Google Search is rolling out handy new floating controls for its live AI chat on Android

If you have been using the AI Mode features in Google Search, especially the cool “Search Live” chat, you might have noticed something new popping up on your Android phone. This change makes it much easier to keep track of your ongoing AI chat, even when you move away from the main screen.

Before this update, when you left a Search Live conversation, Google would only show a standard notification in your phone’s tray. It worked fine, but it wasn’t the most convenient way to jump back in. Now, Google has added a much more helpful tool.

When you leave the full-screen chat, you will now see a small, floating bubble—sometimes called a ‘pill’—at the bottom of your screen. Think of it like a little shortcut that floats over everything else you’re doing. This bubble has the “Live” icon wrapped in a rotating, four-color ring, and right next to it, you can see how long the current session has been going on.

This new control is very straightforward to use. If you tap anywhere on this little bubble, the AI conversation instantly pops back up in full screen. It also has a couple of quick buttons. There’s a microphone icon that lets you instantly mute the conversation, and a simple ‘x’ button that you can tap to end the Search Live session completely.

However, there are a couple of small things to note about this new feature. Right now, you can’t drag the bubble to a different spot on your screen, and you also can’t drag it down to close it, which is a common gesture for floating windows on Android.

This new setup feels a lot more organized and handy. It’s also interesting because it’s different from how Google handles its Gemini Live feature, which uses a notification that looks more like an actual phone call in your status bar. It seems like a smart way to manage these growing conversational tools.

We are seeing this useful update appear for people running the stable Google app version 16.43 on Android phones. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, make sure your Google app is up-to-date!