Gemini coming to side button
Samsung has revealed that it will be bringing Google’s Gemini AI assistant to Galaxy A smartphones.
While I generally quite like the Samsung Galaxy A56, one of my own pet peeves with the phone is that a long press of the side button (used for the power/wake function) brings up Samsung’s unloved Bixby assistant.
That would make perfect sense, if it weren’t for the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S25 series swapped that out for the vastly superior Google Gemini AI assistant a couple of months prior.
Now Samsung has announced that it’s belatedly bringing the same function over to its Galaxy A series.
Samsung’s Galaxy A Gemini announcement
“With this update,” says Samsung in a recent Newsroom post, “users will be able to enjoy smarter AI experiences, including launching Gemini, Google’s AI-powered assistant, by simply pressing and holding the side button”.
Samsung points out that it took steps to bring more of its AI (that’s ‘Awesome Intelligence’ in this instance) features to more people with the Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
Samsung’s AI Select helps you pull information from and manipulate text and images on-screen, while Read Aloud reads out on-screen copy, provided you’re happy using Samsung’s native web browser and Bixby’s stilted voice.
However, the main deal with these latest Galaxy A phones, at least when it comes to AI, is very much Google’s Gemini (along with Circle to Search). Placing that power under your thumb should make it even more accessible in a pinch.
Samsung says that this new software update will start rolling out globally to select Galaxy A series models from early May. Given that it name-checks the Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G earlier in the post, we’re guessing that those latest phones will be first in line.
