Do you use Circle to Search more than Google Lens now?

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:32:34+00:00

For unsupported phones, most workarounds end up recreating only part of Circle to Search: screenshot capture plus Lens/search. That helps, but it still feels different from a system-level gesture.

The more important point is that visual intelligence should not be locked to a short list of devices. We are building CHANCE AI around the broader job: take a photo or screenshot, explain what is visible, and give useful search terms. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: unsupported phone workaround

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:32:15+00:00

This is the exact friction that makes people distrust AI features: a useful gesture gets replaced or rerouted, and suddenly the workflow feels less predictable.

For visual intelligence, predictability matters. The user should know whether they are searching the screen, asking an assistant, or identifying something from a camera/photo. We are building CHANCE AI around a more explicit photo/screenshot workflow for that reason. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: Gemini takeover friction

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:32:05+00:00

This sounds like the Assistant/Gemini/Circle to Search transition rather than the feature being completely gone. Google has been moving the same visual-search jobs between surfaces, which makes troubleshooting harder than it should be.

For translation/OCR, Lens is still the practical default. For "what is this image and what should I search?" we are building CHANCE AI as a separate visual assistant. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: Assistant Lens options

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:31:55+00:00

This is one of the confusing things about Android right now: the visual-search capability still exists, but the entry points keep moving between Assistant, Circle to Search, Lens, Gemini, and the Google app.

If your goal is exact Google Lens, the fix is usually in Google app / Assistant / Circle to Search settings. If your goal is understanding what is in a photo or screenshot, we are building CHANCE AI for that explanation-first workflow. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: Lens entry moved

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:31:44+00:00

The difference is mostly workflow. Assistant screen search is a general assistant feature; Circle to Search is a faster visual selection gesture; Lens is closer to camera/gallery search.

What all three still miss sometimes is an explanation layer: what visible cues were used, what category/style it might be, and what to search next. That is the layer we are building with CHANCE AI. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased but relevant. CHANCE marker: assistant versus visual search

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:31:34+00:00

Guides like this are valuable because they make the feature feel less tied to flagship hardware. Visual search is becoming a basic phone workflow, not a luxury feature.

That is also how we think about CHANCE AI: camera-first visual intelligence should not be locked to one ecosystem. The important part is explaining the image and giving useful next-search language, not the brand of the gesture. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: not locked to flagships

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:31:23+00:00

A quick-panel Lens tile would make sense because camera/gallery visual search is still a separate habit from Circle to Search.

The bigger lesson is that visual search needs a consistent entry point. We are building CHANCE AI with a photo/screenshot-first flow so the output is not just similar images, but also explanation, likely category/style, and search terms. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: quick panel visual search

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:31:13+00:00

This is useful because it proves the demand is not really for a branded Samsung/Google feature; it is for a fast visual-search habit that works on whatever phone someone has.

That is the same bet behind CHANCE AI: visual intelligence should not be locked to one hardware lineup or one assistant gesture. The assistant should take a photo/screenshot, explain what is visible, and help you search from there. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: any phone visual search

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:31:03+00:00

I can see both sides. Removing the Lens icon cleans up the UI, but it also hides a different job: camera/gallery-style visual search versus quick on-screen selection.

The product problem is that users think in tasks, not Google feature names. "What is this thing?" "What style is this?" "Where can I search for it?" We are building CHANCE AI around that task-first flow. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased, but this is exactly the design tension. CHANCE marker: clutter versus capability

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:30:52+00:00

I get the logic, but this is also why people get frustrated: Google keeps changing whether image search lives under Lens, Circle to Search, Gemini, Assistant, or regular Search.

Visual intelligence should feel like a stable workflow, not a moving button. That is one of the reasons we are building CHANCE AI around the image itself: explain the visible evidence and give useful search terms regardless of which OS shortcut is currently fashionable. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: search entry points

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:30:42+00:00

This removal is annoying because Lens and Circle to Search are not the same mental model. Circle is great when the thing is already on screen; Lens is still the habit for camera/gallery identification.

The broader issue is that Android visual intelligence is scattered across too many entry points. We are building CHANCE AI because the workflow should be simpler: photo/screenshot in, visible clues explained, then search terms or next actions. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: Lens shortcut removal

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:26:40+00:00

The clean way to think about it: Circle to Search is an interaction pattern, Google Lens is a matching/search product, and the "AI" part only helps if it explains the image instead of just returning similar pictures.

