What you need to know
- Google is expanding the availability of the Gemini app for Android, making it available in more countries and languages. Gemini will also be rolling out to the Google app for iOS in the coming weeks.
- Gemini extensions are rolling out wherever the Gemini app is available, allowing the AI assistant to access your other Google apps and services.
- With Gemini, additional Google Assistant voice features are now available, such as: B. setting timers, making phone calls and managing your smart home.
Starting today, Google is rolling out the Gemini app and useful features in additional languages and countries. The update primarily affects the Android app, but the company says iOS users will see Gemini in the Google app in the coming weeks – if they haven’t already.
On the Android side, Google is expanding Gemini’s capabilities as a voice assistant, making it an even more powerful replacement for the Google Assistant. Some features that were limited to Assistant or only available on Gemini through the Assistant integration now work natively with Gemini.
Android users have more ways to access Gemini from anywhere as long as they sign up for it by downloading the Gemini app or using Google Assistant. Essentially, Gemini can be activated in exactly the same way as Assistant. This includes pressing the power button, saying “Hey Google,” and swiping up from the corner on supported smartphones. After that, a Gemini overlay will appear on the screen, just like Assistant.
The company says it is working to integrate more Google Assistant features into the Gemini app, but some of them are already usable, such as setting timers, managing smart home devices and making phone calls.
Additionally, Google is rolling out Gemini Extensions wherever the Gemini app is available. Extensions allow Gemini to access your entire Google ecosystem and use information from other apps and services to support its responses. For example, Gemini can check Gmail for specific appointments or summarize YouTube videos. If you don’t want Gemini to have access to all your other Google apps and services, you can opt out manually.
Separately, Google is adding a new way to interact with Gemini in Chrome for desktop. Instead of launching the Gemini web client and communicating with the chatbot, users can type @gemini in the Chrome address bar – followed by a command prompt – and press Enter to automatically receive a response from Gemini. This comes just after Google added machine learning capabilities to the Omnibox, allowing it to further personalize results.
Some of these features were previously available in limited testing, but starting today they are available to the masses. Overall, it seems once again that Google is fully committed to Gemini as a replacement for Google Assistant. Finally, the company is adding more features to Gemini that Assistant once had and plans to add more in the future. With these features now available in more countries and languages, more Android users can take advantage of Gemini.