Google Updates: Easier AI chat in search and a new document scanner for Android

Google is rolling out two important changes this week that aim to make using your devices and searching for information much simpler. These updates affect how you talk to Google’s artificial intelligence and how you use your phone to scan documents.

Faster Access to AI Conversation

Google is testing a new look for its AI features in mobile search, making it much easier to have a deeper chat with the computer brain powering the search engine. Before this change, if you saw a summarized AI answer (called an AI Overview) and wanted to ask more questions, you had to scroll all the way to the bottom and click a specific link to start a detailed conversation.

Now, Google is making that process much smoother. When you see an AI Overview, tapping the “Show more” button will instantly take you into AI Mode. Once there, a simple “Ask anything” bar appears at the bottom of your screen, allowing you to quickly ask follow-up questions.

Google’s goal is to make the experience seamless. The initial AI Overview is meant to be a helpful starting point, and now you can move right into a deep conversation without missing a beat. This change is part of Google’s bigger picture to let you ask long or complicated questions and get exactly the information you need, without having to think about where or how you should ask it.

In addition to this new design, Google is expanding the use of its advanced AI models, Gemini 3 Pro and Nano Banana Pro. These more powerful tools, which can even create relevant interactive layouts based on your questions, are now becoming available in many more countries around the world.

A Smarter Way to Scan Documents

On the app side, Google is also introducing a significant makeover for the document scanner feature on Android phones. This new design is now showing up for more people who use the beta versions of Google Drive and Files by Google.

This updated scanner uses Google’s latest design style, called Material 3 Expressive, giving it a fresh, modern appearance. When you start scanning, you might see a prompt inviting you to “Try the new document scanner Beta.”

The new feature is described as faster and smarter, with a key improvement being its ability to capture multiple pages that are in view at the same time. This is especially useful if you are quickly going through a stack of receipts or flipping pages in a book.

The design itself is noticeable: the camera view is now placed inside a rounded box, and the buttons for actions like closing or turning on the flash are organized into small, vertical boxes at the top.

The auto-scanning feature is controlled by a distinct button at the bottom. When the scanner is actively “Searching for documents,” the progress circle around the button will look wiggly, but it straightens out when it is actually “Scanning…” once it has found the page. It can also tell you when a “Page already scanned,” with the finished pictures popping up at the bottom for review.

Once you are done, you tap the arrow in the bottom-right corner to finish up. This improved tool is becoming available through the current, stable version of Google Play services.