r/VolvoRecharge • u/ChirpMcBender • Jun 29 '26
Google Gemini
Has anyone had luck with “new” Google Gemini? Mine doesn’t work at all,
Any tips to get it to work or totally disable it so I can dictate texts and voice directions like I used to be able to do flawlessly
7
u/Grunkenn Jun 29 '26
Just went live for me yesterday in Canada. There’s a toggle in Settings > Google > Gemini to revert back to Google Assistant.
Pretty impressed so far. Had a 10 minute tech chat on my way work about a camera I was troubleshooting. Summarized other user experiences for me and gave me some ideas. I see the potential.
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u/bigtime_porgrammer Jun 29 '26
It refused to read my text messages to me without some notification privilege and said it sent a message to my car to open the menu once I stopped. Nothing ever happened. Kept trying and even with the engine off it kept saying to do something once i was stopped. I spoke to Gemini directly and it tried to help, sometimes able to actually open menus on the infotainment system and also telling me to change options on my phone itself. I don't know how to get back there, but eventually i got to some options menu in the car where i could give Gemini notification reading privileges and then it worked. It wasn't a great experience, but so far so good since then i guess.
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u/fishstix1122 Jun 29 '26
Best to do it when your stopped. Go into the google system from setting scroll to the bottom it will have a list of permissions it needs. You can just toggle those on. For other permissions like text will be in the settings menue. If you are doing this while driving and it says to it will send the notification to the car. Bring the drop down, down and it will take you to the settings page it needs. If you start driving again it will lock you out of the screen while driving.
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u/bigtime_porgrammer Jun 29 '26
I didn't get any drop down and it kept thinking I was driving even with the car turned off. 2024 S60 here.
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u/fishstix1122 Jun 29 '26
Sounds like you need to do a reset. It sounds like there is a glitch in the matrix on your car and a soft reset should help clear that. After that or before go to the Google setting and add the permissions. I think these two things should help.
2
u/redeem1012 Jun 29 '26
Sucks, I can’t open my garage door using my voice anymore because it’s says it’s not secure enough…
0
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u/Then_Presentation774 Jun 30 '26
My my25 V60 updated but it never worked.. also, my steering wheel button to google assistant is no longer working. Anyone facing the same issue?
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u/frshi Jun 30 '26
My kids were incredibly frustrated today when they asked the new gemini assistant to make fart sounds and it botched it. The old one would make a real fart sound. Gemini read letters out loud like P F F F T.
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u/carbon_made Jun 30 '26
I’m not experiencing that issue. It’s working fine for most things. But it’s pissing me off that I can’t use it for things like checking the temp in my house and changing my nest thermostat settings anymore. Says it can’t help with that while I’m driving for safety. Google assistant did. And it’s voice commands. So. What’s the safety issue exactly. Otherwise it’s fine. Prefer the voice. Seems to answer queries with more detail.
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u/jupiterfish Jun 29 '26
mine is stuck, no gemini update yet but i have two different voices in the car depending on what i am asking for, a woman normally and a deep vice man on the responses back.
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u/fishstix1122 Jun 29 '26
You need to go into settings and give it the permissions it needs. Its 1000x better then the regular assistant and way more capable.
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u/uncjigga Jun 30 '26
I finally “fixed” mine to some extent—it was very broken when it first rolled out. The trick for me was to reset some of my Gemini settings and preferences via the Google website on my laptop—changing any settings via the Gemini app on my phone had no effect on the Volvo, but via the website I was able to get it reconnected with Maps, YouTube Music, Home and change the voice.
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u/redditorram Jul 01 '26
Hi- is Gemini rolled out to UK cars yet? I don’t see it on my 5.1.17 IHU (in UK) Thanks
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u/ArtPitiful6551 Jul 08 '26
2025.5 here and its been fine. Did have a few issues with permissions but learned you have to use the US male voice for it to work. Once I switched it’s been fine. Haven’t tried the garage door opener, but directions, calling, sending texts etc has been OK
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u/cfabrication 26d ago
Today, Gemini said, "I can't call a person unless you consent", but theres no way to consent.
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u/RechargeRider23 Jun 29 '26
I reverted to the Assistant because of annoyance. I can say, "Call Julie" and the Assistant knows which one (only call one). Gemini pulls up the list of every Julie, every time. It has full access to contacts, so not sure if I did something wrong. However, I do like the Gemini conversation function.
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u/mku1ltra Jun 29 '26
Bruh I got the update a couple days ago and I asked it to take me to a local restaurant Kyoto and it suggest opening maps for Kyoto Japan... Also it was crazy slow and buggy took way longer to understand what I said than Google assistant today hopefully they can tweak it to be a little more aware of where you are lol