Google has recently made separate but related updates to its Gemini AI app on Android and iPhone that specific to mobile use cases. As is always the case with AI, these things are difficult to track. So here’s a quick summary.
First, MWC is underway this week in Barcelona, and Google is at the conference showing off recent AI advances on Android.
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott’s Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
“*” indicates required fields
“You can learn how Gemini Live can help you with complex topics (in multiple languages!), use Circle to Search to translate a menu, and check how the latest partner devices from Android are bringing these experiences to life,” Google notes. “We’re also showing new live video and screen-sharing capabilities in Gemini Live, which will start rolling out to Gemini Advanced subscribers as part of the Google One AI Premium plan on Android devices later this month.”
If you’re not in Barcelona like most of the planet, Google has also published an update to a useful whitepaper describing the various AI advances in Android. One of the bigger, albeit subtle, changes is that Google has quietly renamed Gemini extensions to apps. Natively, Gemini integrates with a growing list of Google apps and services–Calendar, Maps, YouTube, and so on–but this extensibility interface also lets the AI interact with third-party apps and services like Spotify, plus apps from partners like Samsung and Xiaomi. As interesting, Gemini can connect with multiple apps simultaneously so it can break down tasks into multiple steps, act on your behalf as an agent, and work across those apps to fulfill your request.
“For example, you may be on the hook to plan the next group get together and the pressure is rising,” the Google whitepaper explains. “You can ask Gemini about the best suggestions for the group of your size and send a message in just a single command. Gemini can quickly connect the dots and find places on Google Maps that fit all your criteria. Plus, with your permission, Gemini can then draft a text message to your friend.”
The live video and screen-sharing features Google notes in the quote above are coming soon: These are part of the company’s Project Astra initiative, which it mentioned in passing as part of a January 2025 Gemini update for Pixel. Gemini Live in the Gemini app will soon allow you to ask it anything about what you can see through your Android phone’s camera app, and then have conversations to learn more. It will also let you share your screen for impromptu “guidance on app usage, shopping, and skill development, all dynamic to how you move across your phone with every scroll, app switched, and more.” These features will come first to those who subscribe to Gemini Advanced.
Separately, Google has also updated the Gemini app on iPhone to support lock screen and Control Center widgets. As first reported by 9to5Google–I can’t find a Google source for this–there are six circular (icon-sized) widgets, Type prompt, Talk live, Open mic, Use camera, Share image, and Share file. The Gemini app listing in the App Store notes that the latest version adds the ability to “share text, images, and links directly to Gemini from any app,” while adding Deep Research and various UI improvements and bug fixes.
