Circle to Search's scroll and translate feature to debut on Samsung phones

Google's Circle to Search adds "Scroll and translate" on Android, lets users continuously translate webpages and apps without restarting the process

Google is updating its Circle to Search feature on Android with “scroll and translate.” According to Google’s blog, the new tool lets users translate text as they scroll through webpages or apps, making reading in different languages easier. The rollout for this feature is scheduled to begin this week on Android, and it is initially coming to select Samsung Galaxy devices.

 

Circle to Search is a feature on select Android devices that lets you search for anything on your screen, whether it is text, images, or videos, simply by circling, highlighting, or tapping with your finger or S Pen.

Scroll and translate feature: How it works

According to the blog, once users tap the translate button in the Circle to Search panel at the bottom of the screen, they will see a large “Scroll and translate” option, along with a language picker at the top. At this stage, the current screen is already translated, giving users an immediate look at the content in their chosen language. 

 

Additionally, the feature works even when switching between apps. Text will continue to translate in the background, so there is no interruption while multitasking. During translation, a glowing animation appears around the screen, accompanied by a small pill indicating the target language. Users can simply tap the ‘x’ to exit the translation mode.

 

Google mentioned in the blog that Translation is one of the most popular features in Circle to Search, helping you understand social posts from creators in other languages or read menus while travelling. Previously, translating required restarting the process each time the screen content changed. With Scroll and translate, the key benefit of the feature is that it allows translations to continue automatically as users scroll. This could be particularly useful for students, travellers, or anyone who regularly browses multilingual content on their smartphones.