Google is preparing a major wave of Android upgrades to roll out alongside Samsung Unpacked on February 25, introducing new AI-powered abilities designed to simplify tasks, improve search, and enhance user safety. The updates, which will debut on devices like the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Google Pixel 10, mark one of Android’s most significant ecosystem expansions this year.
Android deepens AI integration across everyday tasks
The biggest upgrade comes through Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, which can now handle complex, multi-step tasks entirely in the background. Available in beta on select devices in the U.S. and Korea, users can offload time-consuming activities – such as ordering a ride or building a grocery cart – to Gemini with a single request. As Gemini processes the task inside the relevant app, users can continue texting, browsing, or doing anything else on their phone without disruption.
The feature is launching first with select food, grocery, and rideshare apps, but its design suggests broader expansion over time. It’s a strategic step toward making Android devices more autonomous, reducing the friction of juggling multiple apps and errands.
This shift matters because it hints at a future where smartphones proactively complete tasks rather than simply enabling them – an evolution that will particularly benefit users who rely heavily on phones for daily logistics.
Circle To Search gets smarter, expands visual understanding
Circle to Search, Google’s screen-based gesture tool that allows users to draw around anything to learn more about it, is also receiving a major boost. The latest update expands its search capabilities from isolated items to entire looks and full outfits, identifying clothing, shoes, accessories, and more in a single gesture.
This update makes Circle to Search substantially more useful for shopping, inspiration, and visual discovery. For users increasingly reliant on mobile search for lifestyle and style decisions, the ability to identify “the whole look” streamlines what used to be multiple searches into one.
The expanded capability begins rolling out this week for Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 devices, reinforcing Google’s strategy of making visual search as essential as text-based queries.
Stronger scam protection arrives for calls and texts
Google is also improving safety with enhanced Scam Detection, powered by the on-device Gemini model. The feature, previously limited to Google’s own apps, now arrives in the Samsung Phone app on Galaxy S26 devices in the U.S. for English-speaking users.
The system listens for suspicious conversational patterns – such as urgent requests for money or impersonation tactics – and issues a warning before users can fall victim. Google Messages is also receiving improvements to its scam detection for text messages, adding another layer of protection against rising fraud attempts.
These upgrades matter because scams frequently target users through calls and texts, and on-device AI allows detection to happen in real time without sending audio or data to the cloud.
What comes next
The company is expected to expand Gemini’s background-task abilities to more apps, broaden Circle to Search support across devices, and widen scam protection to additional regions and languages.
For Android users, these updates signal a platform increasingly shaped by AI – not as a novelty, but as a practical assistant woven into the fabric of daily device use.
