You're not alone: This email from Google's Gemini team is concerning

Linux has become good enough to replace desktop operating systems.
Now, we are back at square one. I’ll be the first to inaccurately declare, “This will be the year of the Linux phone.”
- All I need is a good enough emulation of android apps to fool them (eg for banking).
  
  Sailfish OS has it.
  Unfortunately the project has some closed source bits which, imho, aren't an issue when you look closer (some parts of the UI). Maybe I'm naive but I trust this EU company.
  I use it as my daily driver. It certainly is frugal compared to recent Android versions, but fully functional.
  It's an actual Linux OS (as opposed to any Android version). Things work the same way they do on my laptop & server.
  
  Can you get by with web access? That's what I do and it's fine.
  
  Unfortunately banking apps are only going to get harder to run on software uncertified by Google.
  
  "Hello there." - Play Integrity API
- Looking at postmarketOS for my phone too, so sick of this shit
  
  PostmarketOS is cool, but as an actual phone replacement it is tough, at least last time I tried.
- Behold, the Linux phone:
  https://liberux.net/
  
  That looks far too polished with locked in specs for them to not have any prototype. I'd trust companies that have actually made a product that has a janky Linux implementation that's improving, than one that doesn't exist yet relying on crowdfunding.
- This is my fourth comment shilling SFOS here, but it just might be what you're looking for. It is my daily driver.
  
  That’s pretty cool, I’m working now, but I’m checking out its Android app compatibility.
  If it can run my work stuff, I’ll be so happy.
  
  Wish it was supported in more countries.
- Android is Linux… sure.
  But it’s not what anyone means when they say they want a Linux phone.
- Isn't Android using a Linux kernel already?
  
  Yes, but everything above it (including drivers) is custom-made and tightly controlled by Google.
  
  Yeah, but the kernel is a low-level module that handles hardware, memory, and processes—it’s not what users interact with directly, so sharing the same kernel doesn’t make it all that similar as you’d think.
  What makes Linux feel like ‘Linux’ to users is the stuff on top: the userland—bash, coreutils, package managers, X11/Wayland, etc. Android replaces almost all of that, so even though it uses the Linux kernel, it doesn’t feel like Linux.
  
  Yes. IIRC it's based on latest LTS kernel with Google patches. So it's been "year of the Linux phone" for a while now.
  It's unfortunate that the slop they put on top of it is such a privacy nightmare. PostmarketOS is trying to change that and supports Plasma, Gnome, etc. But it's early days yet and still rough around the edges from what I've been reading.
- Android... is a Linux phone..?
  
  Not really.
- I use Linux since debian 3.0 and I don't think Linux is ready to replace desktop os yet. The universe has come up with bigger and more powerful idiots.
  
  Linux had reached idiot parity with windows at least. Idiot proof OS is a fable that cannot be reached.

Dear tech bros,
We, the people, don't want to use your AI shit. Please stop shoving it down our throats. Thank you.
Sincerely,
-The people
- Hahahahhshahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahaha.
  Sincerely,
  Tech bros.
- Is it really the people or just a subset of people that use Lemmy, the vast majority of people seemingly don’t care as is evidenced by the sheer number of people using things like social media.
  What might be important to use in this echo chamber isn’t reflective of society on the whole.
  
  It's mainly tech savy people who don't use it. Tons of people in companies use this shit. The number of people who use "ai" to take auto notes in meetings is insane. It's a massive security risk but they do it anyways thinking it won't be stored.
  
  It's mostly lemmy. In real life people go from amused to indifferent. I have never met anyone as hostile as the lemmy consensus seems to be. If a feature is useful people will use it, be it AI or not AI. Some AI features are gimmicks and they largely get ignored, unless very intrusive (in which case the intrusivity, not the AI, is the problem).
  
  Obligatory Lemmy is social media response
  
  The majority of people eat at McDonalds. It doesn't make it a good idea on your finances or health. Sheep gonna baa.
  If you for some reason think that megacorporations and big tech aren't monetizing the literal majority to the fullest extent of every single law they can break while getting away with it, you need to wake the fuck up. Big time. I don't know if this is some psyop from leddit or what but my doors stay closed, my android plays tablet mode with no sim. Thanks tho.
  
