Google’s Gemini Live just ruined a feature I used daily
Source: Android Authority
Morning News with Gemini
Megan Ellis / Android Authority
While I was looking for a worthy Google News alternative, I moved to Gemini for my morning news fix. It felt like a natural substitute because we’ve been using Google Assistant forever to hear it narrate the day’s news like a personal TV news reporter. Whenever I have a moment to distract myself during my morning routine — say, while brushing my teeth — I get Gemini to narrate the news.
It goes well, though, only for a minute or two. As soon as I need to ask a follow‑up question, I start to sorely miss Continued Conversation — a cherished Home speaker feature Google snatched away from us.
Did removing Continued Conversation affect your routine?
55 votes
It’s Such a Downfall Without Continued Conversation
With Continued Conversation now removed from the regular Gemini experience in favor of Gemini Live, my morning routine has been thrown off balance. My phone’s screen times out after a minute of inactivity, so the display turns off while Gemini is still speaking unless I tap the screen every few seconds. I’ve mitigated this by extending the wake‑time setting before starting my news briefing, but it’s still a nuisance.
Gemini — an upgrade to Google Assistant was supposed to understand context better and remember my preferences, especially when I explicitly tell it what I want. I’ve asked it to include Indian news and local coverage from my city in the daily briefing, yet it sometimes forgets these preferences and other times follows them perfectly. As a result, I’m forced to keep tapping the mic—not by choice, but out of necessity.
That’s the biggest annoyance, especially when my hands aren’t free. I have to keep the screen lit and repeatedly tap the mic each time I need more details on a story or want an update on a particular segment. Continued Conversation used to automate all of that—I could simply ask for more information. Now, Google has taken that feature away from us.
Read more about Google’s decision to remove Continued Conversation.
So, why don’t you use Gemini Live, Karan?
It’s a fair question—I agree. It occurred to me, too. Since Google was arm‑twisting me into using Gemini Live by deprecating the regular experience, I caved in, though I came back rather quickly.
Getting my morning‑news fix is an anchored habit of mine, but when I asked Gemini Live to give me the news it felt like it was simply skimming over the headlines and giving me a gist so brief that it was as good as nothing. It literally just read out a couple of news headlines during my time with it.
Even though it was easier to talk with it because of its interactive, live nature, it needed so many follow‑ups just to get good context on a single news story that I’d save time reading a newspaper end‑to‑end. Gemini Live didn’t live up to my needs1, even though you’d expect it to match “regular” Gemini in terms of how it serves results.
This was one of the first times I noticed the disparity in my daily life, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. So I went back to the normal Gemini—yes, it’s annoying, but at least it gives me exactly what I want.
Both Ways Are Dead Ends
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
It’s like settling for the lesser of two evils because there is no better choice at this point. I literally have to choose the one that is slightly less annoying—not because of some technical limitation preventing the implementation of Continued Conversation in Gemini, but purely because of Google’s greed.
Google can argue that it’s offering a much‑superior alternative to Continued Conversation in Gemini Live. It may be better in form, but not in function—at least in my case. The issue becomes serious when Google paywalls the feature. The arrival of Gemini and the new Google Home Premium has effectively turned Gemini Live into a paid feature, particularly on smart speakers.
On the other hand, Continued Conversation on Google Assistant has existed for about a decade—free and available across devices. That’s enough time for people to form habits around it, and it would naturally irk them to wake up and find the feature missing. Only a greedy corporation would monetize the very gap it created, and that’s exactly the script Google followed here.
It’s on Google to Open Up a Way
What’s Needed
- Restore Continued Conversation for regular Gemini interactions. This would make the experience smoother for end‑users, who have few alternatives.
- If Google still wants to promote Gemini Live, it should at least offer a limited, free version on smart speakers—similar to what ChatGPT provides.
Immediate Action Required
Google must bring Gemini Live’s responses up to the quality of regular Gemini. The service can’t remain a “loudmouth with shallow thinking” for long.
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