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Gemini’s colonization of Android is nearly complete. Soon, users may need to get used to speaking a whole new phrase to access their phone’s assistant. Strings of code were spotted in the latest Android update support, “Hey Gemini” and “Hey Google,” as if Google thought you’d rather talk to the chatbot than the company that made the phone.
Earlier this week, Android code sleuth Shiv, AKA AssemblyDebug, spotted a code string in the beta version of the Google app hinting that “Hey Gemini” could sit alongside “Hey Google” as the Android wake word for the assistant. There’s a missing word in the string, but judging solely by the company’s Android XR announcement in January where, in a video, a user asks “Hey Gemini” before receiving an AI-generated voice response.
Android has already let Gemini consume Assistant in its entirety. Saying “Hey Google” already brings up Gemini, and this move would only help shut the door on the old assistant model. These two voice commands could work alongside each other, but with Google promoting Gemini as much as it does, we could imagine Google promoting the new wake word in all promotions going forward, slowly phasing out “Hey Google” from the common user lexicon.
It remains unclear if and when Google will introduce this change, though we expect it to be relatively soon. We already have a May 20 date for Google I/O 2025. We have also seen signs of the Google Pixel 9a, including a now-deleted YouTube video. Last year’s I/O was utterly subsumed by Gemini news. Any of these upcoming product showcases could also bring the advent of “Hey Gemini” as an additional marketing ploy to get more users to buy tickets on the AI hype train.
Gemini and Android are practically synonymous, and the two forms will only become more entwined as time passes. Earlier this month, Google made Gemini appear as if you were talking to it on the phone while minimizing the Gemini Live interface. The recent Gemini 2.0 update added more image and video comprehension capabilities to Gemini Live. These are the first steps to bringing it to the capabilities promised by Google DeepMind’s Project Astra.
More than anything, Google needs more people to use Gemini, whether because they want to or have no choice. A Wall Street Journal report in January cited internal conversations at Google showing CEO Sundar Pichai wants Gemini to beat OpenAI’s ChatGPT user numbers. ChatGPT on mobile has roughly 400 million weekly active users on Android and iOS combined, according to a report from Reuters. According to Sensor Tower data, Gemini remains far lower on the most downloaded app list. Even though Gemini is on iOS, it’s not nearly as popular as on Google’s home turf.
This is why Google offers free year-long Gemini subscriptions when you buy new products like a Chromebook Plus model. Google is trying its damndest to get you thinking about Gemini all the time on Android. Like the recent Samsung Galaxy S25 phones, we expect the next Android update to focus on cross-app capabilities.
