Google moves to make Gemini AI more visual to challenge OpenAI’s ‘Sora’

 Staff Reporter | PNN:

After OpenAI’s video editing app Sora topped the U.S. App Store charts, Google is planning significant visual updates to its Gemini AI app to make it more appealing. The tech giant is reportedly experimenting with redesigning the Gemini app’s user interface (UI), moving away from the traditional chatbot style to a scrollable feed-based layout. This new feed will offer users visually engaging suggestions for various tasks.

The Android app analysis website Android Authority recently spotted these changes in the new version of the Gemini Android app, although they are not yet publicly available. By reverse-engineering the app’s code, the new home screen reveals shortcut buttons like “Create Image” and “Deep Research” at the top, followed by a scrollable feed with image-rich prompts.

A Google spokesperson said regarding these changes, “There is nothing to announce at this moment.”

Examples of prompts seen in the new feed include:

“Teleport me to deep space”

“Give me a vintage or grunge look”

“Turn my drawing into a storybook”

Other colorful, suggestion-based prompts also appeared, such as “Brainstorm out loud with Live” and “Send me a daily news roundup”.

The goal of this update is to guide users with specific prompts, encouraging them to explore AI capabilities rather than having to figure them out independently. At the same time, the redesign makes the Gemini app more attractive and user-friendly.

If fully implemented, these changes could pose a significant challenge to OpenAI’s ChatGPT app, which still opens with a mostly blank interface. Google’s move could also leverage the popularity of its new AI image model, Nano Banana. Notably, thanks to Nano Banana, the Gemini app briefly reached the top of the App Store in September, before being overtaken by Sora.