Pulling up AI assistants on your Apple and Android device entails using them primarily within their app homebases and not being able to do anything else while it’s working.
In one case, you can continue your ChatGPT conversations through the “Voice” feature while you switch between your apps and even lock your phone. From a multitasking standpoint, that feature works like a charm. Android users are now getting something similar with Google Gemini, but with a feature that lets you complete more complex tasks through your text prompts.
Before, the Gemini overlay on Android mobile devices commanded a large portion of the screen and didn’t allow for much multitasking since you couldn’t use any of the other apps until Gemini completed its tasks.
Now, Google is rolling out this new Gemini minimizing feature for Android users. Here’s how it works and how to use it.
Minimizing Gemini is now possible and multitasking is so much easier to accomplish
Android users no longer have to stare at a loading screen while Gemini tends to their complex requests.
Now you can tap the “Minimize” button while it responds to your prompts, while you jump to other apps, handle your emails, scroll through your social media feeds or simply look up anything through your web browser. The Minimize button sits right above the pill-shaped Gemini bar and now shows a message that pops up to let you know that you can complete other jobs while it’s working: “Gemini is still available while you multitask. Tap to expand. Drag to move or dismiss.” Android users can even tap the minimized Gemini bubble to reopen your chat, drag it to move it or swipe it away to close it.
Two users have shown off this new Gemini minimizing feature through posts on Telegram via this link and this other link. Now the Gemini app is being set up as a multitasking AI assistant that has evolved from a stationary pop-up tool to something more of a dynamic background module. This feature began rolling out on September 4.
Before this feature began rolling out, the Gemini mobile app on Android handled multi-step tasks for its users in specific apps through a beta feature called “screen automation.” As explained by the official Pixel Phone Help guide, this previously released Gemini multitasking shortcut has become available for the following Android devices: Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, Samsung Galaxy S26 Series, Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8.
Final thoughts
Gemini’s minimized overlay that turns it into a bubble that multitasks while you work in other apps sounds like a lifesaver. I’d love to see this sort of feature become widely available for other AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity across Apple and Android devices. I’ll have to revert to my Android mobile device-using friends to see this feature in action (I’m a loyal Apple iPhone user, after all) and use it to summarize long articles or conduct other experiments.
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