There has been a surge of AI tools and features in Android and iOS smartphones. To keep up with the advancements, Google has framed Google Gemini as its go-to virtual assistant in the latest Android smartphones, especially the Pixel series. While you can still switch back to the good old Google Assistant, the experience will not be the same as Gemini comes equipped with a ton of extensions that you can integrate with the app to make the responses more precise and personalized. 

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That is exactly what we will cover here — how to use the best Google Gemini AI extensions that can be useful every day. Integrating these extensions is what puts Gemini a step ahead of Google Assistant to make it more than a conventional voice assistant. Thankfully, accessing Gemini is easier now than ever before. You can simply alert Gemini with “Hey Google,” removing the hassle of picking up your phone to use the app — just turn on the “Hey Google” and Voice Match feature inside Gemini’s Settings tab and you’re ready to go.

Even better, Google Gemini extensions are also available in the free version, so there is no need to worry about spending extra dollars to avail yourself of these perks. However, something worth remembering is that the Gemini Apps Activity has to be enabled in the app to pair the extensions. This way, Gemini keeps a memory of your past conversations to piece information together for more tailored future responses. That said, Gemini’s responses may not always be correct, so it is a good practice to double-check the information it provides.

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To enable any of the extension we will be covering in this article, first open the Gemini app on your phone and tap the profile icon in the top-right corner. Scroll to Extensions to find a list of extensions supported by Gemini AI to maximize the app’s usability. Toggle the switch on or off depending on which app or service you use more often. 

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Google Support is clear about the fact that when you add an extension to Gemini, the data is shared with that app to generate prompts suited to your request. On the bright side, there is no limit to how many Google Gemini extensions you can add at a time, so feel free to use as many as you’d like. Moreover, interacting with third-party apps like WhatsApp and Spotify inside the Gemini app also means the data will be shared across apps. The key point to note here is that this is all done with your consent. If you wish to stop the cross-share of data at any point, switch off the extension. 

One more thing to be aware of is that you do not always have to tag the particular extension you want to use in your prompt. Gemini knows which extension to use based on the requirements and keywords in the user query. If you ask it to get flight details, the Google Flights extension will activate automatically.

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If you are someone whose life revolves around Google Workspace apps like Google Keep and Gmail, this extension is a must-have. With it, you can consider Gemini your personal assistant for the entire Google ecosystem. Think that you might have missed an important work email from a colleague? Prompt Gemini to “Get the last three emails from Jason,” and it will look through your Gmail for Jason’s emails. It will then show you a couple of pointers summarizing each email along with the receiving date so you can quickly find it in your inbox.

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Other than this, use Gemini to your advantage to quickly find information or create a short summary of Google Docs and Drive files instead of reading long documents. It can also fetch lists and content from your Google Keep notes or add content to the ones already there on your phone. You can also add meetings to the Google Calendar immediately with your personal AI assistant to make sure you don’t forget them later. Even better, ask it to check if your calendar is free for a particular day and time to schedule commitments accordingly.

With Google Assistant, you have long had the convenience of texting or calling anyone on the contact list with a voice command. There is an additional step to perform before you can do the same action with Gemini — turn on the Phone and SMS extensions in the app. After that is done, you can enter the text and prompt Gemini to deliver the SMS to the named contact on your smartphone. If you are unsure about the tone, ask it to modify the message before sending it to the receiver. It will ask you for a final confirmation before delivering the text message.

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Want to make a quick phone call on the go? Let Gemini know who to call, and it will ring up that person in your phone’s contact list right away. Merging the Phone and SMS extensions with this digital assistant made things much more feasible in my day-to-day life. You no longer have to scroll through my contact list to find the person you need to contact — instead, you can just let Gemini do the work for me while you can focus on other important tasks at hand.

Get real-time ticket prices and flight schedules for any destination you wish to travel. Gemini can fetch the flight availability within seconds and help you plan your next trip with the Google Flights extension. In fact, Gemini is smart enough to know what data to use for which query. If you just ask it to show you the earliest flight to Istanbul in economy class, it will identify the nearest airport to your current location and show the details accordingly.

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Not only one, but you get multiple airline options to choose from to make an informed decision. The response will contain all the essential information you need, including the airline name, flight number, arrival/departure times, and the approximate travel time. You name it, and you get it. 

Once you have booked the most suitable flight and traveled to your destination, don’t worry about getting lost in a foreign city. Gemini has your back with the Google Maps extension. Tell Gemini where you are headed, and it will use your live location data to map out a route to your destination. Let it map out the quickest way to your destination while you also receive regular updates about the distance and estimated travel time.

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Smart home owners, pay attention. If you sync your smart home devices with the same Google account, then you can control them with the Gemini assistant. From smart fans, lights, and media devices to coffee makers, thermostats, and window coverings — just about anything that’s compatible with the Google Home ecosystem can now be controlled with just your voice.

