Android unveils major design overhaul, new features, and deeper AI integration with Gemini

Android on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) has announced a suite of design updates and new features aimed at enhancing user experience, personalisation, and efficiency across its diverse platforms. The announcements also highlighted a deeper integration of Google’s AI model, Gemini, into the core Android experience and its broader ecosystem.

During a select media briefing, the product executives detailed Android’s renewed focus on personalisation. Users can expect updated colour themes, more responsive interface components, and emphasised typography, not only on Android smartphones and tablets but also extending to Wear OS. 

Key improvements include a refined home screen grid for better organisation, customisable quick settings for tailored access, and a commitment to efficient software updates that promise not to compromise battery life. Additionally, Android will introduce “glanceable live updates,” allowing users to easily track orders and access real-time information directly.

The company emphasised the increasingly central role of Gemini within the Android experience. It showcased the capabilities of Gemini Live, teasing upcoming demonstrations of its seamless integration with camera and screen sharing functionalities. This integration is poised to deliver a more interactive and intuitive user interface, allowing Gemini to understand and respond to visual context.

Expanding on the AI front, the company announced the widespread integration of Gemini into various Android platforms. This includes bringing Gemini’s conversational AI to smartwatches, Android Auto, Google TV, and the burgeoning Android XR platform. The move aims to provide users with hands-free assistance for a wide range of tasks, from answering questions and retrieving information while driving or watching TV, to navigating immersive experiences. The company also noted Google’s ongoing collaboration with Samsung to bring Android XR to a wider audience.

These collective updates and integrations mark a significant step forward for Android. The company is clearly focused on delivering a more personalised, efficient, and secure user experience across its entire ecosystem, leveraging the power of AI to create more intuitive and helpful interactions.