Gemini will soon be able to control your smartphone with this extension

Gemini AI assistant is finally getting support for an extension that will allow it to perform various smartphone tasks. Also called the Utilities extension, this extension was first announced at Google I/O and can control first-party apps and features such as alarm, timer, volume control, camera and more. However, the Mountain View-based tech giant is rolling out the extension gradually and it may take a few weeks before all Android device users can see the capability.

Gemini Utilities extension

Since Gemini launched as an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant for Android devices, the chatbot has been missing some very crucial capabilities that were available with Google Assistant. For example, it can’t open apps, click a photo with the phone’s camera, or set an alarm. To solve this problem, Google announced a new Utilities extension earlier this year. In his support pagesthe tech giant announced that the extension is finally rolling out to users.

However, there are some limitations. The feature is only available through the Gemini mobile app on Android smartphones. For the feature to work, users must have Gemini set as the default virtual assistant. Additionally, the Utilities extension only works with English language prompts for now. Since the feature is being rolled out gradually, some users may have to wait for some time before it becomes available to them.

This extension also allows the Gemini AI assistant to manage various tasks on the lock screen. Some of them include setting and disabling alarms, setting and stopping timers, turning on or off the flashlight, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb and battery saver mode, checking the volume and battery level of the device, turning off the device or restart, and more.

Google also revealed that the extension will let the AI ​​assistant perform multiple actions with a single prompt. It can also open websites, apps and the settings menu. Furthermore, Gemini can also open the Camera app and click a photo or take a screenshot.

This extension also gives Gemini the ability to control media playback, including pause and play functions, as well as skip to the previous or next media. However, this only works with the native media player and may not work with apps like Spotify or Apple Music. And finally, this feature also allows users to set alarms and timers.