Tech Desk
Sep 05, 2024
Google's innovative Circle to Search feature allows users to search for content on their screens with ease, which may soon be blocked on work phones. This decision came after Google gave the information technology (IT) administrators the ability to disable the feature, citing security concerns.
What is Circle to Search?
Circle to Search is an innovative feature that would enable users to simply search for the content on their screens just by circling the desired area.
However, this feature uses Android's Assist Application Programming Interface (API) to take a screenshot of the area and scan it for text and images, making them selectable for copying sharing and searching on Google.
Read more: Google Forms testing Gemini-powered 'Help Me Create a Form' feature
IT administrators can block Circle to Search on work phones now that it is a security feature. Since it takes screenshots of sensitive data, Google wants to provide a method for admins to shut it off.
New Android Management API
It has updated the Android Management API and provided a new policy known as AssistContentPolicy, which would permit IT administrators to decide whether AssistContent can be sent to Privileged apps like assistant apps or not. The company has introduced this policy for devices running Android 15 or newer.
If Circle to Search stops working on your work phone after updating to Android 15, it might just be blocked by IT administrators. The move is to be taken against data leakage risks, but the result may be gratingly irritating to users who use Circle to Search for productivity.
