This is Android’s best new feature in years Circle to search. So it’s no wonder that iPhone users are happy to know that there is a way to reproduce it.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Minsang Choi, the design manager for Google Lens, offered loyal Google users on iPhone a tip for a Circle-to-Search like feature. On Android, it’s not the exact mechanism where you hold down the Home button to take a snapshot of your screen and highlight what you want the search engine to retrieve. However, it does invoke Google Lens, which works like Circle to Search on Android Devices that support it.
If you follow the instructions below 9to5Google, it’s pretty easy to set up. You’re going to need this Google app on your iPhone and the Shortcuts app front and center. Then, Click on this link on your iPhone to get the shortcut.
Once this is done in the shortcuts, you should go back to the iOS Settings app and set up the accessibility setting. Under Accessibilityscroll to Physical and motor section and tap Touch Possibility. On the next page, scroll down and select Back tap from that Touch Menu at the bottom of the screen.
Here you can assign the shortcut to a double or triple tap. I’d suggest the latter, as it’s easier to distinguish between three taps for a function than between two. On the final screen, scroll to connections section and select the option Browse your screenshot.
With everything configured, you should be able to triple-tap the back of your device on any screen to activate the shortcut. I tried it on that iPhone 15 Pro Max with a video on TikTok, text on DuckDuckGo and Stories on Instagram. TikTok allowed me to choose what I wanted to search for before showing results. However, on Instagram and DuckDuckGo, the shortcut immediately searched for the main image on the screen without allowing me to select it.
The Apple shortcut is not as smooth as using Circle to Search. Sometimes you need to return to the screen to reselect the items you want Google to find. This can be incredibly tedious if you’re trying to select a specific line of text at a time. At least on Android, Circle to Search is more integrated, allowing you to interact with the screen without being precise. This is not yet possible with the iPhone.
Note that this is not a complete replacement for Circle to Search on iOS. But until Google actually brings it to the iPhone, there’s always this workaround to get easy access to the search engine you were going to query anyway.