You can create magazine style content AND interactive dashboards / apps for education on any topic in minutes with Gemini 3. Gemini AI’s Canvas vs. Dynamic View vs. Visual Layout: The Breakdown of what Gemini’s new trio can do for you – and some wild examples!

tl;dr: Gemini 3 introduced two new Generative UI modes. Visual Layout turns answers into magazine-style articles (great for shopping/travel). Dynamic View writes real-time code to create interactive, scrollable mini-apps (great for learning/data). Unlike Canvas (which is for editing work), these modes are for consuming answers. To force them: Set language to English (US), look in the "Tools" menu, or prompt with the phrases below to trigger it.

The Shift: From Chatbot to Generative UI

We’ve been stuck in the Chatbot Era (text bubble in, text bubble out) for too long. With the release of Gemini 3, Google is pushing us into the Generative UI era. The AI isn't just generating text anymore; it is generating the interface itself based on what you ask.

Here is the scoop on the two new modes, how they differ from Canvas, and how to master them.

The Two New Modes Explained

1. Visual Layout (The Magazine Mode)

• What it is: A rich, static display that combines text, multiple images, and distinct modules or cards.
• The Vibe: Think Travel & Leisure magazine or a high-end product review site.
• Best Use Cases:
  • Product reviews and comparisons
  • Trip itineraries (shows hotels, maps, and spots in a timeline).
  • Shopping comparisons (side-by-side specs with photos).
  • Recipe collections.

1. Dynamic View (The Interactive Learning App Mode)

• What it is: This is the heavy hitter. Gemini uses its Agentic Coding capabilities to write code in real-time (HTML/CSS/JS) that renders a fully interactive custom interface.
• The Vibe: A museum guide app, an interactive data dashboard, or a specialized educational tool.
• Best Use Cases:
  • Exploring complex concepts (e.g., "Explain the solar system with interactive planets").
  • Data visualization (charts that you can hover over and filter).
  • Historical timelines (clickable events).
  • It works best if you upload awesome attachments with it for context.

⚔️ The Confusion: Visual/Dynamic vs. Canvas

I see a lot of people asking, "Is this just Canvas 2.0?" No.

• Use Canvas if you need to build something (a Python script, a blog post).
• Use Dynamic View if you need to learn or explore something.

Once you create an interactive app with Dynamic View you can share the conversation with others to use the interactive app at a shareable google URL.

My Fun Examples of Dynamic View

Are we living in a simulation?
https://gemini.google.com/share/39cda3474818

History of War – 5,000 Years of Human Conflict
https://gemini.google.com/share/446b1c527907

Conspiracy Theories of the Last 50 Years
https://gemini.google.com/share/f88763019825

Blockchain Universe
https://gemini.google.com/share/508cf082ea29

As you can see on the above links, I think the more information you put in the prompt the better the interactive dashboard and app may be. I provided some very in depth prompts.

🕵️ Hidden Facts & Easter Eggs

1. The Age Gate: Dynamic View often requires the account owner to be 18+ because it technically runs unverified code in a sandboxed environment.
2. The A/B Test: Google is currently split-testing these. Some of you might only see Visual Layout, while others see Dynamic View. If you don't see one, you aren't crazy; you're in a control group.
3. YouTube Integration: In Visual Layout, if you ask for a guide on "How to fix a sink," it can embed playable YouTube videos directly into the "magazine" layout so you don't leave the chat.
4. The Incognito Trick: If the features aren't showing up, try opening Gemini in an Incognito/Private window. This often bypasses cached account flags that hide new features.
5. Mobile vs. Desktop: Dynamic View is heavily optimized for desktop/tablet interactions (hover states), while Visual Layout shines on mobile (vertical scroll).

Pro-Tips & Best Practices

• Don't just ask – Direct: The model tries to guess when to use these views, but it's shy. Force it.
  • Bad: "Tell me about Rome."
  • Good: "Plan a 3-day trip to Rome and show it in a Visual Layout."
  • The better your prompt and context provided the better the output
• Shopping Graphs: Visual Layout pulls from Google's Shopping Graph. If you are comparing tech, ask for a "Comparison Matrix in Visual Layout" to get a spec-sheet style view rather than bullet points.

How to Prompt (The Magic Words)

To trigger these modes reliably, use these structural cues in your prompt:

For Visual Layout:

Select Visual Layout instead of Canvas in the tool menu.

Or prompt this to try it

"Create a magazine-style guide for [Topic]. Include distinct sections, images for every step, and organize it visually." The more info you attach to the prompt the better the result will be.

For Dynamic View:

Choose Dynamic view in the tools menu

Prompt

"Build an interactive dashboard to explain [Complex Topic]. I want to be able to click on elements to see more details. Use Dynamic View to render this as a custom interface."
The more info you attach to the prompt the better the result will be. For example upload quarterly financial reports for a publicly traded company.

I uploaded Nvidia's quarterly report and look at the interactive dashboard it created in 2 minutes.
https://gemini.google.com/share/1e2ea79e363d

This is a wild new chapter in generative AI and this is what the nerds at Google meant to explain when talking about Generative UI during the launch of Gemini 3. I mean, God bless them for creating this amazing stuff that is super fun. The devs are not great at explaining the use cases… Its like they want us to guess how to use it!