Gemini app rolls out ‘Make calls and send messages without unlocking’ setting [U]

Abner Li | Jan 9 2025 - 9:58 am PT

Google’s work on adding more basic features that make Gemini a good phone assistant continues today with the ability to place calls and send messages without unlocking your device.

Update 1/9/25: “Make calls and send messages without unlocking” has been slowly rolling out in recent weeks, but should now be seeing wider availability (version 15.50+ of the Google app). Make sure the Messages and Phone Gemini Extensions, which widely rolled out last month, are also enabled.

Force stop the Gemini/Google app if you don’t have it yet. As part of this change, the “Google Assistant features in Gemini” page is down to six items.

This setting replaces Google Assistant lock screen settings, including lock screen settings for Assistant Routines. When new features become available, some will automatically work over lock screen.

Original 12/2/24: In Gemini Settings > Gemini on Lock Screen, Google is rolling out a new “Make calls and send messages without unlocking” setting.

Under an equally new “Outgoing calls and message” heading, the page explains how “You’ll need to turn on your calling and messaging apps in Gemini for these features to work.” At the end of October, Google started rolling out new Gemini Extensions for “Phone” and “Messages.”

Those Extensions are not yet widely available, but this new setting works without it by falling back to Assistant. On a device lacking this “without unlocking” preference, I have to “Please unlock to continue” (as depicted below).

With the new setting enabled, the call is immediately placed while my phone is still locked.

The “Make calls and send messages without unlocking” setting is not yet widely available and still rolling out. (Try Force stopping the Google app.) We’re seeing it with Google app 15.48 beta after a server-side update.