  I've been trying to tell people for 15 years. It hasn't worked a single bit. It's frustrating that people think they have nothing to hide when their carelessness and lack of tech knowledge is ruining the future of the next generations. I just can't try to explain it to everyone. They don't link the relation at all. I thought maybe eventually, they would just get it, but here we still are...
  
  it's mostly just talk. people will hate it and use it at the same time
- yes but what if a company has the ability to create billions of close friends who can recommend sponsored products to you? why would it care about whether you want that or not?
  also bard was a way better name for google's LLM. it has its origins in an isaac asimov story about a robot who is programmed to tell random stories.
- The problem is there’s a fair amount of tech CEOs that insist this is the future and everyone needs to hop on which between the hype train, the amount of software peeps out of a job because of layoffs and the amount of snake oils salesmen out of a job because this eats google’s lunch this bubble is just ballooning. You have a lot of people hitching on this bandwagon hoping to sell shovels to the next gold rush.
  And for awhile everything is just gonna get shittier.
- But the AI people that the tech bros can now create outnumber real people by ♾️:1. The opinions of real people have ceased to matter even the tiny amount that they once did. So open wide and try not to gag.
- You don't want to use it.
  
  The companies keep preloading it on new tech, updating old tech so its there, preventing the option from disabling it from even being there, and disabling tech that can't use it.
  This. Shit. Can. Fuck. All. The. Way. Off!

I swear all of this was predicted to happen by open source advocates of the 80s and they'd be called alarmists/whatever and then 30 years later you had Snowden leaks and all the surveillance bills and now Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all advertisement companies mining data through the software and devices they sell
The best people can do is just keep using and advocating for Linux adoption. Try out degoogled Android or a more traditional Linux phone device. Need more users and funding to get the software kinks worked out. They're not as good as the high end Android and Apple stuff, but it's a process
- I've been struggling with figuring out how to get google off my phone. I don't know if I'm doing a bad job of searching or if I'm just dumb, but are there any good communities in Lemmy you can recommend on the topic?
  
  Just searched degoogle in Lemmy
  https://lemmy.world/c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
  There are levels to it. The advanced level is using a custom Android ROM for your phone that has no Google play services/apps on it and that'll depend on what's available for your phone from community ROM makers. You can see if any of these support your phone or plan any future phone of yours around these
  https://itsfoss.com/android-distributions-roms/
  An easier first step is just starting with non-Google apps. You can start with replacing Google apps like replace Maps with Organic Maps or something similar. Replace Gmail with something like Proton Mail. Same with calendar and cloud storage. Proton has alternatives. They even have an okay Google docs feature. Use a different search engine like duckduckgo rather than Google.
  F-droid as an app store. Instead of Google authenticator use Aegis. Instead of Chrome use Firefox or a fork of it.
  It's difficult so a process over time of lessening dependency on Google applications
- Do you have any good material to degoogle Android??
  
  Just saw there's a sort of large Lemmy degoogle community
  https://lemmy.world/c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
  Personally I think it's a good start to just replace Google applications. Organic Maps over Google Maps. Proton Mail/Drive/VPN/Calendar over Google stuff. Firefox and forks over Chrome. Duckduckgo over Google search. After that you can maybe find an old old Google Pixel phone and then start flashing ROMs off XDA forums as practice before you try a newer more expensive phone

Pretty sure I disabled Gemini as one of the first things I did when I got my phone. But, yes when I read that, to me it did seem like a serious overreach for something that was going to be "on by default" for most users.
- How, its baked in? Gemini isnt installed on my phone but its there. Like the circle to search.
  
  Gemini is an app, I disabled that. I also shut off the key press and there's some other places you can turn off some of the automatic AI features, and also there's a setting to disable the "online" AI in general.
  But that's why in another comment I said, I am still not sure I turned it all off (or even if it is possible to).
  
  You might be thinking of the normal Google Assistant
  
  You can remove most apps using ADB. Universal Android Debloater is helpful for this, just make sure you read the comments for each app so you dont remove something you need.

Laughs in GrapheneOS
- but for how long https://x.com/GrapheneOS/status/1933177989480456365
  
  X is blocked on network level here, could you please copy&paste?
  
  Long enough for GOS to port Android 16 or get their own OEM, I hope
- Nervously chuckles "im in danger" while clicking through to the Graphene rom.
- Why is this a Google Pixel only ROM? Anything special with the Google Pixel?
  I even consider Chinese phones a better hardware dela than what Google does, and I know Google software (I mainly use AOSP ROMs, Pixel OS in this case) but if we are swapping right away the ROM of the Pixel and the hardware is subpar what's the deal with it?
  
