For the foreseeable future, Circle to Search will be limited to Google and Samsung devices

Samsung announced the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra, as well as a slew of AI features, including Circle to Search. This was developed in collaboration with Google, and Google released it for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro the day following Samsung’s announcement as it has now begun to roll out.

If you expected Circle to Search to expand to other Android devices from other manufacturers, you’re in for a disappointment. According to Samsung, Circle to Search will be exclusive to Google and Samsung devices until at least October.

That’s a huge bummer and an example of unjustified gatekeeping. It is possible that Google and Samsung believe consumers will buy an S24 or Pixel 8 just for this function, and if this isn’t the case, there’s no point in making this feature exclusive for so long.

Samsung’s arm in Netherland clearly stated about circle to search not being available on Android devices till October 2024, still there’re no active development in process for this. It just feels a little cruel for an ecosystem (Android) that was once promoted as far more open than Apple’s walled society. The gates are beginning to appear in the Android ecosystem as well.

It’s not the first time Google and Samsung have restricted access to the most recent versions of Wear OS for their wearables. We can’t make sense of this after all, it’s bound to irritate Google’s other Android device maker partners, yet it keeps happening, so there must be some logic to it.