How to Use Gemini Live: Talk to Gemini, Show It Your Camera

The short version

Gemini Live is a phone call with Gemini. You talk, it talks back, and you can cut in whenever you like. Turn on the camera and it can see what you’re pointing at. It’s best for thinking out loud, practicing, and questions about the thing in front of you.

Step by step

1. Open the Gemini app on your Android phone, iPhone or iPad and sign in.
2. Tap Live at the bottom, or swipe left. The first time, follow the on-screen steps.
3. Start talking. Interrupt any time to add details or change the subject.
4. To show Gemini something, tap Camera. Tap Switch to rear or front camera to flip it.
5. To pause, tap Hold (mic off). To keep the session but silence your mic, tap Mute.
6. Tap End to finish. You’ll see the transcript, and you can keep chatting by typing.

On Android, you can also say “Hey Google, let’s talk Live”, share your screen with Turn on screen sharing, and keep Live running in the background while you use other apps.

Settings worth changing

• Voice: Menu > your profile picture > Settings > Gemini’s Voice.
• Captions: tap Turn captions on at the top right of a Live chat.
• Interruptions: turn Interrupt Live responses off if background noise keeps cutting Gemini off.

Prompts to copy

Say these out loud:

Practice a hard conversation:

I need to ask my landlord to fix the heating for the second time. Play the landlord,
push back a bit, and after three rounds tell me what I could say better.

Rehearse an interview:

Interview me for a front-desk job at a dental office. One question at a time,
and give me quick feedback after each answer.

Use the camera:

I'm pointing the camera at my fridge. Suggest a dinner I can make in 30 minutes
with what you can see.

Example

You say: “Help me plan what to say when I call the bank about a wrong fee.”

A good result: Gemini asks what the fee was and when it appeared, suggests a short opening line, and role-plays the bank agent. Ending the chat gives you a transcript you can copy into a note.

Mistakes to avoid

• Recording people without asking. Google asks you to get permission before including others in a Live chat or on camera.
• Showing private documents. Bank cards, IDs and letters on camera end up in your saved activity if Keep Activity is on.
• Expecting everything to work in Live. Google’s Help Center says Gems can’t be used in Live for now, and only some connected apps work there.
• Trusting what it sees. Camera answers can misread labels and small print. Check anything important.

Good to know

Gemini Live can use some connected apps on Android, such as Google Calendar, Keep, Tasks and YouTube, so you can say “add that to my calendar” mid-conversation. Google says this is rolling out gradually. If Keep Activity is off, Live chats are kept for up to 72 hours. See keep your data private in Gemini.

Related: use Gemini on Android.