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Summary
The new Gemini 2.5 Flash is faster and sleeker, but free users just hit a strange speed bump.
File uploads suddenly vanished for some folks on the free plan.
Uploads still work on Gemini 2.0 Flash and 2.5 Pro, and on 2.5 Flash, if you’re paying up.
Gemini AI had a pretty slow start, but in 2025 so far, it has been picking up some speed. These days, it feels like Google rolls out a new model almost every week, whether it’s baked into the Gemini app or part of tools like AI Studio. One of the latest updates is a preview version of Gemini 2.5 Flash, a faster, more efficient model designed to keep things snappy.
Related
While premium users gain access to some of the more advanced tools, free users haven’t been left out—they’ve had access to handy features like uploading images and text. However, something weird is going on at the moment: the file upload option has mysteriously disappeared for some people on the free plan.
As reported by 9to5Google, free Gemini users just hit a snag. As of the past day, the file upload feature in the Gemini 2.5 Flash (preview) model has curiously been missing for free users. On both Android and iOS, the ‘plus’ menu now shows the ‘Files’ and ‘Drive’ options grayed out, and over on the web, you’re stuck with image uploads only. That means no more document analysis, live chats about files, or audio summaries—for now, at least.
This isn’t the first weird hiccup
Audio Overview has been flaky before
Interestingly, this issue with Audio Overviews isn’t a first for Gemini. Last month, some users ran into a similar glitch. After uploading a file and hitting “Generate Audio Overview,” the app sent out a “ready” notification, only to greet them with an error message saying it couldn’t actually make audio files. This mix-up points to a deeper, on-again-off-again problem with how this feature works.
It’s worth noting that file uploads still work on Gemini 2.0 Flash and 2.5 Pro (preview). The 2.5 Flash model still supports uploads—but only if you’re on the paid Advanced plan.
This might just be a temporary glitch rather than some grand paywall scheme. Fingers crossed the Gemini team patches things up soon so free users can get that functionality back.
