Google Gemini's standalone app finally lands on iOS

Key Takeaways

• Google's AI assistant, Gemini, is now available as a standalone app on iOS.
• The app brings features like Gemini Live, a conversational AI, to iPhone users.
• Gemini's integration with iOS could pave the way for deeper AI integration with Apple's ecosystem.

Gemini, which was named Bard up until earlier this year, officially landed as a standalone app on Android back in February. Now, only a few days after a stray report about a dedicated Gemini app landing on iOS did the rounds, the Mountain View, California-based tech giant has officially confirmed its launch.

Google's AI assistant landing on iOS doesn't really come as a surprise, considering that it was already accessible on iPhones via the Google app — however, the standalone app does bring other Gemini perks which have previously been limited to Android.

Related

What is Google's Gemini Live?

Google's new voice assistant

2

iPhone users will finally be able to make use of Gemini Live, the conversational AI assistant that started off as a Gemini Advanced exclusive but made its way to free users in late September. Previously, although iPhone users had access to Gemini via the Google app, the Gemini Live functionality was absent.

With a dedicated app now, iOS users should be able to talk back and forth with the assistant without the need to type and brainstorm ideas in a conversational manner — and with support for Live Activities, you can continue talking to the AI assistant even with your iPhone locked.

It's worth noting that the app is only available for users running iOS 16 and above. Also worth noting is that even though the standalone app is rolling out worldwide, users would only be able to make use of Gemini Live in the following languages:

Other Gemini features that iPhones users have already had access to are retained with the standalone app, like Gemini Extensions — including YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, Calendar and more. It is currently unclear if the Google Home extension, which is currently rolling out on Android, will be available on iOS. Additionally, the app continues to offer text-to-image generation support powered by Imagen 3, though I wouldn't rely on it for my image generation needs. The short five-screenshot-story below highlights why.

Even though the app is rolling out today, I have had access to it via the App Store since yesterday, Wednesday, November 13, while others have had it for upwards of three days. In my brief time using it, I've found practically no difference between how the app runs on my iPhone vs. on my Pixel 8 — and the iOS experience doesn't feel buggy at all, contrary to earlier concerns. More importantly though, the development finally lays down the groundwork for Gemini to eventually be integrated with Apple Intelligence, akin to ChatGPT's integration within Siri, with the former slated to take place some time this year.

Related

Google Gemini: Everything you need to know about Google's next-gen multimodal AI

Google Gemini is here, with a whole new approach to multimodal AI