Google Gemini could soon let you branch out just like ChatGPT

Google is working on a meaningful upgrade for Gemini that’ll allow users to engage in deeper conversations about the same topic. Also, this is one feature that ChatGPT power users will recognize instantly.

While playing around with version 17.10.54.sa.arm64 of the Google app, we found evidence of a new Gemini feature that lets you “branch” conversations inside the Gemini app. The feature isn’t live yet and currently needs some tinkering to enable, but it already appears functional.

What is branching, and why is it useful?

Branching a conversation is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of continuing a single long chat, you can create a copy of it at any point and explore a different direction without affecting the original thread.

This is very much how actual human conversations work, where you can talk around a topic without losing track of what you started talking about in the first place. In Gemini, the feature will allow you to experiment with prompts or compare answers without starting from scratch.

If the feature sounds familiar, it’s because ChatGPT has offered a similar “Branch in new chat” option for some time now. Google has also experimented with this idea before in AI Studio, but this would be the first time it shows up in the Gemini app for regular users.

From what we can see, the feature is simple to use. You tap the three-dot menu on a Gemini response and select “Branch in new chat.” Gemini then instantly opens a new conversation with that point as the starting context, and labels it with a “Branch:” tag so you can tell it apart from your main thread.

There’s a small but important detail in how this works. If you’re deep into a conversation and choose to branch from an earlier reply, the new chat only carries forward everything up to that point. Anything that came after is left behind.

Anyhow, branching sounds like a pretty useful feature and could make Gemini much more useful for complex chats. Right now, trying different ideas in the same thread can quickly get messy. Branching keeps things cleaner and gives you more control over how you explore responses.

There’s no official word on when or if this will roll out. However, since Google has already built the feature for AI Studio, there’s a good chance it’ll be released to regular Gemini users soon.