Gemini extensions for your Phone, Messages, and WhatsApp are now arriving

The past couple weeks have seen quite a bit of movement in the Gemini space, and today is no different. To keep up with the theme of new functionality arriving every few days for the Gemini app on Android, Google is now rolling out extension for your Messages, Phone, and even WhatsApp, allowing Gemini to take care of more tasks than ever before.

Messages extension

First up, let’s talk about the @Messages extension. This handy tool integrates with your phone’s default messaging app to make texting a breeze. Need to dash off a quick message to a friend? Just ask Gemini with prompts like:

• “Send a message to [contact name].”
• “Text [contact name] [message].”
• “Ask [contact name] [question].”

And if you are feeling stuck on what to say, Gemini can help you craft the perfect message; even offering creative suggestions like turning your message into a haiku with a prompt like this:

• “Help me write a happy birthday message to [contact name] on their 35th birthday.”
  • (After Gemini’s response) “Can you make it less sentimental and more funny?.”
  • (After Gemini’s response) “Send it to [contact name].”

Now, while the Messages Extension is super helpful, there are a few things it can’t do just yet. It can’t read or summarize your existing messages, add images or other media, or respond to message notifications.

Phone calls extension

Next in line is the @Phone extension, and this one is necessary for making calls without having to pick up the phone and dig around in your phone app. With Gemini, you can make calls in a natural, conversational way. While you can always ask Gemini to call a contact, you can also be more vague and ask it to call the nearest golf course or the even any business you can name.

But the concersational abilities are the most interesting to me. For instance, if you are looking up a coffee shop in a new city and want to get some reviews and then call one, you can do all of that in a conversational way. Here’s an example of that:

• Call based on your conversation:
  • “Show me some good coffee shops nearby.”
    • (After Gemini’s response) “Tell about the reviews on the third option.”
    • (After Gemini’s response) “Ok, can you call them?”

WhatsApp extension

And finally, we have @WhatsApp, the first third-party Gemini Extension! This integration brings the magic of Gemini to your WhatsApp chats, allowing you to make calls and send messages seamlessly. Like you can with other apps, you can now simply ask Gemini to call or message someone via WhatsApp with the following types of commands:

• Make a call:
  • “I need to talk to [contact’s name]. Can you call them on WhatsApp?”
  • “Call [contact first name]’s [mobile, home, work] number with WhatsApp.”
  • “@WhatsApp call [contact full name].”
  • “Can you call [phone number] on WhatsApp?”
• Send a message:
  • “Send a WhatsApp message to [contact name].”
  • “Text [contact name] [message] on WhatsApp.”
  • “Ask [contact name] [question] on WhatsApp.”

How to turn on these extensions

Excited to try them out? You might need to force stop the Gemini or Google app to get these new extensions to appear. One quick force close and I was up and running with all the new features. Once they’re up and running, they should be enabled by default, but if you go to the main settings in the Gemini app, you’ll see the extensions menu when you click on your avatar in the top-right corner.

The more Google continues to add extensions to Gemini, the more I’ll actually lean on it for more than conversational learning opportunities. While that stuff is amazing and fun, Gemini really needs to be able to interact with the basics on a much higher level, and extensions like these are the way to get that done. At this rate, I fully expect to see more of them soon.