Gemini Live is coming to Android: we tried it and here's what you need to know

Google recently announced the availability of the Gemini Live voice assistant on all Android devices. We have tried it from every angle in order to deduce both its possibilities and its limits. What is possible to do with Gemini Live today? Which third-party applications are compatible with Google's new voice assistant? Here is our feedback after several days spent alongside Gemini on a Google Pixel 7.

Gemini Live in brief

Gemini Live, Google's new artificial intelligence embedded in Android smartphones, replaces the voice assistant of the Californian firm's mobile operating system. This new system, which is based on the eponymous language model, sees its understanding capabilities greatly improved. Where the ancestral Google Assistant did not always understand the intention of a request, Gemini uses AI to analyze the context of a request and derive a complete response. Google also makes full use of its technology since the answers provided are elaborate: they use generative AI (like ChatGPT from the company OpenAI).

Unveiled initially in parallel with announcements relating to the new range of Google Pixel 9Gemini Live is now available on all Android devices. If the Google Assistant is capable of answering any question, we note that it does so interactively. In other words, as with ChatGPT, Claude or Mistral AI, the user is able to respond to Gemini with the aim of obtaining more information on their initial question.

What can you do with Gemini Live on Android?

First, we notice that Gemini Live includes all of the features of Google Assistant. Therefore, it is always possible to announce “OK Google, start playing I'm Still Standing by Elton John”. By default, Gemini uses the YouTube Music application installed on the smartphone in this case. This is explained by the existence of a YouTube Music extension for Gemini. On the other hand, it currently seems impossible to open Spotify through Gemini Live and this could be explained by the absence of said extension for this third-party service.

Gemini Live being above all an AI chatbot, we can also ask it all types of questions such as:

• Find a Christmas gift idea for my 7 year old niece who loves ponies
• Find a Hawaiian restaurant near me
• Find the best rated GPs around me

For certain queries, notably those using geolocation or searching for a location, Google uses the Maps extension for Gemini. In the same vein, it is possible to connect Google's AI with Gmail.

Here are some examples of using Gemini with Gmail:

• Summarize my most important recent emails received
• What did the last email Picard sent me say?
• When was my last email exchange with Mr. So-and-so?

If the uses remain rather basic to date, sometimes hampered by the absence of extensions for the apps, Gemini Live seems promising due to its already advanced capabilities. It will nevertheless be necessary to wait a little longer before fully exploiting them and getting real use out of them on a daily basis.