Google’s Gemini Overlay Can Now Minimize Into a Floating Bubble on Android

Google is rolling out a Minimize control for the Gemini overlay on Android. Instead of keeping the assistant open while it works, users can collapse an active request into a floating Gemini-spark bubble, continue using other apps, and return when ready. The rollout appears to vary by user, so an updated Google app does not necessarily mean the control will be available immediately. 1

How Gemini’s new overlay bubble works

Start Gemini from its Android overlay and send a prompt. Immediately afterward, a centered Minimize button can appear above the overlay. Tapping it collapses Gemini into a small floating bubble while the request continues processing. 1

The bubble acts as a shortcut back to the same overlay conversation:

1. Tap the bubble to reopen Gemini and see the response or continue the chat.
2. Tap outside an open response to collapse the overlay back into the bubble.
3. Drag the bubble to reposition it along the screen edge.
4. Drag it to the dismiss target to remove it. 1

Google’s onboarding text describes the intended behavior simply: Gemini remains available while the user multitasks, and the bubble can be tapped to expand or dragged to move or dismiss. 1

Important limits and reported bugs

The bubble is useful, but it is not a fully free-floating Android window.

• Six placement options: It snaps only to the left or right edge at the top, middle, or bottom of the display. It cannot be dropped at an arbitrary location. 1
• Position may not persist: A reported issue sends the bubble back to the bottom-right after Gemini is minimized again, even if it was moved elsewhere. 1
• Back does not minimize: Using Android’s Back gesture closes the Gemini overlay rather than returning it to the bubble. If the goal is to preserve the conversation, tapping outside the response overlay is the safer route. 1

These restrictions make the feature best suited to short, in-progress prompts: send a request, get back to the task at hand, then reopen Gemini when the answer is ready.

From testing to a visible Minimize button

The public-facing workflow builds on several earlier Gemini-overlay experiments.

In June 2026, reporting described a bubble behavior in which tapping elsewhere after a Gemini overlay response could minimize the conversation into a spark-logo bubble. The bubble could then be tapped to restore the response and conversation. 5

Around the same period, an APK teardown found Google testing a dedicated “Minimize Gemini” button designed to let the assistant work while users kept using their phones. Because teardowns reveal code and test interfaces rather than confirmed release plans, that feature was not guaranteed to ship in the same form. 12

By September, the rollout combined those ideas into a more direct sequence: submit a prompt, select Minimize, and keep the conversation accessible as a floating shortcut. 1

How it differs from Android 17’s native Bubble option

The Gemini overlay bubble should not be confused with Android 17’s broader Bubble feature. Android 17 can place compatible apps into a floating window that stays accessible across the interface; reporting describes Gemini’s main app as one app that can use this system-level approach. 38

The distinction is practical:

• Gemini overlay bubble: A lightweight shortcut that preserves an overlay request and makes it easy to return to that conversation. 1
• Android 17 app Bubble: A system-level way to keep the fuller Gemini app available as a floating app window. 38

Where both are available, the overlay bubble is the quicker option for a single request you do not want to wait around for. Android 17’s Bubble option is better aligned with longer sessions in the full app.

Bottom line

Gemini’s Minimize button makes the Android overlay less interruptive: users can hand off a request, return to another app, and reopen Gemini from a bubble. For now, expect a staged rollout and some rough edges—especially the six-position layout, the reported bottom-right reset, and the fact that Back closes rather than minimizes the overlay. 1