Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Currently, Gemini on tablets and foldables uses the same interface as phones.
- Google appears to be working on a new UI that takes better advantage of bigger screens.
- That involves adding a side menu, which can always be collapsed for more space.
It’s been just about one week since Google started sharing all its I/O 2025 news, and this year that was absolutely dominated by all things AI. We see the company’s AI efforts front-and-center in everything from the new Flow moviemaking app to Search’s new Try It On tool for previewing fits. But for all the hot new launches, Gemini is still the nexus of Google’s AI world, and right now we’re taking a look at how using it could soon be much nicer on Android’s largest screens.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Beyond just tablets, foldable Android phones with big inner screens are becoming increasingly popular, and we love it when apps are optimized to make the most of screen real estate. Right now, using Gemini on a device like one of those results in an experience that’s basically the same as we see on a phone:
While that’s perfectly workable, it’s also far from optimized, and it doesn’t take much of a design instinct to feel that we’re missing out on something as a result of all the white space we get with this kind of landscape layout.
Thankfully, Google seems interested in doing something about just that. Digging through version 16.20.48.sa.arm64 beta of the Google app, we’ve been able to activate a still-not-yet-publicly-facing revision to Gemini’s interface that now feels much more at home on bigger screens:
The ability to access the side menu through that hamburger button feels just like Gemini on the web, and it turns out that might be all we need for the AI bot to fit in on a tablet-sized display.
If you ever do want Gemini text using as much of your screen as possible, you can always just tap that button to collapse the side menu, reverting to much like we have with the existing interface. But considering how convenient the side bar makes things like accessing your past Gemini queries, we might just end up leaving that open.
There’s no telling when Google might feel like introducing this change publicly, or if the company may further revise its approach before this tablet view is ready. We’ll keep you updated with anything new we’re able to uncover.
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