Google needs to choose a hot word and stick with it

Whether you like it or not, Gemini is coming to your smartphone. Google plans to phase out Google Assistant on smartphones in favor of Gemini by the end of 2025, with other devices to follow suit. This will be a dramatic shift for people who have come to rely on Google Assistant over the years, and Google’s poor communication over what hotword will trigger Gemini is making matters more confusing.

Switching from “Hey, Google” to “Hey, Gemini” makes sense; it’s clear what service will respond with that keyword. However, the habit of saying “Hey, Google” will be hard to kick for many, including myself. Google is unclear about whether “Hey, Gemini” will coexist with or replace “Hey, Google,” but it must pick one for consistency. Either way, Google needs to streamline the onboarding for Gemini for a successful switch.

Google’s choice of hotword is important

Why is Google being mysterious about this critical choice?

The “Hey, Google” hotword isn’t without its critics. Many people get frustrated with using “Hey” as the hotword, as it’s easy to trigger Google Assistant accidentally. “Ok, Google” also triggers Google Assistant, but this hotword suffers from the same problem.

Nevertheless, we’ve been interacting with Google Assistant using “Hey, Google” since 2016. For people who use Google Assistant daily, a shift will be an awkward change, especially if you’re not enthusiastic about using Gemini to begin with.

Keeping “Hey, Google” as the hotword for Gemini is the choice that makes the most sense for Google’s users. If Google planned to maintain Assistant alongside Gemini, I could understand the need for two hotwords. One would get a quick response for a simple query, and one would trigger the conversational AI. But Google is killing off Assistant, and it needs to ensure the onboarding process for Gemini is as smooth as possible.

Switching to “Hey, Gemini” would reinforce Google’s message that Gemini is the future. While it’ll take people time to get used to the hotword, it’s the best decision for Google to get as many people using Gemini as possible. But most importantly, Google needs to pick one and stick with it. Unfortunately, this might not be the case.

Google might keep two hotwords, but why?

A change in hotword doesn’t need to be so confusing

Code strings in the latest beta version of the Google app have given us clues about the future of “Hey, Google.” There’s a lot of gibberish in this code, but it’s clear that Google is hinting at two hotwords. “Hey, Google” is mentioned throughout, alongside “Hey, %1$s” which is a placeholder for a new hotword, likely “Gemini.”

What’s confusing is how the code explains these features. For example, one line states that:

"...Gemini will stand by to hear “Hey Google,” “Hey %1$s,” and quick phrases like “stop” or “snooze.”"

This suggests that we can use either “Hey, Google” or “Hey, Gemini” to trigger Gemini. This could be interpreted as Google trying to please both camps. However, there would inevitably be confusion from people who aren’t prepared for the switch when they trigger Gemini without meaning to.

But this isn’t the whole story. Later in the code snippet, it states that:

"...Turn on “Hey %1$s” to talk things out with Gemini Live and “Hey Google” for quick actions and info by voice</string>"

This suggests that we can use Gemini Live or this mysterious “voice</string>” for answers. This could be Gemini, but possibly not. In Google’s blog post discussing the retirement of Google Assistant, the tech giant states that it will replace Google Assistant on smart home speakers with a “new experience, powered by Gemini.”

Gemini’s weakness at providing quick and succint answers and triggering simple actions is well documented. Two voice assistants on your device would let us pick the voice assistant best suited for our needs, but it’s a clumsy solution.

Instead, this code is probably a temporary solution as Google switches our devices from Google Assistant to Gemini. But it still leaves us with the question of what will happen to our hotwords.

Google needs to make its hotword switch as painless as possible

In the end, I don’t mind which hotword Google uses. I use “Gemini” less often in regular conversation, so a change to “Hey, Gemini” would cause fewer accidental triggers in my home. This looks like the most likely decision from Google, but things aren’t certain yet.

Keeping two hotwords would create confusion amongst Google’s customers. Gemini is still filled with flaws, and while the AI chatbot powers some of the best AI tools in 2025, it’s got a long way to go before we can rely on it. The smoother Google can make the onboarding process, the more likely people will be to forgive Gemini’s flaws. Picking a single hotword is the easiest step to make here, so why is Google being so obtuse?