Some Google TV users in the United States and Canada say their devices are getting trapped in an endless loop after a Gemini-related bug forces them into a setup screen every time they try to search. The glitch renders the search function effectively useless, and the main workaround reported so far is rolling back a recent software update. The timing is particularly awkward for Google, which has been expanding Gemini’s role on its TV platform with new features announced recently.
A Search Loop With No Exit
The core problem is straightforward but maddening. When affected users attempt to search on their Google TV devices, they are immediately redirected to a Gemini setup screen that asks them to allow “personal results,” a feature that grants the AI assistant access to data from services like Photos and Calendar. Completing or dismissing the prompt does not resolve the issue. The next search attempt triggers the same screen again, creating an inescapable loop that blocks normal use of the platform’s search capabilities.
What makes this bug especially frustrating is its persistence. Users are not encountering a one-time hiccup that clears itself after a reboot. The loop recurs with every search attempt, which means anyone relying on voice or text search to find content, apps, or settings is effectively locked out of a core feature. For a platform that positions search as a central way to discover streaming content, losing that function turns the device into little more than a manual app launcher. Some owners report that even basic actions like looking up an app by name or searching for a specific movie require digging through rows of icons instead of issuing a simple voice command.
What Gemini for TV Is Supposed to Do
The bug is tied to Gemini for TV, Google’s first-party voice assistant experience built directly into the platform. According to official support documentation, the feature is available to eligible devices in the US and Canada and can be activated through the Settings menu. Once enabled, Gemini can pull personal results from connected Google services, including Photos, Calendar, and other apps linked to the user’s account. That “personal results” permission prompt is the exact screen now trapping users in the loop and preventing them from reaching the actual search interface.
The design intent behind Gemini for TV is to make the assistant smarter and more contextually aware than the previous Google Assistant integration. Instead of simply responding to basic voice commands, Gemini is meant to handle more complex queries, surface personalized recommendations, and interact with a broader range of Google services. In theory, that could mean asking the TV to “show my vacation photos from last summer” or “what’s on my calendar tonight?” and getting rich, on-screen answers. But the gap between that ambition and the current user experience is stark. A feature designed to make search more intelligent has instead made search impossible for an unknown number of users, undermining the promise of a more helpful, AI-driven interface.
The Only Workaround Requires Going Backward
The sole fix currently available is blunt: uninstalling the most recent Google TV update. That rolls the software back to a previous version where the Gemini setup prompt does not hijack the search function. While this restores basic usability, it is not a real solution. Users who revert lose whatever improvements, security patches, or feature additions came with the update. They also face the risk of being automatically updated again, which could reintroduce the bug without warning and force them to repeat the rollback process.
Google has not issued a public statement acknowledging the problem or providing an estimated timeline for a patch. The absence of official communication leaves users relying on community forums and tech reporting to diagnose what is happening and how to respond. For a company that controls both the software and the platform, the silence is notable. Users are left choosing between a broken search experience and an outdated operating system, neither of which reflects well on a product that competes directly with Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV for living room dominance. Until Google offers clear guidance, each user must weigh the trade-off between staying current and keeping fundamental features functional.
Aggressive AI Expansion Meets Real-World Friction
This bug arrives at a particularly awkward moment in Google’s product roadmap. The company announced at CES 2026 that it was significantly expanding Gemini’s capabilities on Google TV, with plans for voice-controlled settings adjustments, deeper visual responses, and the ability to search personal Photos directly from the TV interface. Those planned enhancements for select TVs are expected to expand to more Google TV hardware over time, signaling that Gemini is moving from a background assistant to a central pillar of the experience.
The expansion plan signals that Google views Gemini as the future of how people interact with their televisions, not just for finding shows but for managing smart home routines, retrieving personal media, and handling tasks that previously required picking up a phone. That vision depends entirely on user trust. If the AI assistant cannot reliably handle a basic search query without trapping people in a setup loop, convincing them to grant deeper access to their photos, calendars, and personal data becomes a much harder sell. Each high-profile failure feeds skepticism about whether the rush to infuse products with generative AI is outpacing the careful testing needed to ensure stability.
There is a broader pattern worth examining here. Google has been racing to embed Gemini across its product ecosystem, from Android phones to Chrome to Workspace tools, often positioning the assistant as a drop-in replacement for older systems. Speed of deployment has clearly been a priority. But each time a Gemini integration breaks a basic function that previously worked fine, it chips away at the goodwill the company needs to drive adoption. Users do not evaluate AI assistants on their potential or their demo-stage capabilities. They evaluate them on whether the TV works when they press the search button, and on whether new features feel like upgrades rather than experiments running on their primary devices.
What This Means for Google TV Owners
For anyone currently stuck in the loop, the immediate path is clear but imperfect: roll back the update and wait. Google will almost certainly push a fix, given that the bug makes a primary feature of its platform nonfunctional. But the lack of any public acknowledgment so far means there is no way to predict when that fix will arrive or whether it will come as a targeted patch or a broader update that bundles other changes. In the meantime, some owners may choose to disable automatic updates entirely, trading ongoing improvements for the assurance that their search bar will keep working tomorrow.
The deeper question is whether incidents like this will slow the pace of Gemini’s integration into Google TV or change how Google tests AI features before pushing them to consumer devices. The company’s CES announcements made clear that Gemini is central to the platform’s future, with features like personal Photos search and voice-controlled settings designed to differentiate Google TV from competitors. But differentiation only works if the new features enhance the experience rather than break it. A voice assistant that locks users out of search is not a selling point. It is a reason to consider switching platforms, especially in a streaming landscape where most services are available everywhere and the hardware is cheap, interchangeable, and easy to replace.
Google TV competes in a crowded market where switching costs are relatively low. A Roku stick or Amazon Fire TV device costs little and offers access to the same major apps, and many smart TV manufacturers bundle their own platforms at no additional charge. In that environment, reliability becomes a key differentiator. If Google wants Gemini to be the reason people choose its ecosystem, it will need to prove that ambitious AI features can coexist with rock-solid basics. Until then, a bug that turns every search into a setup loop will stand as a cautionary example of what happens when a platform bets heavily on AI without fully accounting for the everyday ways people actually use their TVs.
More from Morning Overview
*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
