Gemini gets new features for apps, videos, and your phone camera

Samsung is a top seller in the Android market, so it’s no shock that Google works closely with them. At the Galaxy S25 launch, Google showed off several upgrades to Gemini. Some of these features are only for Samsung and Pixel devices, like updates to Gemini Live and the new Project Astra features in the app.

Gemini Live now works with images, files, and YouTube videos

Gemini Live is Google’s chatbot that lets you chat in a natural way. You can even interrupt to ask a question or change the topic. This was first shown at Google I/O 2024.

Starting today, you can upload images, files, and YouTube videos to Gemini Live and have conversations about them. These features are rolling out first to Galaxy S24, S25, and Pixel 9 series devices. Other Android devices will get this update in the coming weeks.

Gemini Live is available for Android and iOS in several languages.

Project Astra is coming to the Gemini app

Project Astra connects Gemini to the real world. You can ask about your surroundings, and it will pull information from Google Search, Maps, and Lens. It can even remember things it saw in the last 10 minutes and support chats in different languages.

Google says Astra features like live video streaming and screen sharing are coming to the Gemini app soon. Samsung Galaxy S25 and certain Pixel devices will get them first. Other devices will follow, but no exact dates were shared.

Gemini now chains actions across apps

Gemini used to handle one action at a time. For example, finding a coffee shop in Google Maps and texting the location to a friend were separate steps. Now, Gemini can chain actions together. For instance, you can ask it to find a pet-friendly Italian restaurant with outdoor seating and text the location to your friend in one request.

This update works on all devices with Gemini, including the web and iOS.

New Gemini tools for Samsung apps

Google announced new extensions for Samsung Calendar, Clock, Notes, and Reminder apps. These are only for Samsung devices. Here’s what they can do:

  • Samsung Calendar
    • Create, edit, and delete events
    • Capture event info from images
    • List events for a date range
  • Samsung Clock
    • Manage alarms, timers, and the stopwatch
  • Samsung Notes
    • Create and summarize notes
    • Find notes based on their titles or descriptions
  • Samsung Reminder
    • Set up reminders
    • Edit or search for reminders
    • Delete reminders

The real question is… can it uninstall itself? I don’t want AI on my phone.

Laken said:
The real question is… can it uninstall itself? I don’t want AI on my phone.

Yep. Open Gemini, go to settings, scroll to the bottom, and switch back to Google Assistant. It’s not forced yet.

Laken said:
The real question is… can it uninstall itself? I don’t want AI on my phone.

Just don’t turn it on in the first place. Problem solved.

Vale said:

Laken said:
The real question is… can it uninstall itself? I don’t want AI on my phone.

Just don’t turn it on in the first place. Problem solved.

Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ
Would you like to try Gemini? [YES ENABLE IT] ⁿᵒᵗ ⁿᵒʷ

Mine’s so bad it can’t even tell me today’s date. Feels useless.

Jody said:
Mine’s so bad it can’t even tell me today’s date. Feels useless.

It depends on how you use it. I save tons of time by having it pull info from PDFs and turn it into HTML. It’s a lifesaver for stuff like device specs.

Still no ‘Are you feeling lucky?’ from Google Assistant. That feature was so fun.

Finn said:
Is this just spam?

Not at all. I wrote this to share updates about Gemini. It’s all from the announcements made today.