Google Developing Intuitive Text Selection Feature for Gemini AI Responses

Sharing excerpts from Gemini responses could soon get a lot simpler

I tried FUTO Keyboard, Gboard and Swiftkey for a month and here's how it went Summary Google is simplifying how users share excerpts of text from Gemini responses in the Google app, moving towards a more intuitive drag-and-select method. Currently, sharing a portion of a Gemini reply involves a four-step process, which the update aims to streamline significantly. The new implementation has a limitation: it doesn't currently allow seamless selection of text across bulleted or numbered lists, though this may be addressed before the public release. Google's Gemini is getting smarter with every passing month. What started out as Bard in 2023 has rapidly evolved into a capable AI model, powered by dedicated models for all-around help, deep research, and even reasoning, math, and code. Even though the assistant can do a lot more than answer simple queries -- it can generate videos, connect with frequently-used apps, see what's on your screen, and more, text-based answers to queries remain a core aspect of the AI tool's functionality. Related Google Gemini: Everything you need to know about Google's next-gen multimodal AI Google Gemini is here, with a whole new approach to multimodal AI Posts Recognizing the importance, Google now seems to be taking steps to make text-based answers easier to share. Sharing Gemini replies is a seamless process, but only when you want to share the response in its entirety. You simply long tap the text and tap Copy text in the subsequent overflow menu. You're then free to paste the reply wherever needed. Alternatively, you also have the option to Export to Docs, or share the conversation via a public link. However, if you only want to copy and share an excerpt from the reply, you have to go through a four-step process. Long tap the text (or tap the three-dot icon). Tap Select text. Select the text in a new page. Share and/or Copy. The image above highlights what the current excerpt-sharing procedure looks like. However, Google seems to be planning a change to make excerpt-sharing a lot more intuitive and seamless. Copy text from Gemini replies like you would from a webpage As highlighted by folks over at Andorid Authority after looking into a new Google app beta build (version 16.20.48.sa.arm64 beta), copying Gemini's reply to your query could soon be as simple as copying text from a webpage. If and when the simplification goes live, users will be able to long press text and begin dragging their finger to highlight text, with the familiar Copy and Share chips appearing as soon as you stop dragging your finger. For what it's worth, the new implementation, although much more intuitive, still has one flaw. The drag-and-select gesture can not continue highlighting text if it encounters a list and bullet points. The limitation could very well be fixed by the time Google is ready to roll out the intuitive sharing feature. When that happens, though, is currently unclear.

Gemini Might Get a Smarter Tool for Picking and Sharing Replies

Google recently released new capabilities to the Gemini 2.5 model Google is reportedly making it easier to select and share parts of Gemini's responses. As per the report, Google is working on adding a quality-of-life improvement to its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that will allow users to directly long-press and drag to select specific portions of text and quickly share it with other apps. If implemented, this will be much easier than the current workflow, where users have to go through four different steps before they can select Gemini's responses. According to an Android Authority report, the Mountain View-based tech giant is working on a new feature to allow selecting text directly on the Gemini app's chat interface. The publication found evidence of the feature in the latest Google app beta (version 16.20.48.sa.arm64). Notably, it is not an active feature, so beta testers will not be able to try it out just now. Currently, selecting text on the mobile app of Gemini requires a few steps. That is, if you want to select part of the text. However, if you want to copy the entire text, Gemini gives you a copy option at the bottom of every response (two blank pages icon) next to the share button. Unfortunately, this does not work if you just want to copy or share just a portion of the text. To select text, you first have to long-press the text or tap the three-dotted icon to surface the Select text option. Tapping on it takes you to a separate page where you can long-press and drag the desired text to select it, and then copy it. This process can be frustrating if one has to select and copy multiple parts of the text over and over again. However, as per the report, the under-development feature will allow you to select the text directly from the chat window, saving a couple of taps. The feature is said to work on paragraph-style responses, however, you will reportedly only be able to select one bullet point in a single attempt, which might make sharing bulleted responses a hassle. It should be noted that this feature was uncovered during an Android application package (APK) teardown process and spotted within the code of the Google app. However, this does not mean that this feature will be shipped or in the same form. Many times, such experimental features are ditched by developers later, and other times, the final version looks entirely different. Until the company makes an official statement about the feature, it should be taken with a healthy amount of scepticism.