Google Rolls Out Real-Time Captions for Gemini Live, Enhancing Accessibility and User Experience

Gemini Live no longer makes you turn up your volume

Gemini Live is finally getting its act together. Before, it only gave you the chat transcript after everything was said and done. But now there's a new Caption button that puts Gemini's words on your screen as they're being spoken. This handy update is now becoming more available to users, and it's not coming alone, as there is a more useful feature tagging along too. Related 5 best Google Gemini prompts that take full advantage of the generative AI Ditch boring emails and tedious tasks; these Gemini prompts will transform how you work Posts Spotted by 9to5Google, Gemini Live now comes with live captions, so you can chat with it even if your phone is barely audible or totally silent. It's a big step up from before, when that just wasn't an option. This upgrade makes talking to Gemini way easier in loud places and just more flexible all around. When launched, Gemini Live surfaces a live caption button up in the top-right corner of its full-screen view. Tap it, and you'll see real-time captions pop up in a floating box right in the middle of your screen. And if your volume is super low when you try to start or pick up a conversation from the Gemini overlay, it'll now nudge you to turn on captions automatically. Where to find caption settings Close There's a "Caption preferences" option tucked right under the "Interrupt Live responses" toggle in Gemini's settings. It takes you straight to your phone's system settings. Just keep in mind, though, that these captions only show what Gemini is saying, not you. But don't worry, you'll still get the full conversation transcript once you're done chatting. Once you turn captions on, they'll stay on for your next Gemini Live chats. According to 9to5, they won't show up if you leave the full-screen view, but jump back into an ongoing conversation, and they'll pop right back up. This feature is now rolling out widely to both stable (v16.23) and beta versions of the Google app on Android.

You Can Now See Captions While Talking to Gemini Live

The caption button shows on the top right side of Gemini Live interface Gemini Live on Android and iOS is getting a real-time captions feature. The feature will show live captions of whatever Gemini says on the screen. This feature will allow users to have a two-way conversation with Gemini Live without needing to hear its voice. It can be useful when users want to have a hands-free conversation with the chatbot but do not want the AI to respond back verbally (if users are outdoors or in a crowded location). Google has also provided options to customise the size of the font and how the captions appear on the screen. Near the beginning of this month, several netizens claimed to have seen a new captions feature in Gemini Live. The Mountain View-based tech giant was likely testing the feature with a small subset of users. It appears that the company is now rolling it out to all users globally. First spotted by 9to5Google, users can now see a square icon on the top-right side of the Gemini Live interface, which represents the feature. This is how real-time captions appear on Gemini Live Gadgets 360 staff members were able to spot the feature on both Android and iOS devices. The feature works the same on both operating systems. Once Gemini Live has been turned on, users can tap the square icon to either enable or disable real-time captions. Alternatively, if the device's volume is turned all the way down, Gemini Live automatically suggests that users turn on captions. Earlier, Gemini Live would not open unless the volume was at a level audible to the user. When turned on, real-time captions appear near the bottom of the screen in two lines. It only shows what Gemini says in that moment, and not the older conversation. To view the entire transcript, users must first end the session. Interestingly, captions also work when users share their screen or use the live video feature via Gemini Live. While in the video mode, the caption appears at the top of the screen. On Android, Gemini users also have the option to customise captions. A new settings option is available as "Caption preferences." Tapping on it opens a new page where users can find menu options to change the language, text size, and caption style. The latter lets users change how the captions appear on the screen. Apart from providing standard options, such as black text on white background and white text on black background, it also lets users manually select the font style, text colour, background colour, text and background opacity, and more. We are not seeing any customisation options on iOS.