Update, August 20, 2024 (12:22 AM ET): Users are reporting that the Song Search/Audio Search feature in Circle to Search is now rolling out.

The feature has been spotted on Samsung Galaxy flagships, but it should soon become available on all phones that support Circle to Search.

Original article, August 12, 2024 (02:44 PM ET): There are plenty of ways to identify a song these days. There are apps like SoundHound and Shazam that can help, or you could even use the Pixel’s Now Playing feature to have the song’s name and artist displayed on your lock screen. Soon there could be one more method you can use to figure out what music you’re listening to.

Back in June, we discovered through an APK teardown that Google is working on a new function for Circle to Search (CTS). This new function is called “Audio search,” and it’s an ability that can identify music. When we found this feature, we surmised that it would help identify songs playing on your device, but it appears that was only half of the story.

In beta version 15.32.36 of the Google app, we were able to activate this feature and provide a first look to show how it works (see video above). In addition to identifying songs playing on the device, it appears it can also identify music that’s playing ambiently, even if you’re just humming it.

To use the feature, you just have to bring up CTS as you normally would. To the right of the search field, you’ll now see a button with a music note icon. Tapping on this button initiates a “listening” overlay where Google will then perform a search for the song.

When using the feature, an alert will inform the user that CTS can search for songs now. This alert is likely a one-time thing to ensure users are aware of the new feature.

In our demonstration, the search fails, but this is likely due to a server-side issue. Although we performed the search while in YouTube Music, it should work anywhere as evidenced in the above screenshots.

Trying to divine Google’s plans from the latest changes to its software can be a bit like reading tea leaves; we can see the actual changes clearly enough, but what were the decisions that caused them to happen, and how might decisions like those impact future releases? Search has been the cornerstone of all things Google for decades now, even as the shape of what Search looks like changes and evolves with the emergence of AI-powered systems. With Google’s interest in Search seemingly going strong, why does the company seem to be downplaying it in its latest work on the Google app?

Just a few weeks back, we were checking out work towards some tweaks to the Google app that would give it some powerful new on-device search capabilities. But now we’re looking at the new Google app 15.32.37.28.arm64 beta, and everywhere we turn, it feels like Search is being moved slightly further away.

In this beta release, Google appears to be testing various new layouts for the app’s bottom bar that no longer feature a prominent Search button. Granted, it only takes a second and a swipe or two to access the Search bar up top, but it’s still a little odd to see the button targeted for removal in this manner.

During testing, we were able to access multiple alternative layouts for the app’s bottom bar, all lacking Search. UI changes like these may be largely driven by data-based analytics, modeled after how actual users interact with the app. And if Google’s tests observe people reaching up top when they want to search, maybe a move like this really does make sense.

That said, Google plays around with stuff like this not infrequently, and it will remain to be seen how the Google app’s bottom bar ultimately ends up after this latest round of fiddling.

It appears Google has no shortage of ideas on how it could improve Circle to Search, from handling full-screen queries to an Audio Search function. Now the tech giant seems to be working integrating its new Pixel Screenshots app to the feature.

Google recently debuted its new Pixel Screenshots app, which uses on-device AI to analyze all of the screenshots you take. You can then use Gemini to ask questions about something you did on your phone and the AI will use those screenshots to try and connect the dots to provide an answer.

In the Google app (beta version 15.32.37.29.arm64), we discovered that Google is working on integrating the Pixel Screenshots app into Circle to Search (CtS). When enabled, anything you circle while using CtS can be saved directly to Pixel Screenshots as a screenshot.

In the video above, you can see this integration in action. After selecting any element on the screen, a Save option with the Pixel Screenshots icon next to it will appear above. Tapping on Save will save the screenshot and will bring up a snackbar (pictured below) that will allow you to view the screenshot in the Pixel Screenshots app.

Choosing to view the screenshot will direct you to a page that tells you when the screenshot was taken. There’s also an alert box that will inform you if the screenshot is AI-enabled for AI summaries, smart actions, and search.

As with any APK teardown, it’s unknown if or when the feature will be made available.

Relationships are much more than about who you know. The surface-level details — things like name, phone number, and where they live — don’t matter nearly as much as how this person has come to be in your life. Is this a work colleague? A relative? As we expect our smartphones and the apps that run on them to automate more and more tasks, the details of these relationships can really start to matter — an email being drafted to an academic advisor should probably care more about grammar and formality than one going out to your bestie. How’s a phone supposed to tell all these people apart?

Google already gives you a few ways to define relationships. In Contacts right now, you’ll find a menu that lets you choose from a bunch of relationship types: parent, child, spouse, generic “relative,” and a few more. But you’ve got to dig quite a bit to even get to that field, and we wonder how many users bother going through their contacts and populating all this info.

We’ve also got the ability to put a label on relationships in Google Assistant, letting you tell your phone “call mom,” when she’s in your Contacts list under her actual name. A couple years back, we saw Google start connecting these two, as it integrated this Assistant data into Contacts. So where does that leave us now?

Looking through Google Contacts version 4.37.39, we’re able to access a few screens that deal with people you’ve identified as your “Besties.” 9to5Google was able to trigger a besties widget in Contacts about a month ago, which just looked like a rebranded version of the favorite contacts widgets. We’re now able to get the app to show a bestie reference on individual contact cards, and access a link to “Besties Onboarding.”

Problem is, right now, that just crashes the app. But even in failure we can find room to learn, and looking at the crash dump we find reference to a mysterious com.google.android.apps.pixel.relationships package. That’s not the first time we’ve come across reference to that in Contacts, and its presence here makes us wonder if Google is planning to introduce some new, overarching way of keeping track of relationships in the near future.

Finally, just a note, Google: “bestie” is superlative. You literally cannot have more than one best friend.

Earlier this year, Google announced the shutdown of its Google One VPN service, recently confirming that the service will cease to function on June 20, 2024. However, while “VPN by Google One” is going away, Google will continue to offer a virtual private network for Pixel owners. In preparation for that, the company has started rebranding its VPN service.

First spotted by 9to5Google, the app’s Play Store listing has been updated accordingly, reflecting the shift from “Pixel VPN by Google One” to “Pixel VPN by Google.” This change includes a fresh icon featuring a blue shield with a “G” at its center, replacing the previous Google One icon.