Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Soon users will be able to select text and directly ask Gemini about it.
- The functionality works in different apps, but it may not work in all apps.
- Our testing found that it works fine in browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Samsung Internet.
From Circle to Search to Gemini Live, there are plenty of ways to use Google’s AI to learn more about a subject. And it looks like we could soon have one more way to access the LLM on Android.
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While investigating the Google app (version 16.8.31.sa.arm64 beta), we discovered that you can now select text and ask Gemini about it. To do this, all you need to do is simply select some text you have a question about, tap on the vertical three dots in the text selection menu, and you’ll see the option to “Ask Gemini.”
Just as you would expect, tapping on Ask Gemini will open the chatbot up to provide you with results based on the text you picked. The feature seemed to work fine in the browsers we tested it on, including Chrome, Firefox, and Samsung Internet. It should work in most apps, but since not all apps use the same text selection menu, we can’t say if it will work in every app. You can see how it all works in the video below.
This functionality has yet to be rolled out. But when it does, should make it much easier to search for something directly from whatever app you have open.
In related news, Google demoed new live video and screen-sharing capabilities for Gemini at MWC 2025. Google says that these two features will become available for Gemini Advanced users later this month.
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