One of Google’s biggest novelties for 2024, at least so far, has been Circle to search. This feature originally came exclusively to the Galaxy S24 smartphone family from Samsung, but now it is also available on more phones, including several Google Pixel models and other Samsung Galaxy.
Now, Chrome for desktop will have its own version of Rodea for searching. Google works 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 has been discovered by the technology researcher known as @Leopeva64 on X/Twitter. Thanks to a series of videos he has published in several tweets We can take a look at what the new experience of searching with Lens in Chrome for the desktop will be.
The experience, without a doubt, drink directly from Rodea animations to search on Android. In the case of Chrome for the desktop, when you press the button to search with Lens (next to the URL bar and extensions) the screen receives that blurred reddish or pink layer, in the same way that 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 area is similar to when we take a screenshot.
For now, the new Lens interface and its greater integration into Chrome for the desktop is not available to users of the final and stable version of the browser. However, this is a very interesting change that will make it more intuitive to use this tool in the browser and, even more importantly, will bring the experience of searching on mobile (with Rodea to search) and on desktop closer.
Google I/O 2024 will take place this May, so we will be able to learn more about this and other news that Google is working on to bring to its products in the coming months.
Cover image | Made with Mockups (Left) – Xataka (Right)