A new iPhone shortcut replicates Android’s best new feature

Unfortunately, one of Android’s best new features, Circle to Search, is not available for iPhone users. But Google is throwing a bone to Apple fans with a solution that essentially replicates the feature.

Google’s design director for Google Lens, Minsang Choi, shared a new iOS shortcut in a post on Lens. “It’s basically Circle to Search, but faster,” Choi exclaims.

Later 9to5Mac, author Abner Li discovered that the shortcut can also be used by iPhones that support Back Tap. The Accessibility feature allows you to double or triple tap the back of your iPhone and activate system features like the magnifying glass, turn on the flashlight, or in this case, launch an iOS shortcut.

If you want to try the new Circle to Search-ish feature using Back Tap, first confirm that you have an iPhone 6S or later with the latest version of iOS, then:

Now, when you’re browsing on your phone, you can simply tap the back of your phone and the shortcut will automatically take a screenshot and run a Google Lens scan. It’s not as precise as on Android, where you just circle what you want, but it works!