There has been a surge of AI tools and features in Android and iOS smartphones. To keep up with the advancements, Google has framed Google Gemini as its go-to virtual assistant in the latest Android smartphones, especially the Pixel series. While you can still switch back to the good old Google Assistant, the experience will not be the same as Gemini comes equipped with a ton of extensions that you can integrate with the app to make the responses more precise and personalized.
That is exactly what we will cover here — how to use the best Google Gemini AI extensions that can be useful every day. Integrating these extensions is what puts Gemini a step ahead of Google Assistant to make it more than a conventional voice assistant. Thankfully, accessing Gemini is easier now than ever before. You can simply alert Gemini with "Hey Google," removing the hassle of picking up your phone to use the app — just turn on the "Hey Google" and Voice Match feature inside Gemini's Settings tab and you're ready to go.
Even better, Google Gemini extensions are also available in the free version, so there is no need to worry about spending extra dollars to avail yourself of these perks. However, something worth remembering is that the Gemini Apps Activity has to be enabled in the app to pair the extensions. This way, Gemini keeps a memory of your past conversations to piece information together for more tailored future responses. That said, Gemini's responses may not always be correct, so it is a good practice to double-check the information it provides.
If you are someone whose life revolves around Google Workspace apps like Google Keep and Gmail, this extension is a must-have. With it, you can consider Gemini your personal assistant for the entire Google ecosystem. Think that you might have missed an important work email from a colleague? Prompt Gemini to "Get the last three emails from Jason," and it will look through your Gmail for Jason's emails. It will then show you a couple of pointers summarizing each email along with the receiving date so you can quickly find it in your inbox.
Other than this, use Gemini to your advantage to quickly find information or create a short summary of Google Docs and Drive files instead of reading long documents. It can also fetch lists and content from your Google Keep notes or add content to the ones already there on your phone. You can also add meetings to the Google Calendar immediately with your personal AI assistant to make sure you don't forget them later. Even better, ask it to check if your calendar is free for a particular day and time to schedule commitments accordingly.
Get real-time ticket prices and flight schedules for any destination you wish to travel. Gemini can fetch the flight availability within seconds and help you plan your next trip with the Google Flights extension. In fact, Gemini is smart enough to know what data to use for which query. If you just ask it to show you the earliest flight to Istanbul in economy class, it will identify the nearest airport to your current location and show the details accordingly.
Not only one, but you get multiple airline options to choose from to make an informed decision. The response will contain all the essential information you need, including the airline name, flight number, arrival/departure times, and the approximate travel time. You name it, and you get it.
Once you have booked the most suitable flight and traveled to your destination, don't worry about getting lost in a foreign city. Gemini has your back with the Google Maps extension. Tell Gemini where you are headed, and it will use your live location data to map out a route to your destination. Let it map out the quickest way to your destination while you also receive regular updates about the distance and estimated travel time.
Utilities is another cool extension that is compatible with Google Gemini. With Utilities, you can navigate to different apps on your phone or set timers and alarms using just your voice. The AI presents the option to perform almost any task within your phone without the need to access the particular app separately.
Want to quickly add something to the Calendar app? No worries, tell Gemini to do that for you. Want to jot down important pointers, but your hands are full? Dictate it to Gemini and ask it to add the content in a separate note on your phone. You are the CEO and Gemini — paired with the Utilities extension — is your personal secretary that is always there at your service.
Here's a very practical use case of the Utilities extension. Imagine that there is an unexpected electricity breakdown in your area. The lights go out, and you cannot locate your phone in the pitch-black room. What do you do? Yell "Hey Google" to activate Gemini and prompt it to turn on the flashlight. There you go — you can now see around as well as find your smartphone in this unforeseen situation.
Merging the YouTube extension with Google Gemini will save much of your time. Tell Gemini to get you the most relevant YouTube videos about what you want to learn or know more about. For instance, try "I bought a new BBQ grill. Show me a YouTube video on its assembly." So how is this different from performing the same search in the YouTube app? Well, once again, you can do all this with Gemini without having to grab the phone.
However, there's more that Gemini can do after you find the clip you want. Use the Ask About This Video feature in YouTube when you are running short on time but need to familiarize yourself with a concept super quick. So, if you have a Chemistry test in the next few minutes and cannot recall the steps to perform filtration, Gemini is there to the rescue! Pull up a video for filtration and summon Gemini by holding your phone's Power or Home button, then tap the Ask About This Video button once it pops up to get a concise summary of the process in the blink of an eye.
WhatsApp has established itself as a giant of digital communication in this era. Many of us a part of different group chats with your friends, classmates or work buddies hosted on the app. Google understood the importance of WhatsApp in a user's life and designed a dedicated extension for the Gemini assistant.
Don't feel like opening WhatsApp work groups after office hours? Instruct Gemini to write a message for the particular group in WhatsApp, for instance, saying you are out with the family. Review it and hit the Send button to deliver the text instantly.
Unfortunately, our testing has shown that the WhatsApp extension does not work very well when compared to the other Google extensions. The call feature rings the contact immediately, but the texts sometimes take a few minutes before they are delivered to the receiver. On a few occasions, we had to manually open my WhatsApp app on the phone so the text could be delivered.
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Source: slashgear