Samsung missed an opportunity to make Circle to Search even better

samsung galaxy s24 circle to search feature

General

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Circle to Search has risen above all other Galaxy AI to become the most popular among Galaxy S24 users. And it sort of is the expected outcome, seeing how much the company has pushed Circle to Search to the forefront through promotional material and press releases. The company even paid more than one million dollars to temporarily advertise Circle to Search at a few London Tube stations, and in Cape Town, the company had plane pilots draw circle-shaped clouds.

But with as much attention as Samsung has paid Circle to Search, it's a wonder how the company missed out on what we believe could have been a big opportunity to streamline the One UI 6.1 user experience and implement Circle to Search more cleverly.

Samsung, give us the option to assign Circle to Search to the side key

That's it. The heading above says it all. Given that Bixby already took a back seat to Circle to Search, we're wondering why Samsung didn't make it possible for Galaxy S24 users to summon Circle to Search through the press & hold command for the side key.

That way, One UI 6.1 could have still had the option to hide the gesture hint without Good Lock. And Circle to Search would have been even easier and more convenient to reach for many Galaxy device users.

Maybe Samsung didn't want to go that far into pushing Bixby to the side for what is essentially a Google-powered feature. Perhaps the company still wanted to keep Bixby exclusively within reach through the side key as a Samsung-made tool. Either way, the virtual assistant certainly hasn't gained as much attention as Circle to Search, and an option to assign the latter to the side button, even at the expense of Bixby, would have been neat for us, the users.

Whatever Samsung's thought process might be, we hope the company will make some changes with future One UI updates and allow us to assign the feature to the side button. If Circle to Search is as popular as the company claims, we see no reason why the company wouldn't give users the option to summon the tool through the side button. It would make things more convenient for some users and could further boost the AI tool's popularity.

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Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

General Opinion Circle to Search Galaxy AI Galaxy S24 Galaxy S24 Plus Galaxy S24 Ultra One UI

Samsung missed an opportunity to make Circle to Search even better

Samsung, give us the option to assign Circle to Search to the side key

Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-A800

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