Enhancing Gemini’s Capabilities with Extensions

Discover how to extend the functionality of Google’s new AI virtual assistant, Gemini, by adding extensions and enabling Apps Activity.

There I was, stuck in traffic—because of course I was—wanting to call my partner. My car’s from 2007, so it’s about as smart as a brick. That means I’m glued to my phone for calls and tunes. But when I tried the classic ‘Hey Google — call Jim on his mobile!’, my phone hit me with the cold hard truth: Gemini doesn’t do that. Turns out, Google’s shiny new AI assistant, Gemini, had quietly taken over, leaving Google Assistant in the dust. And guess what? Gemini’s still got some growing up to do, missing basics like making calls or sending texts. Talk about a downgrade.

But hey, there’s a hack for that: extensions. Yep, just like pimping out your Chrome browser, you can trick out Gemini. My first blunder? Forgetting to flip the switch on Gemini Apps Activity. This little setting keeps a diary of all your Gemini shenanigans, and without it, extensions are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. To get it going, you’ll need to nod along to some fine print about what data’s being hoarded, for how long, and why.

With that sorted, you can either boss Gemini around and hope it picks the right extension, or go on a treasure hunt for extensions yourself—hit up gemini.google.com or tap your profile pic in the app. Once I got Apps Activity rolling, I gave the call feature another shot, and voilà, it worked! Scrolling through the app, I spotted a handful of extensions, and who knows, by the time you’re reading this, there might be even more.

Here’s the kicker: your chats vanish after 72 hours no matter what, but turning on Apps Activity lets you play janitor and clean up your digital footprint. Here’s hoping Gemini gets its act together soon, blending all the goodies from Google Assistant with its own AI magic, all while learning from our data. Fingers crossed, right?