Google has unveiled several features in recent months, but some have yet to see the light of day. While the Android ecosystem updates with Material 3, three announcements in particular remain pending: the floating toolbar for Google Photos, pill-shaped keys for Gboard, and Gemini Live integration with Google Messages. Let's examine each status.
Google Photos floating toolbar still missing on Android
In February, Google introduced a new floating toolbar for Google Photos on iOS. The toolbar features a minimalistic design with a pill for Photos, Collections, and Create sections, while the search function is a separate circle on the right. The active tab is highlighted with a pill indicator and a small icon. The interface integrates well with the photo feed context and follows the style already adopted by apps like Google Chat and the new Google Finance. However, for Android, despite Google showing the new toolbar on several occasions, the last time during the launch of the Wardrobe feature, Google Photos continues to use the old tall Material 3-era bottom bar. Most first-party Google apps have already been updated to this layout, but Google Photos, Google Fi, Google Voice, and Passwords + Quick Share remain behind. The floating toolbar for Android remains one of the most anticipated features, but there is currently no news of an imminent release. For comparison, the closure of new customer access for Mechanical Turk showed how quickly Google can make decisions, but on this front there is complete silence. Similar delays can be seen in other areas, as noted in the article about Samsung Galaxy A53 and Pixel 6a losing software support.
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Pill-shaped keys for Gboard: shown but not available
In March 2025, Gboard started testing pill-shaped keys as an alternative to the traditional rounded rectangles. This design aligns more with the Material 3 Expressive language, already used by Google in other parts of the system. Google has also released official screenshots showing the new style, but to date users cannot enable it. The launch of Android 16 QPR1 and Material 3 Expressive last August seemed like a perfect opportunity, but the rollout never happened. The unavailability of pill-shaped keys on Gboard is an anomaly, considering Google's ongoing interface renewals, such as new settings and shortcuts. Once again, Android users await a stable update that may never arrive. Meanwhile, other manufacturers like Samsung continue to release software updates for their devices, as covered in the article about Amazon closing Mechanical Turk to new customers.
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Gemini Live cannot yet send messages via Google Messages
At the end of the Made by Google 2024 event, the ability for Gemini Live to send messages using Google Messages was previewed. In May 2025, Live added support for many more Connected Apps, but Google Messages remains excluded. Giving Gemini Live feature parity with the main chat experience is essential to offer a truly integrated voice assistant. Without this feature, users must manually switch to the Messages app to compose SMS, nullifying the advantage of the voice assistant. Google has not provided recent updates on this, fueling doubts that the feature may have been shelved. For more details, refer to Google's official documentation on Gemini Live.
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In conclusion, these three features show how Google sometimes announces novelties without following through. While some apps like Google Photos await a redesign, others like Gboard and Gemini Live remain in a limbo state. Users can only hope Google decides to complete the work. Meanwhile, the tech landscape continues to evolve, with news like the closure of Mechanical Turk to new customers demonstrating how quickly things can change.
Source: https://9to5google.com/2026/07/05/3-google-features-photos-gboard