  Pixel phones have an extra security chip in them called the Titan. Other manufacturers lack this.
  https://www.androidauthority.com/titan-m2-google-3261547/
  
  Check out this thread. They go into detail about it.
  https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/1936420921931084075#m

I agree it would be concerning if I allowed Gemini access to my phone. Fuck that. This shit is exactly why I am on GrapheneOS.

I guess my next phone is going to run NixOS.

I've been Android and Windows user for pretty much all of my life. Vehemently anti Apple because of the company and I've thought the products are trash. I've been 100% Linux for over a year and a half, and if this Gemini stuff comes through, I will not have an android phone either. I have a Pixel and my old still functional Pixel. I need to try installing grapheneOS or something else and trial it to see if it will work for me.
If Linux isn't an option for me in the future for whatever reason, I will be purchasing a Mac. I will never have a Windows machine for the rest of my life if I have any say in the matter, work being the obvious and uncontrollable exception. The fact that I'm even entertaining the idea of owning an iPhone or a Mac is really telling about how far Android and Windows and enshitified.
- The user experience of GrapheneOS is basically the same as vanilla Android, except that you have more control (you can uninstall google apps, for example), but at the cost of a small minority of apps (banking ones, for example) not working (out of the box, sometimes at all). My banking app works, and a quick google search will tell you if yours does too. If your old pixel is not too old (4 is no longer supported, 8 definitely is, not sure abt in between), you should give it a go. I think you'll see it's not as big of a step as you maybe currently imagine.
  
  My old one is a 6, so I think it should be supported. I really just need to bite the bullet and do it.
  
  Web search would be a better term since a lot of people use other search engines than Google.
- I've been using GrapheneOS for a couple months after having tested it on an older phone for a while. I'm really loving the level of control I have over what I give apps access to. If you have a spare Pixel to test on I definitely recommend it! I've been getting away from all Google stuff and finding free open source and self-hosted alternatives. I'm running in the opposite direction of all the AI and data-farming.
- Gemini can be disabled. Uninstall/disable the Gemini app if your phone has it then go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > digital assistant > Google > none.
  
  I do have it disabled, but this article suggests that it will ignore that and it will be integrated in apps that I really really don't want it in. I could stomach it if it was search and other functionality like that only, or even if it 100% ran local with no ability to phone home and train on my data, but it doesn't. Not that it can be listening to calls, reading messages, etc, I'm definitely hard out.
  
  ...for now
- I've been GrapheneOS on my pixel7pro since march and I have no complaints. Everything works, and I have control over what apps have access too. The only thing I will say is that if you need the camera to take gr3at photos, its not nearly so good with grapheneOS. I pretty much always have a mirroless camera with me anyway so it dosent bother me. I just use the phone camera for quick snap shots
  
  If you want you can install Pixel Camera (official Google camera) from Aurora Store, and deny it Network permissions and any other permissions you want. It still works pretty well for point and shoot but I can't speak for every single feature. Also you can install simulated services that the Gcam requires to function, without having to run Play Services.
  
  Hey, what camera do you use? My phone is showing its age and I was thinking of getting a secondhand pixel, but I've also been looking at cameras to stand in for the phone camera.
  I was thinking I should go for beginner friendly and small.
- Not liking Apple for ethical reasons is one thing, but thinking they don’t make good products surprises me. I think the current generation of MacBooks are some of the best computers ever sold.
  
  I should rephrase. They don't make cheap bad products. I think iOS, Mac OS, and their walled garden approach makes their hardware a bad product. Compound that with being exorbitantly expensive for what you get, and that's always been too much to overcome for me to support. Now they are/have becoming the less bad option.
  
  MacBooks are some of the best computers ever sold.
  Yeah, but that's just one generation out of many. For me MacBooks have terrible keyboards (personal preference, I know, but I hate them), had very common issues with battery, terrible reparability and stupid features like the Touch Bar (which they finally removed proving right everyone who said it's dumb). So yeah, new MacBooks have great performance but overall the line was not that great IMHO. Very nice design, good quality, not great usability.
  
  Last year's tech for next year's prices.
  
