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I have been testing the Galaxy S26 Plus for just over a week now, and Samsung’s new flagship is packed with improved AI features as part of A user interface 8.5. And while there’s no doubt there’s a lot to like about the software, one notable degradation unfortunately persists on Samsung’s latest devices, and it has to do with Gemini.
One of my favorite shortcuts to activate Gemini is the Swipe for Assistant, a gesture available in many android phonesincluding Pixels, OnePlus and Motorola devices. When enabled, simply swipe diagonally from the bottom corner of the screen and Gemini will appear. It’s incredibly useful, but for some reason Samsung removed this gesture from its phones at some point in the last few years.
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Good locking and one-handed operation +
If you own a Samsung phone, you may or may not be familiar with Good lockwhich is an application that allows you to add various plugins to personalize your phone. Each plugin focuses on a different area of the UI, from the home screen to the Settings app and even notification management. It’s an incredibly useful Samsung app that enhances the software experience and I highly recommend downloading it, especially if you like gaming.
One of the plugins available in Good Lock is One Hand Operation +. The purpose of this particular module is to make it easier to use phones and tablets with one hand, which is becoming increasingly important as the average phone screen size continues to grow.
The module allows you to customize controllers on both sides of the screen that can activate various functions. This is what makes it a near-perfect replacement for the missing Gemini emote, and if you’re like me and have been trying to figure out how to get that trigger back, I’ll walk you through this handy alternative.
How to set up One Hand Operation + to enable Swipe for Assistant
Before you can do anything, you’ll want to download the Good Lock app, which you can find in the Galaxy store on your Samsung phone. Once done, open Good Lock and install the One Hand Operation + module and any other plugins you want. Tap One-Handed Operation + to open the module.
1. You may need activate the module before you can do anything.
2. Tap Left handle.
3. Touch the Diagonal up option. From the menu, select Assistance application. I leave the Straight Right and Diagonal Down options set to None. Do the same with him Right handle.
4. In the main menu, open Advanced settings.
5. Activate System back gesture. This allows you to retain backward navigation when you swipe outside the set control area.
Optional: Review other options and activate them as you see fit. Tap Animation to change the style, size and color, or turn it off if you prefer not to have a swipe animation. He Hide identifier section will disable the gesture on select screens, while Application exceptions will do the same when the selected apps are open.
6. In the main menu, scroll down to adjust the size of the handles. I set each one to the lowest level, but adjust them as you see fit. You’ll see the controls on either side of the screen shrink and move as you adjust them.
7. Tap Handle color to adjust how it appears on your screen. Set the opacity to 0%. if you don’t want the handle to be visible.
8. This is optional, but in Gesture settingsyou can activate fast action so that Gemini starts appearing before you release your finger from the screen. You can also adjust the gesture angles, swipe distance, and vibration settings to your liking.
With that, you should now be able to summon Gemini by swiping from the area near the bottom corner of your screen, as long as you remember where you set your controllers. It’s not perfect, as the handles don’t reach the corners of the screen, but they do come pretty close. Once you get used to the placement, the gesture works quite well and I’m quite satisfied with it.
I like this better than Samsung’s default trigger.
One of the main reasons I’m such a fan of the Swipe gesture for Assistant is the change that Google started forcing on consumers after the release of Android 12. Galaxy S26 series and other Samsung models, a long press of the power button is set as the default trigger for Gemini, and the button has been relegated to simply the “side button.” However, I am not a fan of this method of invoking Gemini.
My biggest problem with this is that it has changed the way you turn off a smartphone. I refuse to change this established behavior that companies have drilled into us for so many years, all because Samsung (and Google, by extension) is too lazy to implement a separate AI button on their phones.
The power button should still be the power button (I’ll die on this hill), and I shouldn’t have to clumsily press two buttons to turn off my phone, especially when the method is so similar to taking a screenshot. That’s why I like having the Swipe to Assistant option as an alternative, because I can still activate it from almost any screen. But Samsung’s removal of the feature seems like the OEM is trying too hard to get the side button to activate, and it’s simply it’s not going to happenat least for me.
This is also why the first thing I do when I buy a new phone is make sure the side button is set to open the power off menu. in it Galaxy S26 seriesyou can do it by navigating to Settings > Advanced Features > Side Button > Long Pressand then setting it in the Shutdown menu. This way I just have to press and hold the power button to turn off the phone, and the Gemini can get its own trigger, even if it’s a workaround.
