Samsung’s Now Bar smartphone UI feature looks set to receive an update that could finally make it useful.
Android Authority has reported on evidence that Samsung is integrating Google’s Gemini Live into its attractive-but-limited Now Bar UI feature.
While it’s currently limited to Samsung apps and features, X user TechA7mad has spotted that Google app version 16.6.28.ve.arm64 running on their Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra now hints at deeper Gemini integration.
The aforementioned Now Bar is displaying Gemini Live’s status, (‘On hold’), which indicates that it’s going to be possible to conduct seamless Gemini Live conversations from the comfort of your Samsung phone’s lock screen.
TechA7mad
What is Samsung’s Now Bar, and why does it need Google?
Samsung’s Now Bar is the lock screen widget element of its wider Now Brief system.
Now Brief uses AI to give Galaxy 25 users frequent summaries of their day, including weather information, calendar events, travel notices, health metrics and more. It delivers notifications, lives on your home screen, and sits in a tidy little lock screen widget called the Now Bar.
As we noted in both our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S25 reviews, the Now Brief feature looks extremely cool, but is of limited usefulness right now unless you’re heavily invested in Samsung’s ecosystem.
If you’re not fully down with Samsung’s way of doing things, it merely tends to provide weather and calendar events for the day – albeit in a very attractive format.
Luke Baker
Google Gemini is going deeper
As we’ve noted before, the key to the success of Google Gemini (and other such AI tools) is their tight, seamless integration into your everyday smartphone usage.
This apparent Now Bar implementation would seem to be a good example of that, offering access to Gemini Live without even having to unlock your Galaxy phone.
Google has already simplified Gemini Live for its Pixel phones, as well as the Gemini app for Android and iOS, by implementing a simplified call-style interface.
It remains to be seen when this new Now Bar implementation of Google Gemini will roll out to all users, but it’s clearly on the way. If it makes Samsung’s undoubtedly handsome but particular UI more useful to more people, we’re all for it.
