Google Gemini AI may soon play music on Spotify, send WhatsApp messages

Google’s artificial intelligence-powered assistant Gemini is slowly taking over Google Assistant across Android devices, largely due to its capability to respond to queries, generate text, search within images, and offer real-time assistance. However, it lacked the ability to perform basic tasks that Google Assistant could always do. That’s changing with new Extensions for Gemini, which will allow the GenAI assistant to perform tasks like playing music on Spotify or sending messages on WhatsApp.

Android Authority has reported that a contributor called Assemble Debug managed to enable the new Gemini Extensions in the Google app’s beta version 15.40.31.29. That means an upcoming version of Gemini’s public app will play music on Spotify and send messages on WhatsApp or Google Messages when a user asks. According to screenshots provided in the report, Extensions for Gemini will call Google Assistant to perform these actions before replacing Google Assistant settings.

“Google Assistant actions are becoming Extensions, so Assistant settings, like personal results and lock screen, won’t apply,” reads the Google Gemini widget, as seen in the screenshot. The user activity on Gemini will also be used for actions, like choosing a contact. However, the Gemini Apps Activity will need to be mandatorily turned on for Extensions to work. Moreover, Extensions for Gemini will learn over time the user’s preferred contact options for calling and messaging.

The first instances of the Extensions for Gemini include the integration of Spotify, Google Messages, and WhatsApp. The WhatsApp Extension works similarly to how Google Assistant handles WhatsApp-related requests. A demonstration of the feature posted in the article shows Google Gemini prompting the user with the option to send a spoken message with a single tap. However, it will have the option to open WhatsApp to modify a message. This will be an added functionality since the existing Google app version cannot do this. The Google Messages Extension works similarly to the WhatsApp Extension.

On the other hand, the Spotify Extension works like the YouTube Extension, allowing users to play a song and show its thumbnail, which will take them directly to the app. The Extension works for free and Premium Spotify users.