Summary
- Google integrated Gemini into Messages in early 2024, followed by wider access and lowered device requirements.
- It added a dedicated Gemini FAB to the Messages app in July without an option to turn it off.
- The latest Google Messages beta introduces an option to turn off the Gemini button.
Google announced its plans to integrate Gemini in the Messages app in February 2024. Initially limited to certain countries, Google began a wider rollout of the AI chatbot inside Messages in May 2024 and quickly followed up by lowering the device requirements for wider access. It also rolled out a dedicated Gemini FAB button in the Messages app for faster access. If you found this dedicated Gemini button annoying, there was not much you could do, as Google did not provide an option to turn it off. Thankfully, that’s changing now.
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With the latest beta release of Google Messages (v20240808_01), Google has added a “Show Gemini button” toggle in the Settings menu. Tucked under Settings > Gemini in Messages, you can turn off the option to remove the floating Gemini action button on top of the compose button for good.
The option is available on all my Android phones running the latest Google Messages beta across different accounts, indicating this is not a server-side rollout from Google. So, you should get the setting to disable the Gemini FAB after installing the latest Google Messages beta build on your phone.
Gemini integration within Google Messages feels half-baked, as the AI chatbot cannot access your texts. Instead, you can only use it to ask questions or enter prompts to get answers. It’s no different from accessing Gemini through the Google app. The only difference is that the chatbot’s responses are more concise to fit RCS chats.
Gemini integration in Google Messages needs work
I have never accessed Gemini inside Google Messages, so it was annoying that the company pushed the AI chatbot through a prominent floating action button within the app without an option to turn it off.
It would have been better if Gemini integration in Google Messages worked like in Gmail, where you can ask the AI to summarize long emails, get reply suggestions, and more. Sadly, that’s not the case, but here’s hoping Google eventually deepens Gemini integration in Messages to achieve this.
Google has added several features to Messages over the last few months to make it a better messaging app. Adding Gemini integration is certainly not one of them.
