Google garnered quite a bit of backlash when it previously suggested the Pixel 8 wouldn’t get Gemini Nano, thus disallowing its base smartphone from on-device AI features. However, it recently went back on that decision, saying that it would actually bring AI features to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a after all. Now, reports indicate that Gemini Nano may soon be rolling out to the Pixel 8. The AI features themselves don't seem to be available just yet, but the option to enable them is, so it's a good idea to lay that groundwork now before the features actually roll out.
While many updates to your device might automatically have new features enabled by default, the Pixel 8's Gemini Nano features need to be enabled. That’s because the features that Nano will offer weren’t technically activated on the device’s chip just yet. To get around this, Google has now added a toggle that will turn on Gemini, but you’ll have to access the Android AICore features on your phone to set it up.
How to activate Gemini on Pixel 8
To activate Gemini on Pixel 8, you’ll first need to enable developer settings. To do this, navigate to Settings > About Phone and find the build number in the list (it’s down near the bottom).
Tap the build number seven times. You should see a popup saying that developer mode has been enabled.
To activate Gemini on Pixel 8, navigate to Settings > System > Developer options > AICore Settings.
If you have the toggle available on your phone, it should appear as an option in the list that reads Enable on-device Gemini features.
Tap the toggle to turn it on, and boom, you’ve activated Gemini features.
So what does that do exactly? Unfortunately, right now, it doesn’t really do anything. Google hasn’t released any of the on-device Gemini features to the Pixel 8, so we’ll need to wait for Google to add them to the device in a future Android Feature Drop—speaking of, Google just dropped eight new features in May’s feature drop.
Until the Gemini features actually release, this toggle doesn’t appear to do anything. But, having it enabled will prepare your device for any future feature releases ahead of time.