  I was never a "Mac" person. But I took the leap to escape windows with the Mac studio ultra. I use video and photo edit tools a lot. Used my existing peripheral devices. Expensive but the most silent and powerful machine I've ever owned. Software is my only complaint at times but I'll live with it. I'll definitely continue down M series for my main device.
  In context of the larger thread, I need to figure out how to get graphene on my current phone. I nerfed the AI crap Samsung was forcing on me. But who knows if I got everything. I'll assume I didn't. Fdroid or graphene... That's my summer project.
- Same, I've always been android and windows and heavily anti-apple
  It's like people have completely forgotten what Apple was like before the iPhone
  I don't know if I've ever really been pro-Microsoft, they had just been what gave me the freedom to get the job done. I even had a Windows CE phone back in the day, because it worked.
  When Microsoft started monetizing every little thing and became outright hostile with its users is when I made the switch to Linux, the learning curve was steep but it didn't take very long to get a handle on it
  Early on I think I made the mistake of trying to hurry to get a windows experience out of Linux when I should have started where I started with Microsoft, at the command prompt
  I used DOS for a long time before Windows 3.1 was even on the scene. Thinking back, even when I was using Windows at first, I was always finding myself bringing up a command prompt to do things.
  Linux brings back some of that nostalgia, but it is so incredibly more capable and customizable than windows
- Apple isn't gonna have your back on this either you minds well run to foss forever if this is gonna be your Hill to die on
  
  minds well
  /c/boneappletea
  
  For sure, as long as that's a viable option for me, I'll do it, but if I don't have that option...
- Graphene OS is very nice and switching was really easy. Their instrucrions are great. Furthermore, I had a tablet I had an old device I switched to test before I did anything to my phone. I recently needed to switch it back, and the process was similarly just as easy.
  
  It's good to know that it's easily reversible of necessary

"We spent a lot of money on this, so you're going to have it."

Pls break Google up. Kthx
- Let's not stop at Google. Break them all up!
  
  Seize the means of production

Dammit don't make me switch to apple phones, I hate apple. I hate Google too but FFS all you need to do is stay out of my way and the one thing you continuously do is stand in my way...
GTFO of my way! Piss off with that AI crap that nobody asked for
- An ungoogled android variant has to be a lot lesser of an evil, no?
  
  Problem is that if you have a critical application (like banking) that relies on Google services you're SOL.
  It's Apple or Google at that point.
- The apple who recently put AI as the core element of their os?
- Apple is pushing AI even for their Mac lineup. Apple is a US company and had to be forced to allow Sideloading in select regions. Jumping to another US company seems like a lateral move.
  Moving to dumb phones or custom ROMs is the best alternative available.
- You dont have to switch phones entirely, and you're better off if you dont. iCrap is still far worse than anything Google is coming out with.
  Just switch to a different dialer/phone app to replace "Phone" and a different SMS/MMS app to replace 'Messages". I've used "Should I Answer" in the past for my default phone app, and I currently use QKSMS for texting.

Gemini depends on the Google app, disable it, and it dies.
Have you noticed how the Google app, the one that supposedly just does search and list news articles, has like 400 MB? Over time it accumulated 2GB cache... how?
- I recently tried using the Google Translate image translator. Totally locked up now, requiring Play Store and Google App. Still didn't work, but is was seriously just "if you don't give us everything now, we won't do basic shit for you."
  
  Use Yandex or in use google images in the browser.

In the absence of being able to switch to Graphene (Don't own a pixel), I've done everything I can to replace Google Apps with FOSS alternatives, and disabled Google Assistant on my device entirely.
I know none of that will stop a determined Google eventually fucking with me, but at least I'm trying.
I'm so damned tired of the modern corporate world.
- I know that they might not be as secure as GrapheneOS, but you should totally give LineageOS or /e/OS a try, as they're both not limited to Pixels. I haven't tested them myself however, since I am a Graphene user. The most I ever tried with one of them was testing ROMs by installing LineageOS on my old Moto G7 play.
  
