Easy Talk with Gemini Live: Soon just a swipe away

Android has lots of ways to call up your Google Assistant. You can say “Hey, Google” or “OK, Google,” press and hold the power or home button, touch the microphone on the Google Search widget, use a shortcut on your home screen, or swipe from the bottom corners of your screen. These tricks work for Gemini too, if it’s your chosen helper on your phone. But soon, one of these shortcuts might directly start Gemini Live.

To chat with Gemini in conversation mode, you need to press the Gemini Live button in the app or overlay. However, we’ve discovered that in the next update of the Google app (version 16.2.39), you might start a Gemini Live chat just by swiping from the bottom corners of your screen. There’s a video showing how this new swipe works.

With this new swipe, you won’t just open the Gemini menu; you’ll jump straight into Gemini Live, making things much smoother. This isn’t available yet, but Google might add it in an upcoming update.

We’re not sure if this swipe will always open Gemini Live or if you’ll get to choose between normal Gemini and the chat mode. We’ll find out once it’s released.