Google’s Gemini app is now appearing more minimalist on the home screen. Since the release of the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro (XL), the Gemini app has been increasingly used on Android smartphones as a replacement for the long-standing Google Assistant. The development of Gemini is far from complete and has currently reached version 2.0 as an experimental version. The visual appearance of the Gemini overlay is also apparently not finalized yet.
This is evident from a redesign of the Gemini app overlay, which in a new version has been massively reduced and now occupies only a third of the screen space of the previous appearance.
The Gemini app’s smaller overlay now glows blue-purple. As before, the Gemini assistant can be activated by saying “Hey Google,” long-pressing the power button, or swiping from the bottom corners of the screen. On the Pixel Launcher, the overlay completely covers the Google search bar and consists only of a text window, a “plus” menu, a microphone icon, and a Gemini live shortcut.
The new app overlay is smaller, more minimalist, and slightly more colorful. The overlay and the circular microphone button now light up in blue-purple. Input can still be done via text by tapping into the “Ask Gemini” field, and by voice. The plus symbol leads to a dialog window through which you can access both the camera app and the gallery app for photos and screenshots.
Gemini on Android is slightly better hidden, but all previous functions are present. Google has removed friendly greetings like “Good morning” or “Good evening.” The shortcut to open the app in the upper right corner and the tab to call up the split screen for multitasking have also disappeared. The shortcut to the app appears in the overlay only after you have made a request.
According to 9 to 5 Google, the new design of the Gemini overlay is being rolled out gradually. On devices from Samsung and OnePlus, it has not yet been possible to install it, even if the latest app version was available. On our Pixel 9 test device, the redesign of the app only appeared after the latest version of the Google Play services was installed. The manual installation of Play services can be done via Settings > About Phone > Android Version > Google Play System Update. The update requires a device restart.
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