If your Google Gemini Flash 2.5 file uploader was broken this weekend, you weren't alone

Summary

Gemini 2.5 Flash is an in-preview Google AI reasoning model, with both free and paid tiers available.
Reportedly, the free tier’s file upload feature was broken on Friday, May 9, and going into Saturday, May 10.
Google has been consistently releasing new-and-improved versions of its Gemini AI tech, in an effort to compete with OpenAI and others.

Over the weekend,

Google Gemini
app users across Android, iOS, and the web experienced a head-scratching break in functionality: as reported by 9to5Google, when using the free tier of the in-preview Gemini 2.5 Flash, the AI model’s file uploader function was entirely grayed out and thus rendered unusable. During this strange blackout period, users had to resort to using the older

2.0 Flash model
to upload and feed documents into the AI model, or otherwise pony up for access to the paid 2.5 Flash Pro edition to re-gain the lost functionality.

This bug appears to have only affected non-Pro Gemini 2.5 Flash users, with the grayed-out buttons lasting from Friday, May 9, into much of Saturday, May 10. As of now, the functionality is back online, with users of 2.5 Flash’s free tier once again able to feed documents from the Files app and from

Google Drive
into the AI model without a hitch.

Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash was first released in mid-April of this year, and it remains in a preview state to this day. As an upgrade over the existing 2.0 Flash, this newer AI model improves on reasoning capabilities while maintaining a focus on speed and cost-efficiency. 2.5 Flash can be accessed via the dedicated Gemini app for

iPhone
,

iPad
, and

Android
devices, with a web portal also available for desktop users.

Google Gemini

Gemini is Google’s premier AI assistant app for the Android operating system that can provide text responses to questions, generate and analyze images, and is now available on iOS.

Gemini and Apple Intelligence on two phones side by side.

AI wars: Is Gemini or Apple Intelligence the smarter choice?

Gemini and Apple Intelligence are both likely available on one of your devices, but which one is better?

Gemini 2.5 Flash preview looks promising

Gemini 2.5 Flash is Google’s first “fully hybrid reasoning model”

Google / Pocket-lint

Even in its preview state, Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash appears to be a rather impressive AI model. Google touts the model’s impressive performance-to-cost ratio, while also describing it as being the first “fully hybrid reasoning model” it has produced. In other words, it’s possible to toggle on or off 2.5’s thinking capabilities in order to maximize performance and speed, which is a useful addition for developers.

Gemini 2.5 Flash can also be used alongside Google’s new Canvas feature, which serves as a dedicated digital space for altering documents and code with the help of AI. The ability to generate audio overviews is also on board, as is the conversational

Gemini Live feature
(albeit in preview state in its latest 2.5 version).

…Gemini fans can once again take advantage of the latest AI model’s ability to digest and analyze content.

Thankfully, with the re-introduction of file uploads, Gemini fans can once again take advantage of the latest AI model’s ability to digest and analyze content from within documents stored locally or on the cloud via Google Drive. With Google I/O 2025 set to take place from May 20 through May 21, Pocket-lint will be on the lookout for additional Gemini-related news from the search giant.