Circle to Search vs Assistant: Google to compensate home button gesture's absence

Google aimed to make searching easier for users by adding the "Circle to Search" feature fetched over any screen with a simple long press of gesture pill or home button.

However, the implementation of this feature removed the previous method of calling out the default assistant via a long press of the home button. 

Android phones offer multiple ways to trigger default assistants like Google Assistant, Gemini, or Bixby, which can be accessed by hot words, power buttons, corner swipes and more. 

Read more: How to use Google’s Circle to Search on Pixel Tablet

Circle to Search functionality

Circle to search has hijacked the long press home button gesture and if we disable it, it just makes the long press action non-functional instead. Hence leaving no way for users to be able to restore the old function.

Android 15 Beta have a new gesture

In Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3, the there-button corner swipe gesture enables the default assistant. This swiping gesture mimics the existing gesture used for the navigation system, where swiping from the corner bottom will enable the default assistant. This gesture is fully functional in the beta version and is soon to roll out in the second quarterly release of Android 15.

Google may introduce a toggle switch for users to enable this function, just like the options currently available in gesture navigation. The Circle to Search is adopted by Android manufacturers (OEMs) to encourage this gesture to be implemented soon instead of waiting for the launch of the new Android 16.