If the Gemini app is not installed, it can’t do this right
I’m rather confused. I don’t have any app called Gemini installed, but despite this “Hey Google” brings up Gemini. So I have no app to disable, and no way to turn off interaction with other apps. This is on a Samsung A55 in Europe, happily taking advice on how to proceed.
Exactly. It is an odd advice - disable something you had to install first just to disable?
It installed itself as part of an update package.
I was fully expecting that, but since enshittification recently intensified (Android 15’s bluetooth settings are a giant step back in usability), neither google play nor system in general nor anything from motorola has internet access on my phone, I send everything through RethinkVPN (from f-droid) and block all internet access except for apps that I explicitly allow. I’m just not updating anything except periodically Signal, IronFox and PipePipe.
Update of what? Android or something else?
It must be an Android update as that’s all I ever do, and I never installed Gemini. I just checked and it was there, with permissions to access WhatsApp and multiple other apps. I just removed all the permissions and disabled the app. We’ll see if any future updates turn it back on.
Shhhhhneeeeeky bastards.
Pro tip: you can probably uninstall Gemini via ADB. Android won’t let you uninstall it using your phone’s UI, but since it’s just another package you can probably use the old ADB tricks to wipe it from your phone. Use your favorite search engine to figure out how, it’s not exactly a secret.
Or if you prefer GUI on device apps, Shizuku and then use Cantata
Good that I don’t do any updates apart from some apps.
Yes. It was bundled as part of either a system or security update.
It was bundled as part of either a system or security update.
🤣🤣🤣 This is brilliant, I dedicate that to “updates good” crowd.
In the case of my fully updated pixel 9 pro XL, Gemini was installed from the factory. I uninstalled it and installed Google Assistant. It has not re-installed itself for me, and further, I would recommend that if you don’t use Gemini, you uninstall it.
This may change once the July patch hits but. As of right now it’s not currently installed.
In my case (Galaxy S21) I can only disable it, not uninstall.
In my case it doesnt appear in the App drawer but when I opened assistant it offered me switching to Gemini, which I did. Then within it, went to Apps to disable integrations like WhatsApp which by default was ON. Same with SMS and others.
Me on my de-googled phone:
Yeah, and it’s presumptious of them to access the WhatsApp account I don’t have…
And to want to access my calendars to book appointments for flights I can’t afford
Not that I support this, but hasn’t Google Assistant been able to do that for years? Sending texts via the voice assistant has been, like, one of the main selling points.
They’d have to install it first.
I remember getting flamed so hard for saying that Google/android was incredibly invasive tech. I was laughed at, called an apple fanboy and accused of schilling.
Sadly, it looks like I’m the one laughing now.
I got a privacy update for Gmail tools too. It used to be to enable smart tools you needed to allow google to read your email. That does stuff like automatically add calendar events for flights and such.
Now you must also allow the email to be read by their AI services too. I can’t recall precisely how it was worded, but it was an easy decision to keep the “smart” features off.
I mean, I really just use Gmail as the email address I give to sign up for sites and such, but would be good just not to have it one day.
I haven’t turned it on. Am I safe?
Nop. Disable it in the settings/apps
I cannot find it as an app in the app listing.
I find it only through search in settings, and it opens a screen - asking to activate it.
It seems weird.
Don’t go and manually install it.
The misinformation about this has been wild.
deleted by creator
Nope
Kinda seems fucking stupid
I can’t find Gemini on my phone.
It’s absolutely there,it relaced assistant…
deleted by creator
Hopefully unintalling and disabling is actually doing something. I feel like they are just tricking us and you can’t really disable it.
I’m pretty sure I disabled/removed it when I got this phone. I don’t specifically remember doing it but when I get a new phone, I watch some YouTube videos on how to purge all the crap I don’t want.
I read an article that mentioned using command line stuff to eliminate it and it kind looked familiar. I think I did this. I really should write stuff down.
deleted by creator
Privacy-conscious Indians are gonna have a nightmare. Indians excessively use whatsapp.
These instructions are awful. There’s no Gemini listed in my apps, and Settings > Apps doesn’t show it either. But if I search for “Gemini” in settings, THEN it shows up, but doesn’t have access to anything the article says to do.
However, from that screen, I was able to apparently turn off its access to everything, and switch back to assistant, which appears to have turned it off completely, but who knows if it’s still lurking in the background.
