At the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC), Google announced that its experimental Project Astra assistant is set for a wide release in March. It appears that the rollout has commenced, starting with Android devices and incrementally reaching users.
A Reddit user recently posted a demo showcasing a new functionality called “Share Screen With Live,” which activates the Gemini Assistant. Additionally, the Gemini Live interface has introduced two new capabilities for live video and screen sharing.
Google has confirmed to The Verge that the mentioned features are now on their way to users. Until now, Gemini’s capabilities have included contextual on-screen awareness through an “Ask about screen” feature.
For those unacquainted, Project Astra represents a cutting-edge form of AI that can interpret text, audio, images, videos, and real-time camera feeds. Greg Wayne, director of research at Google DeepMind, described it as a “little parrot on your shoulder” that interacts with you about the world around you.
When users activate the Gemini assistant and enable the Share Screen With Live feature within any application, it can examine the visible content on the screen and respond to inquiries based on that context. For instance, users might ask it to summarize an article, describe the activity in an app, or provide commentary during video playback.
One of the standout features is its world understanding system. Activating the Live mode allows users to access the camera feed directly. When the camera is pointed at an object, Gemini can recognize and respond to questions based on the visual input.
For example, users can direct the camera at a text passage, seek details about a monument, request home décor advice, or ask it to clarify problems written on a board or in a book. The enhancements from Gemini Live’s Project Astra are reminiscent of Apple’s Visual Intelligence on iPhones, as well as the open-source HuggingSnap app, which offers offline world comprehension capabilities.
Digital Trends received an early demonstration of Project Astra at the MWC earlier this year, experiencing an enhanced AI assistant option for smartphones. It’s important to note that the upgrades in the Gemini Live’s Project Astra will be available exclusively to those with a paid Gemini Advanced subscription.
As of now, the scope of the Project Astra update rollout seems relatively limited. Despite having a Gemini Advanced subscription through the Google One AI Premium bundle, I have yet to see the new features on my Pixel devices, which are running the latest stable version of Android 15 or the beta version of Android 16.
