In May, ahead of I/O, Google committed to bringing Gemini to more platforms before the end of the year: Wear OS, Android Auto, and Google TV were all slated to get Google’s latest voice assistant before the end of 2025.
This week, Gemini made its way to Wear OS, making good on part of Google’s promise. But that still leaves TVs and cars waiting for Gemini — not to mention smart speakers. Here’s the latest on Google’s various platforms that don’t yet have Gemini access.
Welcome to Compiler, your weekly digest of Google’s goings-on. I spend my days as Google Editor reading and writing about what Google’s up to across Android, Pixel, Gemini, and more, and talk about it all right here in this column. Here’s what’s been on my mind this week.
Android Auto
Just like other platforms where voice is a primary input, cars make for a great place to use Gemini. Google said in May that Gemini would be coming to both Android Auto and cars with Google built-in “soon.” The company talked up benefits like being able to speak naturally to take action while driving and, in what seemed like an oddly specific call-out, the option to have Gemini translate your speech into other languages when sending texts.
That’s all yet to materialize. 9to5Google reported this week that Android Auto 14.8 changes swaps mentions of “Assistant” in settings to lowercase “digital assistant” in what seems like preparation for Gemini integration. Still, the only digital assistant available today is the legacy Google Assistant.
Given Google’s announcement was in May, we’re still comfortably inside the “in the coming months” release window for Gemini on Android Auto. We still haven’t heard anything more concrete, though. Gemini is also slated to come to cars with Google built-in “later this year;” expect to see that after the assistant hits Auto.
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Google TV
Google also pledged Gemini integration on Google TV within the year back in May. We’ve heard very little about it since then. Unlike Android Auto, where Gemini was slated for “the coming months,” Google said Gemini would hit our TVs “later this year.” Those are both intentionally vague timeframes, but later this year feels like a longer wait than in the coming months.
Google’s said that Gemini integration is coming to select third-party TVs with Google TV built-in first, rather than Google’s own TV hardware, the Google TV Streamer. As AP alum and Android Authority editor Rita El Khoury wrote back in May, that’s not a great incentive to buy Made by Google hardware.
We can expect to see Gemini hit TVs (starting with select TCL sets) sometime this year — but we still don’t have anything more specific to go on than that.
Smart speakers
Interestingly, Google didn’t explicitly commit to bringing Gemini to its Nest smart speakers at the same time it promised to bring the AI chatbot to watches, cars, and TVs. There’s been some motion in that direction, though.
As far back as December, some users noted a more natural, likely Gemini-powered voice replying to certain queries on Nest Mini speakers. Since then, Google’s added a total of 10 “improved Assistant voices” that you may be able to use if you’re in the Google Home Public Preview program.
So far, though, it’s just voices — Google’s smart speakers don’t seem to have any Gemini-powered functionality. Speakers you communicate with exclusively by voice seem like the perfect place to implement a more flexible voice assistant, so I’m eager to see movement here.
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Let’s go, Google
I’ve been plenty critical of Google’s AI efforts generally, but it’s hard to deny that Gemini provides a better experience in most situations that require voice input. I’m happy to have access to the newer assistant on my watch — but Google’s still got a way to go to get it everywhere it should be.
