Apple’s new iOS 27 update gives iPhone owners a tool called Visual Intelligence that can identify and act on anything already displayed on the screen — a photo, a video frame, a flyer, a screenshot. Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel owners have had a similar tool for some time through Google’s Circle to Search. Both let you point at or select something on your screen and get information back without typing a search query.
On iPhone, Visual Intelligence works through the screenshot process most users already know. Take a screenshot, and the tool offers options based on what it recognizes in the image — visual search, questions about the content, text summaries, Read Aloud, or actions such as adding an event straight to Calendar from a flyer or invitation. Apple says you can also press and hold Camera Control, point the phone at an object, and choose from search options that appear, including identifying plants, animals, or businesses, and translating or summarizing text.
Not every iPhone running iOS 27 gets this feature. Apple Intelligence, which Visual Intelligence depends on, requires an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 or later, and availability varies by language and region. Older supported iPhones can run iOS 27 just fine without the new search capability if they lack the required hardware.
On Galaxy and Pixel devices, Circle to Search lets users draw a circle or select something directly on the screen without taking a screenshot first. Samsung says it works on select Galaxy devices running Android 14 with One UI 6.1 or later — One UI 9 is not required. Google supports the feature on Pixel 6 and later. Users need to confirm it’s switched on under Settings > Display > Navigation bar, and if it’s blocked, check Settings > Apps > Choose default apps > Digital assistant app to make sure screen analysis is enabled. Some apps block screen capture or analysis outright for security or copyright reasons, which will stop the feature from working inside them.
What’s actually happening to your data
These tools don’t just process images on the device. Apple says many Apple Intelligence requests run locally, but more complex ones are routed through something called Private Cloud Compute. Apple states that data sent there is used only to fulfill the request and is not retained afterward. iPhone users can review related settings under Settings > Siri.
Google, meanwhile, says Circle to Search activity can be saved alongside a user’s broader Google Search activity, subject to that person’s search history and personalization settings.
In plain terms: every time you circle or screenshot something for one of these tools to analyze, that content is potentially leaving your device and touching a company’s servers, even if briefly. For a snapshot of a lamp or a restaurant sign, that’s a minor tradeoff most people won’t think twice about. For a screen showing a bank balance, a prescription, a password, or a private document, it’s a different calculation — and these tools make no distinction on their own between the two. Users who want the convenience should still think about what they’re pointing the camera or the selection tool at before they use it.
Results also aren’t guaranteed to be accurate. Visual search can misidentify an object or return something that only resembles what was searched for, so neither Visual Intelligence nor Circle to Search should be treated as a final answer rather than a starting point for a search.