  I usually move to Lineage once my two year warranty is up, just in case.
  I know that by law hardware manufacturers can't deny hardware warranty based on your software (at least where I'm from...I worked in for one of the big three telco's up here in Canada)
  But I'd rather not have that argument with the manufacturer, so I wait for it to run out. If my phone has a rom available I run that until the hardware dies and then I upgrade.
- Yet we keep empowering them with every purchase we make and half of the consumer base will never see an issue doing so. Some purchases we have no choice but to make, and that's where they really have control of our lives. They seized the means of production, distribution and access of things necessary for life and leverage access to those necessities for access to more parts of our private lives. The majority appear to be naive morons who will happily sell all of us down the river for more camera filters and some pretty shoes. Basically, toys. We are losing our rights, our privacy, and control of our lives in exchange for toys...
  
  Consumer activism, by itself, has rarely, if ever, accomplished anything.
  The best recent examble was Tesla, but that wasn't a mere non-buying action. Tesla action involved vandalism and a massive word of mouth campaign.
  Basically if we want to fight for a future we believe in, we must stop playing patty cakes and fight like it's a life and death struggle.
  Symbolic resistance is not enough.
  Don't get me wrong, I still avoid buying Nestle products, and have for years, but I know this is not the way to real change.
  I want us to stop suggesting consumer activism as a valid pathway to change.
- Did you find a Google Drive alternative? I'm strongly considering Peergos, but still kinda shopping around.
  
  Nextcloud sucks in many ways, but it is functional and works for me.
  
  I just use Syncthing. No cloud, just keeps any folders I choose on any devices synced with one another. Never had a problem, and while the files yes accessible on the internet technically, they're not stored anywhere except the devices that have access to them. Works like a charm.

Saying "You're not alone" is supposed to be a wholesome thing to show someone that you care. Instead, it's AI companies squeezing as much data out of customers and injecting as much AI into everything they can.
Society really took a wrong turn didn't it?
- No, Google is using their influence and our reliance to steer society. Please don't forget how passive language enables the worst abusers.
  
  You're right, I'm an abuse enabler because I made an observation about companies being shitty. Very well said.
- Society really took a wrong turn didn’t it?
  Society has been circling the drain since the invention of agriculture...

Remember when Google+ was the future?
- I wish it had been. Circles were so much better than FB groups etc
  
  Ya it was pretty good. It was also pretty great for all the niche community groups. It had great photography, music, open source software, I remember Bernie Sanders was big early on on Google+ well before he ran for president. Google+ was the shit compared to Facebook/Instagram/Twitter. Google just fumbled by giving up on it too soon and not recognizing how good they had it with the photography and hobby interests groups. Their best shot at competing with Instagram and Twitter
- I remember. But don't quote me on that. Actually, I guess no one can quote me on it, it was in a discussion on Google Wave, anyway.
  
  Google Wave was actually pretty awesome. Google just had no idea what to do with it and it was too heavy for phones of the time.
- no
  
  Come on people don't spoil sport this, it was funny!

Laughs in eu
- Laughs in degoogled android
  
  Cries in non-eu, non-degoogled android

“Google is making it easier for Google to pry into your personal data.”
“Water is making it easier for water to make you wet.”

So there's an opt-out.
The article seems concerned that the email announcing this doesn't include a specific path to the opt-out right in the email (which is a weird concern, considering the email provides two links to... presumably that information)?
I'm not sure what this means, either, but it seems the "whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off" line is saying that you can still have Gemini send texts for you even if you disable Google storing your apps usage server-side? I don't use Gemini as an assistant, so I'm not sure, but looking at the Gemini settings menu on my Android phone that's what it seems to map to.
- My interpretation is that you can leave activity off i.e., your interactions are not saved. I may be wrong, but as I'm not interested in it for now, I'm not going to check either.
  
  Right. They have an opt-out for Gemini storing your in-app activity, which I believe is a requirement to get the assistant to be able to do things in the app. This seems to say you may be able to interact with some messaging apps even if you opt out (presumably they would have a rebuilt way to interact with those that doesn't store any of your data?).

I've not received any mails or notifications. Though I don't use Gemini at all. Or Google Assistant. Or any assistant.
- I don't use them either, but still got the email.
  
  Same. My only use is accidental.
  Guess I'm should get around to disabling it.

IMO, when Google lost most public support, it really started going downhill because the people who wanted to profit the business as much as possible became more determinant than those that were still trying to throttle the company due to ethical considerations. When a company gets criticized for everything it does, its decline increases significantly. Add to that it exists under the US government and how that has completely fallen to corruption.
- When a company gets criticized for everything it does, its decline increases significantly.
  Gives me hope for the future of MS then! Maybe they will decline themselves out of dominance.

