Gemini on Android Auto is teh Frist Time I’ve Actually Liked Using Google’s New AI

Over the past few months, especially, Gemini has taken over everything Google, with Assistant having largely vanished. Yet, in most cases, the biggest upgrade I’ve felt from Gemini is just the lack of Assistant being so awful. But there is one big exception, and that’s with Gemini on Android Auto.

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Google’s pitch with Gemini has, to me, always felt a little ambitious. The thought of having full-fledged conversations with my smartphone, speakers, earbuds, and other devices just seems… weird. At least for me, I’m usually using voice commands on these devices to handle a task in the quickest way possible, frequently enough just for things like smart home controls or quick questions I need a one-sentence answer for.

Often when Google shows examples of how it expects people to use Gemini, I truly just can’t believe anyone is typing out 50-word prompts like they’re talking to another person.

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But the recent rollout of Gemini for Android Auto is what’s managed to change my tune a fair bit.

Gemini on Android Auto is not something I ever expected to want as, frankly, Assistant seemed like enough. If I’m looking to navigate to a location, I don’t need a ton of context, I just need my voice assistant to do the thing I’ve asked of it. And, realy, I think I was right about that. Assistant was enough for that, at least until it started to crumble and become something about as useful as a dumpster fire in your passenger seat. Gemini at the very least cleans up the problems Assistant was having, though not without introducing its own such as continuing to ask questions of you or read out its replies long after you’ve used the touchscreen to complete the action.

Were Gemini managed to stand out on Android Auto for me was in its conversational manner, and it’s ability to find details quickly.

Much like “shower thoughts,” I frequently enough find myself brainstorming ideas while driving alone. But, for safety’s sake, I usually can’t gather any new information behind the wheel. Gemini,and especially Gemini Live,has been brilliant for this. Lately I’ve found myself having full conversations with Gemini about things I want to buy, like a drone, or details about rules in a disc golf event I’m looking to run. Rather of thinking about these questions in my head and either quickly looking up information at a stoplight or, just as likely, inevitably forgetting to look them up by the time I reach my destination, I can just talk it thru with Gemini.

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