Samsung phones will soon let you access Google’s Gemini in a new way, according to a teardown of the latest Google app for Android. This has revealed some code strings that clearly hint at the possibility to invoke Gemini with a long-press of the power button.
So far, you could only use this gesture to invoke Bixby or the power off menu, but it looks like Gemini will get in on the action as well, becoming another option.
This is interesting given how much Samsung has pushed Bixby over the years, despite its assistant never living up to the Google Assistant in terms of ‘smarts’ (while still being quite useful for specific tasks itself).
With this move, it looks like Samsung is ready to cede some of Bixby’s real estate to Google, even though we assume the switch to invoking Gemini with a long-press of the power button will not be the default.
The code strings that have revealed this move are very specifically targeted at Samsung devices, and you will be informed that you can “hold down the Side button to talk to Gemini” once you go through Gemini’s setup wizard (“Side button” is what Samsung likes to call the power button).
It’s unclear when this will actually launch, but the imminent release of the One UI 7 beta based on Android 15 seems like a good time as any to have this feature make its debut.