I don't have Gemini loaded to my phone and I have Google assistant voice command disabled
But a few days ago I was having a conversation with my son next to me on the couch with my phone sitting on the arm of the couch.
When I asked him a question, gemini answered with a prompt on the screen I have never seen before and haven't since.
It still creeps me out
I looked up what the prompt for gemini is supposed to lol like and this looked nothing like that. It looked more like a popup dialogue box from a browser but the only browser I use is opera and it is set as default
- Yeah a couple of weeks ago Google secretly activated Gemini on every Pixel user's phone. I ran into the same problem, my phone suddenly activated and Gemini popped up interrupting a song that I was playing while I was away from my phone. Ended up screwing up the song and having it repeat over and over and over.
- Iirc internal browsers for apps default to a system browser not to your chosen one

So is Gemini on there as an app? It isn't listed as such on my phone
- Yes, it's on there. I have a phone, never downloaded or installed Gemini, but because it's a motorola with a special extra button... I can push that button and up pops Gemini.
  The only way I can stop it is by disabling the Google app, then the button becomes innert again (which is how I like it).
  So yes, it's embedded in the Google app. Disabling the Google app may aslo cause other issues (such as Google Home/Chromecast not working).
  
  Doesn't the motorola phone have a settings screen for defining what the button does? For Samsung they like to re-purpose the power button.
  First of all, it brought up bixby. I turned it back to powering off the phone and disabled bixby.
  Then, with the new update they re-assigned the power button to gemini. So, I turned it back to powering off the phone and disabled gemini too.
  However, the problem these days is that I'm never completely sure I've turned off all of the AI nonsense on my phone.
  
  Thank you. I disabled the google app (which I tbh low key don't know what it even does)

Apple has been seriously underperforming on their AI strategy.
Really makes it easy to keep using their devices.
- It’s also nice because I can just turn that shit off with one toggle.

Well I guess I’m glad I moved over to apple. But I guess the enshitification of all our phones is coming soon.
- Yeah only reason Apple hasn't done it is because they haven't figured out a way to connect it all to its ecosystem.
  Like they say, the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
  
  Actually, the apple climbs up the tree and claims it made it
- switch to grapheneos unless you're in the eu
  
  I was writing a comment that my device is unsupported and all the supported pixel phones are flagship priced. Then I decided to check my work and look it up.
  Long story short I have a refurbished pixel 6 on the way, it was cheaper than my current phone was.

Few years ago I got a Nest Secure to go with my other Google Nest gear. One day Google emailed me to tell me Assistant was now enabled on my security system. Oh, by the way, it has an undocumented microphone!
That’s when I realized what a privacy nightmare Google really is. I know Apple isn’t great but come on.

Maybe this gives me a false sense of security but I bought the adguard pro on social stack (I think...). I just turn all of the connections off on gemini, meta and Bixby. Like this
- Why do you keep Gemini installed? Does it even work offline?
  
  I assume it's better to leave it and have it not work, then them sneak it on without me knowing or baking it into something else
  
  Android users won't have a choice after a while.
  I didn't want Google Now. Uninstalled it, and it's back and updated. Been fighting for years.

This headline format makes me irrationally annoyed.
They shouldn't be making assumptions about what the reader thinks. It almost feels like they're planting a bias first and then presenting the facts - instead of just laying things out and letting people make up their own minds.

What about LineageOS?
My guess is the problematic parts here aren't open source so they should never show up in Lineage OS?

Just... Disable it. You can switch to the old assistant.
- until google decides thats not allowed either
  
  That'll be the day I switch phones.
  
  Yup, but for now it's a solution
- I wish I knew how. Did this several times already, it always magically turns back on after a couple of weeks.
  
  Oh god, please don't say that.
- The article says that they are changing their policy so that even if you turn it off it will still be feeding your actions to AI.
  Read the article yo.
  
  You have to have Gemini itself enabled as your assistant on your phone for that.
- I've got them both turned off lol

is gemini on all androids? i remember there once was something called bixby, now when i accidentally hold the home button for too long it tells me to enable "circle". i've disabled all of those "smart" features but fuck knows what is going to get automatically installed in an update next week
- Bixby is, or used to be, on Samsung phones.
  
