Google's Circle to Search can reportedly identify songs and even humming

All about the leaked Shazam-esque feature.
 By 
Cecily Mauran
 on 
Introduction to Circle (or highlight or scribble) to Search is seen on Google's blog. Circle to Search is a new way to search on android phones with a simple gesture
Circle to Search might soon have its own Shazam function. Credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock

Google's Circle to Search feature might reportedly be able to identify songs just like Shazam.

Android Authority dug around in the code through an APK teardown of the latest Google beta app and discovered an "Audio search" function. While exploring the feature, the outlet found that Circle to Search can be used to identify a song that's playing, or even humming and ambient noise.

Circle to Search is a tool that launched with the Google Pixel 8 series and Samsung Galaxy S24 lineup last year. By drawing a squiggle or a circle around an image, Android users can look up an object like an article of clothing or a restaurant menu and search for it in the same window. It's a useful feature for quickly identifying something you love and want to buy or easily translating text within an image.


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In the video demo of the feature, by invoking Circle to Search, Android Authority found a musical note icon. When tapping the icon, an overlay popped up that shows "listening" function and then performs a Google search. Mashable has reached out to Google for confirmation and will update this story with a response.

So when will this feature become available? The Made by Google event is today at 1 p.m. ET. While today's event will mostly focus on hardware like the debut of the Pixel 9 series, the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2, we can also expect a few new software features as well. If not today, the Google Android 15 launch is expected in the next months, so we might hear something about Circle to Search's audio function then.

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Cecily Mauran
Tech Reporter

Cecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on X at @cecily_mauran.

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