Google Gemini App Faces User Criticism and Lists Features Not Supported
Google’s new app, Gemini, has been met with user criticism as it falls short of replacing Google Assistant on Android. The sentiment among users is that Gemini is not yet ready to take over the role of Google Assistant. Fortunately, Google is aware of this feedback and has acknowledged the need for improvements in Gemini.
To address the concerns raised by users, Google has released a support document listing the features and services from Google Assistant that are not currently supported in Gemini. These include media service providers such as podcasts, news and radio stations, and third-party music providers. Additionally, routines cannot be started in Gemini, and shortcuts to start a routine and routines attached to alarms in the Clock app no longer work on Android phones. However, it is still possible to start a routine with Google Assistant on Home devices like speakers and Smart Displays.
Another feature not supported in Gemini is reminders. Users are advised to switch back to Google Assistant if they want to set reminders and tasks. Similarly, interpreter mode is only available in Google Assistant, not in Gemini.
Jack Krawczyk from Google has identified “Assistant tasks: calendar, reminders, routines extensions” as areas that need immediate attention. It seems that extensions will be used to add these capabilities to Gemini. Currently, the existing Google Workspace extension only supports Gmail, Drive, and Docs.
One issue that has already been resolved is the “Android app: conversational overlay input submit.” This voice input method on the new overlay panel has been fixed, allowing users to submit their speech-to-text input by pressing the send icon.
In terms of availability, English support in countries like Latin America, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Canada will officially roll out from Monday onwards, along with Japanese and Korean. The Gemini app will soon be available in the UK, Switzerland, European Economic Area countries, and associated territories.
Despite the criticisms and areas for improvement, Google highlights several positive aspects of Gemini. These include its writing style, creativity in helping users find the right words and ideas, speed of responses, no usage caps, online connectivity, images in responses, and integration with tools like Gmail and Maps.
Google is also placing emphasis on Gemini Advanced, which is free for the first two months. This can be seen as a soft launch for the paid tier of the app.
In conclusion, while Google’s Gemini app has faced user criticism and has listed features not supported, Google is actively working on addressing these issues. With upcoming updates and improvements, Gemini has the potential to become a worthy replacement for Google Assistant on Android devices.