Gemini Live could soon gain one of Gemini’s best tricks
Summary
- Google seems to be working on expanding Gemini Apps support to Gemini Live.
- Apps in Gemini extend its functionality by connecting to various services like Google Drive, Spotify, and others.
- Gemini Live with Apps support could potentially unlock new capabilities.
Gemini Live turns Google’s Project Astra into a reality. It lets you share your screen or camera feed with Google’s AI chatbot for direct analysis. The feature got a wide release in April, with Google soon after making it free to use for everyone. Now, Google seems to be planning to bring one of the best aspects of Gemini to Gemini Live: Extensions Apps.
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What is this, a crossover episode?
Apps in Gemini allow you to connect the AI chatbot to other services and apps, like Google Drive, Gmail, Google Home, Spotify, and more. It extends Gemini’s functionality, enabling you to directly search for or summarize files on Drive, control your smart home via natural language commands, set alarms, make calls, etc.
A teardown of the latest Google app beta for Android (v16.17.38.sa.arm64 beta) from Android Authority points to Google working on expanding Gemini apps support to Gemini Live, which should dramatically increase its usefulness. There appear to be early references to the feature in the current beta, so it may be some time before app access officially rolls out in Gemini Live. It also seems Google will expand support for apps to Live in phases, much like it did with Gemini.
Currently, you can use Gemini Live with camera feed or screen sharing to ask questions, find new things, and brainstorm ideas. With app support, you could possibly point your phone’s camera at a smart home light and ask Gemini Live to control it. Likewise, you could point to your smart speaker through Gemini Live and ask it to play music on it through Spotify.
Gemini apps could make Gemini Live more powerful
App support in Gemini Live could unlock a range of new capabilities that aren’t currently possible. Essentially, Gemini Live may eventually deliver the same functionality as regular Gemini. This is speculation, though, as the early references in the Google app do not reveal how Gemini Live will work with apps.
While useful on phones, this upcoming Gemini Live functionality would be even more handy on Google’s Android XR-powered smart glasses, which it is making in collaboration with Samsung.
Besides the above, Google is working on bringing Gemini Live’s camera feature to Google Search’s new AI mode. Unlike App support, the feature seems almost ready for rollout.