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With each passing day that the AI behind Gemini gets smarter, it is becoming more proficient in understanding and comprehending the human language. A good example is if you just say, “I feel we need more sunlight in the kitchen,” Gemini will know that it needs to open the kitchen window covering. Similarly, the prompt “It’s too cold inside” can activate the thermostat settings to increase the temperature for a warmer house.

The integration of Gemini with Google Home has made smart devices more accessible for users, offering them a greater sense of control over these devices. Thanks to this, the Google ecosystem has become much more useful than ever before. The only downside is that the Google Home extension? As of January 2025, it is only available in Public Preview. Oh, and you cannot access the Google Home extension unless you reside in the U.S. That’s a bummer, but maybe we can see wider availability once the extension is released officially.

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Utilities is another cool extension that is compatible with Google Gemini. With Utilities, you can navigate to different apps on your phone or set timers and alarms using just your voice. The AI presents the option to perform almost any task within your phone without the need to access the particular app separately.

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Want to quickly add something to the Calendar app? No worries, tell Gemini to do that for you. Want to jot down important pointers, but your hands are full? Dictate it to Gemini and ask it to add the content in a separate note on your phone. You are the CEO and Gemini — paired with the Utilities extension — is your personal secretary that is always there at your service. 

Here’s a very practical use case of the Utilities extension. Imagine that there is an unexpected electricity breakdown in your area. The lights go out, and you cannot locate your phone in the pitch-black room. What do you do? Yell “Hey Google” to activate Gemini and prompt it to turn on the flashlight. There you go — you can now see around as well as find your smartphone in this unforeseen situation.

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If life feels incomplete to you without your favorite music playing in the background, link up Spotify or Google Music to the Gemini app. Ask Gemini to play a song for a certain mood or fetch one from your playlists when the phone is out of your hand’s reach. Discover new songs and artists or create a curated playlist for your study session in YouTube Music, all with the help of this smart assistant. Unfortunately, the Spotify extension is not quite as well integrated and only lets you search for songs to play.

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Still, there are plenty of impressive things you can get done with Gemini’s integrated music features, even at times when you vaguely remember a music video but not the exact name of the song. Hit the virtual AI with a prompt like, “Play a song where Zayn Malik and Sia feature together.” Gemini will then ask you to pick the media provider between Spotify and YouTube Music. Make a selection and receive a mix of songs in which the mentioned artists collaborated. Play to your liking and dance to the beat.

Merging the YouTube extension with Google Gemini will save much of your time. Tell Gemini to get you the most relevant YouTube videos about what you want to learn or know more about. For instance, try “I bought a new BBQ grill. Show me a YouTube video on its assembly.” So how is this different from performing the same search in the YouTube app? Well, once again, you can do all this with Gemini without having to grab the phone.

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However, there’s more that Gemini can do after you find the clip you want. Use the Ask About This Video feature in YouTube when you are running short on time but need to familiarize yourself with a concept super quick. So, if you have a Chemistry test in the next few minutes and cannot recall the steps to perform filtration, Gemini is there to the rescue! Pull up a video for filtration and summon Gemini by holding your phone’s Power or Home button, then tap the Ask About This Video button once it pops up to get a concise summary of the process in the blink of an eye.

OpenStax is a resource goldmine. With the ability to source relevant academic material from open-source textbooks, this extension is perfect for undergraduates whose curriculum is incomplete without extensive research. The extension also comes in handy when you want to do last-minute revisions for concepts that you cannot mess up in the exam.

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In a press release, Professor Richard G. Baraniuk, the founder and director of OpenStax, discussed how “content provided through AI learning tools should be accurate and inclusive. This integration with Gemini embodies these principles, providing another avenue for learners and educators to access our high-quality content through a trusted technology partner.” Unfortunately, the extension only works in the U.S. and for those who are 18 or older.

The extension allows Gemini to look up information in its extensive database of over 70 textbooks from Rice University’s educational resources that have been peer-reviewed and have open licenses. It brings a wealth of knowledge to the table for learners and educators alike.

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WhatsApp has established itself as a giant of digital communication in this era. Many of us a part of different group chats with your friends, classmates or work buddies hosted on the app. Google understood the importance of WhatsApp in a user’s life and designed a dedicated extension for the Gemini assistant.

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Don’t feel like opening WhatsApp work groups after office hours? Instruct Gemini to write a message for the particular group in WhatsApp, for instance, saying you are out with the family. Review it and hit the Send button to deliver the text instantly.

Unfortunately, our testing has shown that the WhatsApp extension does not work very well for me compared to the other Google extensions. The call feature rings the contact immediately, but the texts sometimes take a few minutes before they are delivered to the receiver. On a few occasions, we had to manually open my WhatsApp app on the phone so the text could be delivered.