Google has recently taken a major stride in the field of artificial intelligence, intensifying efforts to enhance its Gemini chatbot and large language models. The company plans to seamlessly integrate these advancements throughout its entire suite of products. Currently, Gemini serves as the default assistant on a wide range of Android devices, and with every update, both its functionality and ability to perform tasks have been progressively improving.
Although Gemini currently interacts with some external services, it encounters limitations when it comes to managing Android applications. Nonetheless, this situation is projected to undergo a major transformation next year. The introduction of Android 16 will bring a brand-new API that allows services such as Gemini to execute a variety of operations within apps on behalf of users, significantly improving the overall user experience.
At present, Gemini extensions function as the main bridge between Google's chatbot and external services. Through these extensions, Gemini can access online services like Google Flights, Google Hotels, and OpenStax, extracting and presenting relevant information in response to user queries. Furthermore, extensions for Google Maps, Google Home, YouTube, and Google Workspace are extensively employed on Android devices. It is noteworthy, however, that these extensions use the user's account data when invoking backend APIs, rather than directly controlling the associated Android applications.
However, Gemini extensions currently suffer from notable scalability issues. Considering the extensive number of Android applications, it is difficult for Google to create extensions for every app. Furthermore, many applications do not offer public APIs that Gemini can use. To overcome this challenge, Google is investigating new technological approaches. In theory, by combining screen reading, multimodal AI, and assistive input technologies, Gemini might allow users to control any Android application using natural language. However, the absence of necessary context information may result in subpar performance.
In order to provide a more effective solution, Google is set to introduce a completely new API in Android 16. This API will allow applications to directly collaborate with Gemini to execute specific functions, thereby substantially enhancing Gemini's control capabilities within the Android system and improving user experience. This move will not only promote the further development of the Gemini chatbot but also bring increased convenience and intelligent experiences to Android users.
