Summary
- Google Gemini mobile app is gradually rolling out worldwide, with evidence suggesting that Assistant-powered headphones could be among the first non-mobile devices to support it.
- The latest beta version of the Google app contains a string referring to Gemini’s upcoming support for headphones.
- However, headphones and earbuds could face challenges with long audio responses on Gemini, with the service also lacking some of Google Assistant’s important features.
The Google Gemini mobile app arrived in the US last week, with the chatbot/experimental assistant now gradually rolling out in other parts of the world. However, Google didn’t say much about its plans to bring Gemini to other devices, like earbuds and headphones. That mystery may have been solved now, with new evidence suggesting that Assistant-powered headphones could be next on the list to receive Google Gemini support.
A string found within the latest beta version of the Google app (v15.6) refers to the imminent arrival of Gemini on headphones. As 9to5Google correctly points out, earbuds/headphones are easier to trial-run since users will also have the paired smartphone as the backup option. Here’s the string in question:
<string name=”assistant_onboarding_bisto_error_message”>Gemini mobile app is working on expanding availability to make it accessible on your headphones</string>
To be clear, the Gemini support page claims that multiple non-mobile devices, such as Smart Displays, the Pixel Tablet, speakers, smartwatches, as well as “headphones and earbuds with Google Assistant built-in,” will continue to be powered by Google Assistant.
Nevertheless, this string is a great indicator that headphones with Assistant will be high up on the list of devices to get Gemini support sometime in the near future. There will be some challenges with an audio-only form of Gemini, especially when there’s a long response to the user’s query.
It’s also worth mentioning that Gemini still lacks a handful of Google Assistant’s features. So even if the new AI chatbot eventually makes it to headphones, people who currently rely on Assistant to set up quick tasks, reminders, or play their favorite podcasts, wouldn’t be fully onboard.
In addition to the aforementioned string, 9to5 also spotted two new error messages that will presumably be shown when Gemini is down:
Too many requests in a short time period. Try again later
Gemini mobile app is getting more traffic than usual and is temporarily unavailable. Try again later
It’s not even been a week since Gemini went live, and Google is already making some changes and promising to improve the AI chatbot based on user feedback. It’s not as perfect as we’d like it to be — and the confusion around the branding certainly didn’t help — but the initial few days have been impressive for Gemini.
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