly, the move could be said to illustrate Google’s ongoing strategy to layer AI tools into operating systems, search workflows, and productivity tools rather than offering them only as standalone products.

According to Jack Krawczyk, Senior Director of Product at Google, who oversees many of the company’s AI integrations, “We think the best AI is the kind that’s helpful when you need it and invisible when you don’t. Circle to Search is designed to remove the friction between what you see and what you want to know.”

Who Can Use It and When?

The “scroll and translate” feature is already starting to roll out to users on supported Android devices. Initially, it will be available on select Samsung Galaxy models, with broader rollout expected to follow shortly. Google has not given a definitive timeline for when other Android devices will receive the update, but given past patterns, it’s likely to extend to Pixel and other high-end models first before reaching wider mid-range devices.

Users will need to ensure they are running the latest version of Android and have updated their Google app to access the feature. There’s no indication yet that the feature will come to iOS, as Apple currently does not support Circle to Search.

Potential Use Cases for Businesses

For UK business users in particular, the practical benefits are tangible. Teams that interact with overseas suppliers, manufacturers, or clients could use the feature for quick translation of communications, spec sheets, or product listings. HR teams dealing with multilingual job applications, or marketing teams researching global campaigns, could also find the real-time translation useful in their day-to-day work.

Also, because it doesn’t require switching between apps or screens, the process is less disruptive and more conducive to multitasking. As more work takes place on mobile devices, including messaging and approvals, the integration of live translation at OS level is likely to become increasingly relevant.

Concerns?

Despite the clear benefits, the new translation feature isn’t without its concerns. For example, privacy campaigners have previously raised questions about Circle to Search more broadly, particularly around how much screen data is shared with Google during a search.

Google has stated that Circle to Search only processes the exact area selected by the user and that all interactions are covered by the same privacy protections as standard search queries. However, continuous translation raises new questions, especially if text is being interpreted and sent to Google’s servers as users scroll across private chats or internal business documents.

Another concern is that real-time translation accuracy is still variable, depending on the language pair and complexity of the text. While Google Translate has improved significantly in recent years, it can still struggle with nuance, idiomatic expressions, or specialist technical vocabulary.

There’s also the issue of platform exclusivity. For example, by limiting new features to select Android devices (often in partnership with Samsung), Google may face criticism for fragmenting the user experience across the wider Android ecosystem. This could leave users of other brands or older devices without access to key updates.

Also, competitors such as Apple and Microsoft may see this move as a signal to accelerate their own integrations of translation and AI capabilities into mobile workflows. Apple already offers on-device translation in Safari and the Translate app, but not yet at the OS interaction level seen here.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

This latest update may appear incremental, but it’s actually a sign of Google trying to integrate more AI-driven tools directly into mobile interfaces in ways that simplify daily tasks. For UK businesses, especially those with international operations or multilingual clients, it opens up new opportunities for faster and more accurate decision-making on the go. Having real-time translation embedded at system level reduces the need to rely on separate apps or switch between tools, which can often slow down workflows and introduce errors.

At the same time, it raises fresh concerns around privacy, platform fragmentation, and dependency on a single provider for key language processing tasks. Organisations handling sensitive data may, therefore, need to consider where that information is going and how it is processed during on-screen translation. Smaller device makers and software rivals may also feel pressure to respond, particularly as Google continues to consolidate its AI advantage through tighter integrations.

What’s clear is that Circle to Search is no longer just a novel gesture-based tool. With features like “scroll and translate”, it is starting to become a more practical part of the Android user experience, particularly for professionals who rely on speed, accuracy, and context when working across languages.