Key Highlights
- Google Gemini is testing a new, visually engaging, scrollable home screen interface.
- The new interface features an “Instagram-like” feed of suggested prompts to show the AI chatbot’s capabilities
- The goal is to make the app more visually appealing and help users quickly understand what Gemini can do
- If rolled out, the dynamic interface could give Gemini a significant advantage over rivals like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, which currently have more minimalistic designs.
Google’s Gemini, the tech giant’s multi-modal AI chatbot, is reportedly gearing up for a significant visual refresh. While competing platforms like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Perplexity have traditionally favored a stark, minimal user interface often just a text box on a white background Google appears to be taking a different approach. With the AI landscape constantly evolving and rivals like OpenAI making waves across app stores, Google seems to be recognizing the need to make Gemini not just powerful, but also visually engaging and instantly instructive.
The proposed change centers on a redesigned home screen, moving away from the bare-bones setup to a more dynamic, scrollable interface. This potential update, discovered through an APK teardown and reported by Android Authority, suggests Google is focusing on user education and accessibility right from the moment the app is opened.
An “Instagram-like” Feed of Possibilities
The most striking change is the introduction of a new scrollable feed of prompts. Imagine opening your Gemini app to see a curated, constantly updating stream of ideas and suggested tasks, much like scrolling through a social media feed. This “Instagram-like” design is a clear departure from the standard conversational AI model.
The goal here seems to be two-fold: to provide a constant source of inspiration and to explicitly demonstrate Gemini’s diverse capabilities. The current minimalistic interfaces of most chatbots, while clean, can leave new users staring at a blank screen, unsure of what to ask or what the AI can truly accomplish. Google’s proposed solution addresses this “blank canvas anxiety” head-on.
Examples of the kind of prompts reportedly being tested include fun, creative, and academic uses:
- “Teleport me to deep space”
- “Give me a vintage grunge look”
- “Quiz me on basic biology”
These prompts are carefully designed to showcase different facets of Gemini’s technology, highlighting its ability in:
- Image Generation: Creating visual assets (e.g., “vintage grunge look”).
- Coding and Complex Tasks: (Not explicitly mentioned in the examples above, but hinted at in the report).
- Educational and Research Support: Generating quizzes and summaries (e.g., “Quiz me on basic biology”).
- Creative Storytelling and Role-playing: (e.g., “Teleport me to deep space”).
In addition to the prompt feed, the redesigned home screen is also expected to feature a welcome message and quick access shortcuts to essential tools such as “Create Image” and “Deep Research.” These shortcuts would place Gemini’s most powerful, multi-modal features one tap away, significantly enhancing the user experience.
A Strategic Edge in the AI Wars
While the new interface isn’t yet live and was only enabled by a reverse engineer examining the app code, its potential rollout could give Gemini a clear competitive advantage. The current generation of AI chatbots is in a heated race not just for computational power but also for mainstream user adoption. In this context, user experience is paramount.
By making the interface more visually appealing and instructive, Google is essentially lowering the barrier to entry for complex AI interaction. Users won’t have to guess what’s possible; the app will show them. This is a subtle yet powerful strategy to drive deeper engagement and encourage users to utilize Gemini’s more advanced, multi-modal features the very features that set it apart from text-only models.
This move follows other recent successes for the platform. Google Gemini, for example, recently secured the number one spot on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store charts in India. This popularity surge came just after the tech giant rolled out the “Nano Banana” editing update, a feature that reportedly saw over 500 million uses since its introduction, demonstrating a massive appetite for accessible, creative AI tools.
Furthermore, Google is aggressively integrating Gemini into its core products, most notably by adding it to Chrome, bringing advanced agentic AI capabilities directly into the world’s most popular web browser. The visual refresh of the mobile app would thus align with Google’s broader strategy to position Gemini as the central, indispensable layer of its digital ecosystem.
The Waiting Game
The big question remains: when will this redesigned interface go live? Since the discovery was made via an APK teardown, it means the features are in development but not guaranteed for release, and a rollout timeline is completely unknown.
However, the intention is clear. Google is no longer satisfied with a minimalist AI experience. It’s aiming to give Gemini a unique, visually rich, and highly functional identity one that educates users on the true breadth of its AI capabilities while making the app feel modern and intuitive. If and when this change rolls out, it could fundamentally shift how everyday users interact with AI chatbots, transforming a utility into a truly engaging and explorative experience.
