Last week, Google shared via an X post that all Gemini mobile app users in English on Android would get access to Gemini Live, allowing them to have free-flowing conversations with the assistant whenever they’d like. This week, Gemini Live started going live for free on some Android phones.
In May, Google unveiled Gemini Live, a conversational AI-powered assistant that can be interrupted, have multi-turn conversations, and revisit conversations later. Since its launch, Gemini Live has only been available to Gemini Advanced users, requiring a $20 monthly membership to access; however, free users have been looped in too.
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The new update makes access to Gemini Live entirely free to Android users since they will no longer need to subscribe to the Gemini One AI Premium plan to access it, and downloading the app from the Google Play Store is free. There is no Gemini app for iOS, and as a result, those users will not be able to participate in the experience.
This is particularly noteworthy because ChatGPT’s equivalent feature, the new Voice Mode, is currently rolling out in alpha to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users, adding more users on a rolling basis. ChatGPT Plus is also a $20 monthly subscription, and even if you shell out the money, there is no guarantee that you’ll even be one of the users who get access to Voice Mode anytime soon.
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Eventually, both Gemini Live and OpenAI’s Voice Mode will be able to use the phone’s camera to give the voice assistant context of the user’s surroundings to inform responses. However, neither company has given a clear date for when the visual component of the feature will launch.
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To see if you have access to Gemini Live, make sure your Gemini app is updated and then open it like you regularly would. If you see the waveform icon in the bottom left of your app screen, that means you have Gemini Live access. Once you click on it, you will have a walkthrough of how to use the feature.
If you are an Apple user experiencing a bit of FOMO, no worries. In May, Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, its collection of AI features that will be infused into the Apple device experience, and one of the new features is a smarter Siri.
Apple Intelligence will be part of iOS 18.1, which is coming in October. However, only users with the A17 chip and higher, found in the iPhone 15 Pro and all succeeding models, can experience Apple Intelligence in its entirety. Some of the new Apple Intelligence features will roll out in October, with others to follow at a later date.
