TL;DR
- The Google app has been updated with new text strings referencing Gemini support on headphones and earbuds.
- While the text itself hints at broad support, string labels may point to some degree of Pixel Buds exclusivity.
- Similar evidence shows Google’s been working on this for months now.
Google Assistant may be our tried and true virtual friend for getting routine tasks done on our phone, but these days, you also have the option to swap Assistant out for the new hotness of Google Gemini. The advanced AI platform is distinct from Assistant and can’t quite do everything it can just yet, but that’s a situation that already looks like it’s getting better. Now we’re turning our attention to what could be Gemini’s next expansion.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Earlier this year, we looked at some evidence in the Google app that appeared to reference Gemini coming to headphones. Just as you’re able to access Assistant on headphones now, it looked like Google was getting ready to extend the same sort of support to Gemini. While we still haven’t seen anything like that go live just yet, we’re once again looking to the Google app for hints that it could be on the way.
Digging into the new 15.31.29.29.arm64 beta release, we spot three strings that are quite explicit in being about Gemini coming to earbuds:
Code
<string name="assistant_bisto_gemini_on_buds_notification_text">Your new AI assistant is on headphones</string> <string name="assistant_bisto_gemini_on_buds_notification_title">Talk to Gemini on earbuds</string> <string name="assistant_bisto_gemini_on_buds_notification_view_button_text">View more</string>You may recognize “bisto” from early coverage leading up to the launch of the first Pixel Buds back in 2017. While it initially looked like a codeword for the Pixel Buds themselves, it later emerged to represent a whole class of Assistant-enabled audio accessories.
The actual text that’s present here seems to generically refer to “headphones” and “earbuds,” but the names assigned to the strings themselves, with that repeated “gemini_on_buds” label, does have us a little curious if Google could be up to some classic gatekeeping here, and might restrict (at least initial) Gemini access to its own hardware.
Google’s August 13 Pixel 9 event is coming up fast, and there’s a fair chance it could also be our formal introduction to the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Those might be the ideal candidate for launching this new functionality. That said, other Gemini headphone references like the kind we’re looking at today have been around for months, so the timeline is far from certain. With any luck, though, we may be just one week away from learning how Gemini support on headphones and earbuds could arrive.
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