Is Gemini listening to you? Android users raise new concerns

A growing number of Android and Pixel owners say Gemini has started interjecting in everyday conversations out of nowhere, even with standard hotword detection switched off.

The reports point to a possible cause: hands-free assistant access quietly enabled by default inside Google Maps and Waze driving modes.

Another user named Flat_Marsupial_4249 shared an experience where he got scared when his Gemini on a Pixel 9a unexpectedly interrupted him during a conversation with his friend while they were travelling.

It was not shocking simply because it started to talk without being prompted but because of the fact that its answer was directly related to the topic of their discussion, which might have meant that the assistant was actively listening to them rather than reacting to some word.

The commenters of this post noted that hands-free access to the assistant is provided when you use Google Maps and driving modes in Waze. Apparently, many people disabled this option consciously but then found out that after an update it became enabled again.

Concerned individuals may look into their configurations in Google Maps by clicking on their profile photo and navigating to Settings > Navigation > Gemini > Uncheck "Talk to Gemini hands-free". There is also an option in that same menu called Manage Voice Match through which users can disable Voice Match completely.