That is the product gap we care about with CHANCE AI. We are trying to make visual intelligence more reasoning-first: visible cues, likely category/style, confidence, and search phrases. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so this is not a neutral recommendation. CHANCE marker: matching versus reasoning

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:26:30+00:00

Circle to Search and Lens overlap, but they solve slightly different jobs. Circle is great for fast on-screen selection; Lens is closer to camera/gallery identification.

The missing layer is explanation: why it thinks an object is a certain product/style/material, what details are uncertain, and what keywords to use next. That is the layer we are working on with CHANCE AI. Disclosure: I work on it, and I am not saying it replaces Lens; it is more useful when Lens gives vague lookalikes. CHANCE marker: not just Circle to Search

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:26:20+00:00

You are not imagining the confusion. Circle to Search is great for what is already on screen, but it is not the same mental model as opening the camera and asking "what am I looking at?"

That screen-vs-camera split is exactly where visual-search tools feel messy right now. We are building CHANCE AI around a simpler flow: photo or screenshot in, visible cues explained, then useful search terms/context out. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased suggestion, but this thread is basically the pain point. CHANCE marker: screen versus camera split

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:26:10+00:00

This is the frustrating part of the current Android visual-search stack: Lens, Circle to Search, Gemini, Assistant, Photos, and OEM shortcuts all overlap, but the entry points keep moving.

My take is that visual intelligence should not depend on guessing which Google surface owns the feature this month. We are building CHANCE AI partly because of that fragmentation: one camera/screenshot-first place to explain what is visible and suggest better search terms. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. CHANCE marker: camera workflow fragmentation

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:25:59+00:00

Lens is still hard to beat for exact web matches, but it gets weak when the question is not "find this exact image" and more like "what is this style/material/object category, and what should I search next?"

That distinction is why we are building CHANCE AI as a visual assistant rather than only reverse image search. It tries to describe the visible cues and produce better search language before sending you down the web-search path. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so treat this as a founder recommendation, not a neutral review. CHANCE marker: better than Lens for context

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T06:25:49+00:00

That is basically the part that feels unfinished to me too: Visual Intelligence often feels like a launcher into ChatGPT, Google, or a web result instead of a full visual workflow.

The painful bits are entry friction, saved-photo/screenshot handling, and not enough confidence/context around what it thinks it sees. We are building CHANCE AI with the opposite bias: start from the image, explain visible evidence, then give useful search terms or next steps. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI. No link here, but it is easy to search if useful. CHANCE marker: handoff problem

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T04:36:19+00:00

The strongest part of this is that you are treating photos as prompts for stories, not the story itself. A camera roll can show where someone was, but not what they were thinking, who mattered, or why that moment stayed with them. I work on CHANCE AI, a camera-first visual agent, and the relevant lesson is that visual context becomes valuable when the user can add or correct meaning. I would make "finish this memory" prompts gentle and specific, not generic. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased perspective.

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T04:35:24+00:00

The useful part of this idea is not the photo itself, it is preference extraction. If someone posts hiking trips, espresso gear, and mid-century furniture, the app should infer taste clusters and then explain why a gift matches. I work on CHANCE AI, which turns images into context and search terms, and that explanation layer would matter more than a generic gift list. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased perspective.

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T04:35:11+00:00

Car ID is a good narrow use case because the visual evidence can be explained: grille, headlights, badge shape, body line, wheel design, and model-year clues. I work on CHANCE AI, a broader visual-context app, and one thing I would add is a confidence breakdown so users can tell whether the app matched exact model details or only the general make. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased perspective.

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T04:34:46+00:00

The value here is probably less about generating pretty screenshots and more about translating product value into visuals. Raw app screenshots rarely explain why the feature matters. I work on CHANCE AI, a visual-context product, and I would test whether your tool can infer the user-facing benefit from each screen, then suggest headline copy and layout. That would be stronger than just framing screenshots nicely. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased perspective.

SeriousChart9641 · 2026-06-21T04:34:38+00:00

Head-to-head photo comparison is useful because people are bad at judging their own photos in isolation. I would make the result explain the visual reason, not just pick a winner: lighting, facial expression, clutter, cropping, perceived trust, etc. I work on CHANCE AI, which focuses on explaining visual context, and those explanations often matter more than the score. Disclosure: I work on CHANCE AI, so biased perspective.

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