On Thursday, Google made Gemini Live, its voice-activated AI chatbot feature, available for free to all Android users. The feature allows users to interact with Gemini via voice commands on their Android devices. That’s notable because ChatGPT’s competitor OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode feature, which is similar to Gemini Live, hasn’t yet been fully released.
Google unveiled Gemini Live during the Pixel 9 launch event last month. The feature was initially exclusive to Gemini Advanced subscribers, but it's now open to anyone who uses the Gemini app or overlay on Android.
Gemini Live allows users to ask questions out loud and even interrupt the AI’s answers mid-sentence. Users can choose from different voice options for Gemini’s answers, adding a level of personalization to the interaction.
Gemini suggests the following usage of speech mode in the official help documents:
Talk back and forth: Talk to Gemini without typing and Gemini will respond verbally.
Think out loud about ideas: Ask for a gift idea, to plan an event or to create a business plan.
Discover: Discover more details about topics that interest you.
Practice out loud: Practice key moments in a more natural and conversational way.
Interestingly, OpenAI originally demonstrated its Advanced Voice Mode in May with the launch of GPT-4o, but only shipped the feature to a limited number of users in late July. Some AI experts speculate that wider rollout has been hampered by a lack of available computing power, as the voice feature is supposedly very computationally intensive.
To access Gemini Live, users can reportedly tap a new waveform icon in the bottom-right corner of the app or overlay. This action activates the microphone, allowing users to verbally ask questions. The interface includes options to “hold” Gemini’s response or “end” the conversation, giving users control over the flow of the interaction.
Currently, Gemini Live only supports English, but Google has announced plans to expand language support in the future. The company also plans to bring the feature to iOS devices, though no specific timeline has been given for this expansion.
