AssembleDebug / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google appears to be expanding testing of a Gemini overlay bubble that lets conversations persist after you dismiss the overlay.
- Instead of disappearing when you tap outside of it, the Gemini overlay can now shrink into a floating bubble that restores your chat with a tap.
- The latest version adds a Gemini-themed bubble design and updated animations, but it isn’t available on stable Android builds yet.
App bubbles in Android 17 are perhaps one of the most useful multitasking updates Google has rolled out in years. These bubbles let you keep multiple apps floating on your screen no matter what you’re doing, making it easier to hop in and out of apps without disrupting your flow. Now, more users seem to be getting access to Google’s bubble treatment for Gemini’s overlay.
Currently, if you open the Gemini overlay and then tap anywhere outside of it, the conversation is effectively dismissed. The next time you bring up the overlay, you’re greeted with a fresh chat instead of being able to pick up where you left off. With this new behavior, tapping out of the Gemini overlay shrinks it into a floating bubble marked with a spark icon. Tapping that bubble restores your ongoing conversation, making it easy to jump back in without reopening Gemini or hunting through your chat history.
The latest implementation of the feature we recorded today (see video above) shows that Google is also giving this Gemini bubble a gradient treatment that matches the Gemini overlay. The “Minimize Gemini” button is still there, while tapping out of the overlay also turns it into a bubble. The animations in the overlay also seem to have been tweaked, making it appear darker.
Folks running the stable Android 17 build won’t see this implementation yet. Technically, you can already create a standard app bubble for the Gemini app itself, but that isn’t quite the same thing. The Gemini overlay remains a temporary interface that disappears when dismissed. This new implementation essentially gives the overlay its own persistent bubble, allowing conversations to survive beyond a single interaction.
It’s a small change, but a meaningful one. Instead of losing access to your current conversation whenever you leave the overlay, you can keep it within easy reach while using other apps.
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