Whereas Google Assistant goes to be round for some time, the way forward for Google-powered digital assistants now appears to be Gemini. Gemini comes preinstalled in case you purchase a Google Pixel 9 cellphone, and you may set up the Android app on older Pixels and non-Pixel handsets. There’s additionally now an app for the iPhone.
Whether or not you’ve already acquired it put in otherwise you’re enthusiastic about upgrading from Google Assistant, right here’s what you are able to do with Gemini. (This was examined on a Pixel 9 Professional Fold.)
Pay or not?
You may seize the Gemini app at no cost for Android and iOS, signal your self in together with your Google account, and swap. As with Gemini on the internet, the mannequin you possibly can entry will depend upon whether or not you’re prepared to pay Google $20 a month for Google One AI Premium, which incorporates Gemini Superior — in different phrases, free customers get the smaller Gemini 1.5 Flash mannequin, whereas paying customers get Gemini 1.5 Professional.
We’ve beforehand written concerning the variations between the fashions, however the Professional mannequin primarily offers smarter solutions throughout a broader vary of matters. (It’s just like the free versus paid ChatGPT mannequin.)
Chatting with Gemini
The Gemini interface is a straightforward one: you enter your query or remark on the backside of the display, and the reply seems on the high. There are 4 methods you possibly can work together with Gemini: by typing into the textual content field; utilizing the mic icon to verbalize your request; utilizing the digicam icon to question a picture (the digicam icon); or utilizing the sound wave icon to speak to Gemini Dwell.
And sure, there are two methods of speaking to Gemini: the unique kind of voice enter (which works equally to Google Assistant) and the newer Gemini Dwell. Gemini Dwell affords a extra pure expertise. You may interrupt it and use filler phrases, and the response is much less robotic, too, extra like a standard dialog.
On condition that the usual voice enter and Gemini Dwell use the identical underlying AI mannequin and each can be found to free and paying customers, it’s not clear why anybody would nonetheless wish to stick to the previous possibility — but it surely’s there in case you want it. (Possibly you’ll discover Gemini Dwell just a little too chatty, as some do.)
By the way in which, your earlier chats are accessible through a speech bubble icon within the top-left nook of the display, assuming it’s enabled. (If it isn’t, the icon will lead you to the suitable display.)
What are you able to do?
The prompts Gemini can reply to are just like these you should use with different AI bots, like Copilot or ChatGPT. Issues like:
- “Give me some birthday theme concepts for a 5-year-old.”
- “Draft the textual content of an e-mail telling my boss I need a promotion.”
- “Which sci-fi podcasts ought to I be listening to?”
- “Write a poem concerning the iPhone 16.”
On the finish of every response, there might be icons you should use: thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons to fee the reply; a share icon to ship it to a contact; or a duplicate icon to ship it to your cellphone’s clipboard. A Google icon prompts an analysis of the outcomes. Faucet the three dots, and you may ship the response to Google Docs or Gmail or modify the response (make it shorter or extra informal in tone, for instance).
You too can get Gemini to generate pictures through Google’s Imagen 3 engine, no matter whether or not you pay for Gemini Superior. There may be one caveat, although: you possibly can’t generate pictures of individuals until you’re a subscriber, a minimum of for now.
Faucet the digicam icon, and you may take a photograph so as to add to your immediate. This provides you much more scope in relation to prompts:
- “What sort of flower is that this?”
- “What can I make with these components?”
- “How do I repair this?”
- “The place is that this place?”
- “If I like this TV present, what else will I like?”
To add a picture out of your gallery as an alternative, faucet the + (plus) icon to the left of the textual content enter field. (In the event you don’t see the plus icon, faucet the digicam icon as an alternative.) In the event you’re a Gemini Superior subscriber, you possibly can add different sorts of recordsdata as nicely: Gemini can summarize PDFs, for instance, or rewrite textual content in a letter.
The same old generative AI guidelines apply right here: you could get inaccuracies, so remember to double-check every part essential, and don’t depend on Gemini to provide you dependable medical or authorized recommendation.
Placing Gemini to work
Over time, Gemini is progressively gaining extra capabilities throughout the net and cell apps, and Google is taking the strategy of releasing these upgrades as particular person extensions. At the beginning of November, for instance, we acquired one for Google House.
Step-by-step, these extensions are giving Gemini’s cell app the identical performance as Google Assistant — reminiscent of having the ability to set a timer or management your sensible lights — on high of all of the generative AI abilities we’ve talked about above.
Faucet your Google account icon (high proper), then select Extensions to see what’s obtainable (and to disable any extensions if, say, you don’t need Gemini snooping by way of your Gmail or Google Docs).
- “What’s on my schedule for this weekend?” (Google Calendar)
- “Inform me concerning the emails I acquired as we speak.” (Gmail)
- “Play some R.E.M. tunes.” (YouTube Music)
- “How lengthy will it take me to drive to Los Angeles?” (Google Maps)
- “Set an alarm for 7AM tomorrow.” (Utilities)
If Gemini doesn’t choose the fitting extension by default, you possibly can inform it the way you need a immediate dealt with through the use of “@,” adopted by the title of the extension. So, for instance, you possibly can kind “@Google Calendar” adopted by “When is my subsequent assembly?” (That is really a great different methodology to test which extensions you’ve acquired obtainable, as they’ll be listed as you kind.)
It’s value taking into account that Gemini remains to be a piece in progress. It doesn’t but help a number of music streaming providers like Google Assistant does, and its sensible residence controls, timer, and alarm features are presently restricted to Android. As well as, Gemini can’t but kick off routines (like beginning a playlist and turning in your sensible thermostat) from a single voice command, which is one thing Google Assistant can do. And naturally, past the net and the cell apps, it’s not related to as many units.
In the event you’ve closely invested in Google Assistant, particularly when it comes to third-party integrations and its extra superior performance, you’re nonetheless higher off sticking with the older AI in the meanwhile.
Don’t prefer it? Swap again
You may swap again to Google Assistant in your cellphone if you would like. From Settings in Android:
- Faucet Apps > Assistant > Digital assistants from Google.
- Select between Gemini and Google Assistant.
That mentioned, Gemini is undoubtedly the place Google might be investing its effort and time sooner or later. Let’s hope it does an intensive job of transferring all the present Google Assistant performance over to its new AI assistant of selection.
