Google has rolled out its AI Assistant to almost all the devices running Nougat and Marshmallow smartphones in the US. Now, with Google Assistant's increased presence on Android devices, the tech giant is planning to make it even smarter by adding screen search feature.
Many users took to Reddit for sharing the screenshots of Screen Share feature on Google Assistant. A new What’s on my screen” button is placed next to the “Share screenshot” option. It also means that now the old method to swipe up screen for search won't work and “Send feedback” button has also disappeared from the screen. For now, Google is testing the new feature with select users, which means that not all the users could see them on their app.
A Reddit user shared the information on the new feature, he said:
"Triggering GA now seems to immediately present me with the options of either searching the screen or sharing the screenshot. The swipe up for screen search functionality no longer works for me. I definitely prefer this to the old method although it is still one tap more than Now on Tap used to need. A little disappointed that OCR text selection has still not made its triumphant return, but one can hope!."
While the new function does not make a significant impact on the overall productivity of the app, but it's nice to see Google stepping out of the box to introduce new tools. The change is pretty useful when it comes to access screenshots option and use it as now they won't need to scroll through a list. Notably, for the users of Now on Tap, Screen search is not as fast as swipe up the option, and it also lacks in loading search results.
Google has not confirmed the inclusion of the new button yet, which could mean there are chances if Google at all introduces the new features on a wider scale. The company first tests the feature on select devices and then decides whether to roll it out to all the devices.
If you are one of those who does not like Google Assistant and would rather have Now on Tap back, then you can read this article to switch back. The process is pretty simple, and in few steps, you will get rid of Google Assistant.
