One of Google’s biggest new features for 2024, at least so far, has been Circle to search. This feature was initially reserved exclusively for Samsung’s Galaxy S24 family of smartphones, but is now also available on more phones, including several Google Pixels and other Samsung Galaxy models.
Now Chrome for desktop will have its own version of Rodea for search. Google is working on a new version of the Lens interface in Chrome which brings the Find to Surround experience on Android to the desktop version of the browser.
Google Lens will evolve to have a more intuitive interface in Chrome
The revamped version of Lens in Chrome was spotted by the tech researcher known as @Leopeva64 on X/Twitter. Thanks to a series of videos he published in several tweets We can take a look at what the new search experience with Lens will be like in Chrome for desktop.
The experience, without a doubt, drink directly from Rodea animations to search on Android. In the case of Chrome for desktop, when you press the button to search with Lens (next to the URL bar and extensions), the screen gets this blurry reddish or pink layer, similar to this happens in Rodea to search on mobile.
Then we can use the mouse cursor to circle the area where the image or text we want to search is located. However, it doesn’t seem like you can “draw” a circle like in Rodea to search, at least in the current version. Currently, the experience when selecting the search box is similar to when we take a screenshot.
For now, the new Lens interface and its greater integration into Chrome for desktop is not available to users of the final, stable version of the browser. However, this is a very interesting change that will make using this tool in the browser more intuitive and, more importantly, will bring the search experience closer together on mobile (with Rodea to search) and on desktop
Google I/O 2024 will take place in May, so we’ll be able to learn more about this and other new things Google is working to bring to its products in the coming months.
Cover image | Made with models (left) – Xataka (right)
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