How to Enable Gemini Nano on Pixel 8 and 8a

Google released Gemini Nano for their Pixel 8 Pro a while back, but the feature was shelved for Pixel 8 due to hardware limitations. This decision was later revised due to online backlash. The feature has arrived for the Pixel 8 and 8a smartphones with the June 2024 feature drop update. But it is not active by default. In this guide, we’ll show how to enable Gemini Nano on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a.

What is Gemini Nano?

Gemini Nano is a lightweight version of Google’s generative AI model. This will reside within your smartphone, eliminating the need to frequently contact the server every time you need a response from the AI. The responses will be faster, and it will play a big role later down the line, enabling AI features on different apps and services on your phone.

How to Enable Gemini Nano on Pixel 8 and 8a

Unlike the Pixel 8 Pro, Gemini Nano is not turned on by default in Pixel 8 and 8a devices. It is hidden within the AI core settings and needs to be turned on. Here is how you can do it.

1. On your Pixel device, turn on the Developer options by tapping on your Build Number seven times. You can access this section by navigating to Settings > About Phone.
2. Inside the Settings app, go to System > Developer options.
3. Here, scroll down to AICore Settings under the “Debugging” section.
4. Turn on the Enable on-device GenAI Features toggle.

You’ve now successfully enabled Gemini Nano on your Pixel device.

What Is Gemini Nano Capable Of?

At the time of writing this article, there is not much you can do with Gemini Nano on your phone. But according to Google’s Store page, a couple of features using on-device AI are available for some users right now. Let’s take a look at them.

• Transcribe and Summaries in Recorder: The Google Recorder app can understand and transcribe your recordings to text accurately using Gemini Nano. On Pixel 8 Pro, it can even create a summary of the transcription.
• Smart Compose in Google Messages: The Smart Compose feature in Google Messages also takes advantage of Gemini Nano, quickly changing what you wrote to different tones and styles.
• Image Descriptions with Talkback: This feature will help describe an image to a blind or visually impaired person using the Talkback accessibility option. It will be available when Gemini Nano receives multi-modality.

At Google I/O 2024, it was revealed the multi-modal capability is coming to Gemini Nano. This will allow it to accept voice and image-based inputs as well. You can read in-depth about it in this story. In its current state, it can only understand text-based input.

This is how you can enable Gemini Nano on a Pixel 8 and 8a. I’m glad that Google is providing on-device AI capabilities to even its lower-priced A-series device this time. If you have any doubts regarding this article, then do reach out to us in the comments below.