  Gemini replaced removedxby on the latest Samsungs.
  It's in the firmware.
  With the S25 series they even give you a year of full subscription.
  \ They made it the centrepiece of the launch event of the product line.
  Galaxy devices now come with Gemini, your powerful AI assistant from Google. Long press the power button to get started.
  The Samsung's front is called "Galaxy AI" but Gemini runs every new feature really - including "cross-apps actions".
  \ (The non-obsolete Bixby features retained the name but are part of Galaxy AI now.)
  But even with everything off One UI 7 (and Samsung apps, like camera) is still littered with AI buttons.
  youtube.com/HinL5jCy_oI&t=1270
  \ (Gemini is now the default action for long-pressing the power button)
- Bixby is/was Samsung's assistant thing. Unrelated to Google's Gemini

Too bad we can't get a Linux OS.

At least so far Samsung is letting me disable Gemini, as I try to do to any bloatware I don't want running in the background.
- I have a Pixel phone im bout to throw in the river
  
  Why not throw graphene or another alternative on it (if supported) instead of turning it into e-waste?
  
  I can't bring myself to use a Pixel because I don't trust Google-everything. I have so much to say, and yet I've said it a thousand times already. So I'm just gonna sigh.
  And yes, I know I'm on Android either way.
  
  Second that, graphene os is really nice. I have all my intrusive work apps like team, google play stuff on a separate profile and my maim profile has all the private data and contacts. Just watch a yt for setup and follow website instructions, take maybe a few hours to set up.
  
  get grapheneos!!
  
  boo! custom roms!

If this happens, can we please all make a protest or petition with the FCC?

This has got to be a prank.
- Every new stupid implementation of AI feels like a prank.

So it's still Your device not Gemini device. I'll wait couple of years.

so this has got me looking at alternative OSs, but it's all a bit confusing. which one is most mature and would still let me run android apps (I want my bank apps and stuff like that) but is also somewhat de-googled? I appreciate any advice
- You would have to test how strict your bank app is.
  GrapheneOS, /e/ os, and LineageOS
  Would be the first ones I'd reach for.

Can't you just delete Gemini with Canta?

this can be great for a disabled person i guess, i wonder if it works locally in a degoogled way
- If there's two things that have been consistent over time with the recent LLM and AI craze, is that it have some good, helpful applications for people with disabilities, and that none of the big players are looking into them. Some are actively working against them. Probably because it's harder to monetize "living" from a PR perspective.
- probably not, unless you add certain services back onto your phone. currently, gemini needs the google workspace to do anything, even something like setting a timer or reminder. i obviously dont know what change they make with that announcement, but i dont think they would offer such a feature without sucking the user deep into the google service world.

im using OP12R and uses google, but i dont if it has gemini as integrated in it as a pixel does?

It's conforting that I wasn't the only one who found this concerning. But anyways I don't have Google (the app; I do have some other Google services installed) or Gemini installed.

My wife has been trying to get me to switch to Apple since Ive had a Droid X years ago. I've been on android since. It is time to switch. Probably a lateral move, but Google has gone to absolute shit.
- Try lineage or graphene before jumping into the money pit maybe?
- You can turn it off by going to Settings > apps > default apps > digital assistant > Google > none.
  You should disable the Google app entirely while you're at it.

Won't be using any of those apps.

I don't feel very concerned... That's kind of the point of the service.
Good that there's an opt-out.
edit: I dug around for it. They seem to mean the literal "Apps" settings page and not the "Settings" page. Every individual app that Gemini is capable of connecting to has a switch there. In Gemini, press your profile picture, then apps. In there you can both access the activity setting and decide which apps Gemini has access to.
- Good that there’s an opt-out.
  A supposed opt-out
  
  Well, yeah. I haven't actually seen this email yet in my personal inbox, ~~nor have I found the opt out personally. Google is kinda weird with their staggered rollouts but I figure it'll turn up. I'm on a Pixel, so anything else would be quite odd.~~
  edit: seems to be in the top right corner of Gemini, press your profile picture and then apps. That's where the settings are. You can opt out of Gemini having access to any app in the list on an individual basis.

thats what you get when using software from US corpo. all your reasons to have apple and google are fake. convenience and laziness are the reason we use them. i mean if you use whatsapp youre a subhuman why care about gemini. thats the path to idiocracy.