Google Gemini will be able to perform tasks in applications without opening them

Google Gemini artificial intelligence will gain new capabilities thanks to the “app functions” API, which allows you to perform actions in applications without opening them. According to The Verge, the new feature has been found in the Android 16 developer code and could be available to all users as early as next year.

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The app functions, based on the Application programming interface (API), can give the Gemini assistant the ability to perform actions within applications. On the developer site, Google describes app functions as “specific functionality that an application provides to the system, and which can be integrated into various system functions at the same time.”

While this sounds pretty vague at the moment, Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman provides an example from the documentation that makes things clearer. For example, application developers will be able to provide API access to individual actions, such as ordering food, and Gemini will be able to place an order without opening the application.

Interestingly, Apple is also developing a similar function. In iOS 18, Siri will also be able to perform actions inside applications through the updated app intents framework. For example, users will be able to order something in a store through Siri if the developers of a certain application enable this feature. However, the implementation of this function in the case of Apple is not expected until spring 2025.

It is worth noting that the ability to “perform actions for the user” was initially one of the main goals of smart assistants, but its implementation has only recently begun to appear. For now, Gemini is mostly limited to searching for information in Gmail or Google Maps. As for the Siri voice assistant in iOS 18, it has received integration with ChatGPT, due to which you can ask more complex questions, but Siri is still doing a worse job of performing actions.

It appears that both Google and Apple are laying the groundwork for smarter assistants that can perform complex tasks within apps, and this will happen very soon.