With the announcement of the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung also unveiled a plethora of AI features, one of which is Circle to Search. This was created in collaboration with Google, and was in fact also introduced by Google for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro the day after Samsung’s event (and has started rolling out ever since).
If you were expecting Circle to Search to continue its rollout to other Android devices from other brands, you will be disappointed. According to Samsung itself, Circle to Search will remain exclusive to Google and Samsung devices until at least October.
Here’s the precise wording straight from Samsung’s arm in the Netherlands:
Circle to Search may be available on Android devices from other brands starting October 5, 2024, but there are no active developments on the matter.
This is a rather gigantic disappointment and a serious case of unwarranted gatekeeping. We wonder if Google and Samsung think people will buy an S24 or Pixel 8 specifically for this feature, and if not, what’s the point.
It just seems a little spiteful towards an ecosystem, the Android one, that was advertised as much more open than Apple’s gated community. Well, gates are starting to appear in the Android world too.
It’s not the first time either: Google and Samsung are similarly maintaining the latest versions of Wear OS specifically for their wearables. We can’t make any sense of this behavior: after all, it’s likely to anger Google’s other Android device-making partners, but it continues to do so, so there must be some logic behind it? What do you think?
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