Google Gemini update makes asking the AI for assistance feel more like phoning a friend

(Image credit: Google)

Gemini notifications now look like phone calls on some phones
This should make it easier to tell when Gemini is Live
Could be an early roll.out of a feature or an A/B test

Last week Google’s Gemini Live service received its 'Talk Live about this' update, which allows the AI to have a real-time chat with you about the images, files, and YouTube videos showing on your device’s screen. Now it appears that Google is making a subtle tweak to the service’s notification to make it look more like you’re phoning a friend than chatting with a robot.

Usually when you’re in a Live chat with Gemini and not in the app, the only on-screen sign is a small notification symbol at the top of the screen, and a message in your notification centre that your mic is on and Gemini can hear and respond to you. Now, as spotted by 9to5Google, some Pixel smartphones are instead showing this notification as if it were a phone call – with a more obvious on screen chip saying you’re live with Gemini , and the option to Hang Up or put Gemini on Hold.

While this change does seem to offer some user-friendly advantages – more on that below – we can’t help but feel that this is a not-so-subtle trick from Google to make Gemini feel more like a friend you’re calling rather than some ethereal, impersonal AI.

Phone an AI friend

Google Pixel 9 in wintergreen — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

We hope this notification change does make it to more devices, as one major advantage is that it serves as a more constant reminder that Gemini is listening in. The previous notification was more hidden, so it was easy to forget that you were still in a live chat with Gemini even though you'd left the app (until it responded seemingly out of nowhere).

Now there’s a constant obvious on-screen reminder that the AI is still on the other end of the line – with an easy option to either leave the conversation by hanging up, or, if you just want to pause the conversation, put the AI on hold (I wonder what Gemini’s preferred choice of hold music would be?).

This privacy awareness will be particularly useful as Gemini grows its ability to respond to on-screen stimulus. Currently, its more limited feature set means there's not too much reason to leave it running in the background – so you can just end the conversation before leaving the app. But as Gemini gets better at helping you understand a recipe you’re reading, or summarizing a complex science video, or performing some other trick which relies on it ‘seeing’ a different app on your screen, it’ll likely be a lot easier to forget to turn the AI off when you’re finished using it.

At least that would be the case with the old-style of notification, and turning the conversation into a call should be a lot more obvious – although we’ll have to wait and see when or even if this style tweak will be rolled out more widely at some point in the future.