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Google released the standalone Gemini app in February 2024, but today – months later – it’s still unavailable for some qualifying phones like the Moto Razr.
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Officially, the application requirements are very easy. According to Google’s Gemini support page, “the Gemini mobile app is available on Android phones, including many foldable devices, with 2GB of RAM or more, running Android 10 and up.” You must also have your phone set to one of the 19 supported languages and live in one of the over 150 supported countries.
So yes, these requirements are really easy to meet, but don’t tell the whole story. They never do.
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We contacted Google about this and they told us “Razr is not supported yet, but we are working on it and aim to have it available soon.That doesn’t really answer the why question. Everyone is sure that Google will make it available one day, but there always seems to be some other hidden rules about which phones see which features and when.
It’s not just the Razr. You’d think Google would want Gemini to be available for all top Android phones, but it’s not. For example, Gemini app is officially available for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. However, some carrier models cannot install it. That’s the case with the AT&T version I have here on my desk. There seems to be no rhyme or reason, and without a list of all supported devices – which Google doesn’t provide – you’ll have to try it yourself to see if you can get the app.
To make matters even more confusing, the app was briefly available for some phones that are no longer supported. If you have a Moto Razr, you could install it from Google Play when it was first released, but now it’s gone and you’re left with an unsupported app that may have security and functionality issues.
Since there is no obvious technical reason why, it must be something else right? I mean if the Razr (which meets all the requirements) was on the initial launch list and some Z Flip models can run it without a problem, it can’t be hardware limitations holding it back.
This is not exactly a new phenomenon. It seems like every time Google has a new software product, the initial availability is limited in some way. Sometimes the reasons seem to make sense, like language or region support, but other times it seems like Google is just playing favorites. And sometimes, like with Google’s latest about-in-search feature IS playing favorites.
There’s an explanation that only makes sense when you consider how many different Android phones are out there—Google is trying to control the experience and doesn’t want to release anything that doesn’t meet its performance expectations.
Admittedly, this feels like a low bar to set considering how … dumb … some of Google’s products are at launch. At the end of the day, Google just wants everything to work in a way that people don’t complain about. I’m not talking about tech enthusiasts with high expectations, but the “average consumer” who makes up the bulk of smartphone sales worldwide. They want to install the new thing and do cool new things with it.
There may be performance issues on some phones. The Moto Razr or some software variants of the Flip 5 are very different under the hood when compared to something like the Pixel 7a. This has to happen when you allow different companies to build their OS from your code base. Since Gemini replaces Assistant in most cases, the software wasn’t built with it in mind.
I don’t have the answers here, nor does anyone else who doesn’t work on the Gemini team at Google. I know how to “fix” it: transparency.
If Google came out and said something like “There are issues with the always-listening Google Gemini component on the Moto Razr and we’re working with the Motorola team to resolve them,” no one would hate them for it . (Note that this is just an example and I have no idea what the issues might be.) We all understand that writing complicated software isn’t easy, and we’d probably appreciate Google trying to make sure everything works well before throwing another product at us.
Being in the dark is never a good look and a big reason why people think Apple does it better. Nothing is shipped until it’s ready for each iPhone. Maybe those people are right and Google needs to change the way it releases new software products.
Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to tell us a little bit about what’s going on.
#Google #Gemini #app #phones
Image Source : www.androidcentral.com