Google has made it clear that its future is everything AI. Increasingly, we’ve seen Google integrate its Gemini AI throughout its ecosystem to the point where it can take over your phone completely—particularly through in-app features. Google’s apps are being fused with Gemini’s intelligence and multimodal capabilities, making them more useful.
While all Google apps now feature Gemini AI, it truly shines in a select handful. These improvements have become so critical that I can’t imagine using those apps without Gemini anymore. It has significantly eased my workload, boosted my productivity, and cut the time required to complete tasks in half.
Complete research with one search
Google has recently launched AI Mode in its Search app, which scours the internet to deliver comprehensive information related to my queries. Since Gemini’s advanced 2.5 Pro model powers it, the AI Mode always aims to provide detailed, in-depth answers.
While AI Mode can be used for any search, it performs best with inquiries phrased as questions. I can also engage in follow-up conversations within AI Mode, building on previous results without needing to restate details, which makes it easy for me to stay on topic.
While generally accurate, the AI Mode is still in Beta. It relies on information from various web sources, which can sometimes result in inaccurate or outdated answers. Therefore, for research, I generally use NotebookLM instead.
Monday morning roundups got a lot easier
With Gemini, summarizing emails has become effortless. A simple prompt generates a concise gist of my received emails, presented in a well-organized bullet-point format. This makes it easier to prioritize responses and decide which ones to skip, easing my way into Monday mornings.
However, Gemini’s utility in Gmail extends beyond summaries; it also assists in composing replies. Suppose you’re unsure how to respond to an angry email from your manager. In that case, Gemini can draft a polite, polished response with just a tap.
Gemini in Gmail also helps me create and manage calendar tasks and events, generate images, and find content within shared or received files—all with just one prompt.
Analyze, summarize, and create with Gemini
Gemini AI has become a lifesaver for me since it gained access to my Drive. For someone with hundreds (if not thousands) of files saved in Drive, finding the correct file or document can be tedious and time-consuming.
The Gemini AI integration in Google Drive is incredibly useful, as it can quickly summarize any file and help you find exactly what you need in an instant. That’s the case whether it was saved yesterday or uploaded five years ago.
Gemini can access the contents of uploaded files and documents, allowing you to ask about specific information within a file and receive the answer along with the source file. Additionally, you can select multiple files saved in Drive and ask Gemini to use them to create a new file, such as a PowerPoint presentation or document. This feature is beneficial for students who are facing tight deadlines, among other use cases.
Supercharge your meetings while looking good
Since Google introduced Gemini in Meet, I have never looked or sounded bad during my meetings. Gemini AI offers features like Studio Look and Studio Sound within the Meet app, allowing me to enhance the lighting in my dimly lit room and improve my audio quality, even with a mediocre microphone on my phone.
With Gemini AI, I can also take notes during meetings using the Take notes for me feature. This feature generates well-organized and accurate notes, including the name of the speaker, which makes it easy to review important information after the meeting.
Additionally, for those in noisy environments or with hearing difficulties, Meet offers a real-time captions feature powered by Gemini AI. This makes it easy to follow along with what the speaker is saying in real-time.
Make research more fun and streamlined
NotebookLM is where Gemini AI truly shines. NotebookLM is the most powerful AI-powered notebook that acts as an open, versatile canvas for personalized research and note-taking tasks. With it, you can also chat or turn any material you have into a podcast.
From summarizing and transcribing YouTube videos to extracting insights from provided PDF documents, NotebookLM can utilize anything I upload—be it links, documents, or presentations—as its source.
AI mode is more focused on deriving information from the internet, whereas NotebookLM takes a more grounded approach. It entirely focuses on the provided content, such as links, documents, and PPTs. This allows it to provide more accurate and tailored insights and responses while citing the exact source from the materials, making it easy to verify.
Google apps are now smarter with Gemini AI
With Gemini AI integrations, Google has made significant strides in its app ecosystem. Gemini’s multimodal capabilities made the apps more streamlined and efficient, while keeping the essence and intuition intact, so Google apps are more reliable and accessible. Once you start utilizing the AI features within these apps to the fullest, you’ll surely notice their absence in other apps.
