Key Takeaways
- The new Google Gemini Utilities extension adds the ability to manage alarms, control media playback, open apps, and more.
- Gemini can now do much of what Google Assistant has been able to do for simple on-device tasks.
- Google continues to work on replacing Assistant with Gemini, but there are many more tools that need to be added before that can happen.
When Google Gemini was officially unveiled in late 2023 following the company’s rebrand and relaunch of Bard, many quickly understood that Google would eventually merge all of Assistant’s functions into Gemini in due time. However, we were extremely conflicted about Gemini as a Google Assistant replacement earlier this year, as it lacked many features that Assistant had been able to do for users since it launched. Not only that, but users had to select between one or the other as their phone’s digital assistant. Things have gotten a lot better for Gemini converts today, as Google announced a new extension that handles much of what Gemini was lacking.
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Google Gemini could soon get a lot more useful on your phone
New Gemini extensions are incoming
Rolling out starting today, Android users who have selected Gemini as their phone’s assistant will be able to ask the AI tool to do many things that Assistant has been able to do for years (via 9to5Google). From managing your alarms to opening apps and controlling your media, the Utilities extension will enable Gemini to handle these actions. In addition to setting Gemini as your primary assistant, users must enable Gemini Apps activity and ensure that the Utilities extension is set to on (by default, it is).
Months in the making
Source: Google
Back in July, we said that Google was working on this extension, and it comes to the masses at an interesting time. In October, Google split up the Gemini and Assistant teams for better efficiency, merging the Gemini team with the DeepMind division, and rolling the Assistant teams into the new Platform and Devices division. This shows that Assistant and Gemini will continue to live on separately (even with a high amount of crossover in functionality), for now.
This marked the third time (at least) this year alone that Google has given a different indication of its plans for both Gemini and Assistant. Back in August, at the Made by Google event, Gemini stole the spotlight and was announced as the default assistant on the Google Pixel 9 series. In September, Gemini got a lot better at creating tasks on Android, so while Google continues to shift its optics, the underlying message seems simple: Google Gemini will completely replace Google Assistant. It’s only a matter of time.