Gemini Live preps a new option for how it works with your phone's camera

Last summer, Google debuted a helpful upgrade to Gemini Live with the launch of the Pixel 10, introducing its new visual guidance mode, helpfully highlighting objects spotted with your phone’s camera as you talk about them. That’s worked pretty well in our testing, but if for some reason you’re less than a fan, it seems that Google could soon be bringing a new Gemini Live option your way.

As we crawl through Google’s latest updates in search of interesting changes, we’ve identified a new entry in the works for Gemini Live’s settings. For this we’re checking out version 17.38.5.sa.arm64 of the Google app for Android. You won’t see this new option just yet, but once it goes live, we should get a new toggle for “Guided vision in Live”:

Mostly, we’re just curious right now about what the “off” situation looks like for this option. Keeping it on should leave you with the same Gemini Live camera experience we have now, but what will we get when we flip it off? It’s possible that could involve denying Live access to your camera entirely, but considering we already need to tap a camera icon each time we want Live to use it, it’s not clear what utility that would offer.

We did have camera support in Gemini Live for a few months before the Pixel 10 arrived and guided vision started highlighting objects as we discussed them — could turning this off be a way to jump back to the old interface? That’s possible, but also doesn’t sound incredibly likely based on the in-app messaging we’re seeing here.

Even if we don’t yet have the full picture on what both sides of this new option will look like, it will probably just be a matter of time before we get some answers, assuming Google keeps moving forward with this setting’s development.