Google is prepping Gemini to take action inside of apps

Google released the first Android 16 developer preview earlier this week and keen-eyed observers are already uncovering interesting tidbits, including one that hints about a much more useful future for Google’s AI assistant. In Android Authority, Mishaal Rahman writes about a mysterious new API in Android 16 called “app functions,” which appears to give Gemini Assistant agentic-like abilities to take action in apps. It sounds awfully similar to the upgraded “app intents” Apple supports in iOS 18, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that could make AI assistants much more useful than they are in their current state.

A page on Google’s developer site describes an app function as “a specific piece of functionality that an app offers to the system. These functionalities can be integrated into various system features.” Really clears things up. But Rahman points to a specific example buried in the documentation that sheds some more light. It details how an app developer could use app functions to expose certain actions to the system — in this case, ordering food. With this function available to Gemini, you might be able to place an order with your neighborhood Thai restaurant without having to open the DoorDash app. Kinda neat.

Apple’s working on a similar approach to a smarter assistant. One of its promises for the smarter Siri we’ll supposedly get in iOS 18 is that it will be able to take action in apps for you. By updating its app intents framework, Apple has created a way for developers to expose “order food”-type functions to Siri. According to rumors, we probably won’t see that update until spring of 2025, though.

“Doing things for you” was kind of the whole promise of smart assistants from the beginning, but that hasn’t started materializing until very recently. Gemini can access information in certain apps with your permission, but currently it’s mostly limited to searching things like Gmail and Google Maps. And Siri’s biggest update in iOS 18 so far added a ChatGPT extension so you can ask more complicated questions, but it still falls short on “taking action.” Now, both platforms appear to be laying the groundwork for better assistants — and 2025 could be a very interesting year for AI on smartphones.