Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- We’ve discovered references to a new Gemini button in the Gmail Android app.
- We were able to enable the feature, revealing a full-featured version of Gemini in Gmail.
- This seems to be the same Gemini button that’s available to Gmail on the web for Workspace users.
Google has offered a Gemini button in Gmail for Workspace users for a while now, letting enterprise users summon Gemini for email summaries and other tasks. It now looks like this button could soon come to the Gmail Android app.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Android Authority, in partnership with AssembleDebug, has discovered references to a new Gemini button coming to the Gmail Android app (version 2024.05.19.635289964). We were able to enable the feature via flags to get a better idea of how it works. Check out the video below.
Gmail for Android already offers a “summarize this email” button below the email’s subject line, but this serves one purpose only. The new button, which takes the form of a star icon and appears next to the archive button, allows you to make more queries in addition to email summaries.
We were able to use this button for a variety of tasks, such as asking for reply suggestions, changing the tone of a drafted response, and other non-email tasks. It also looks like Gemini can access content from previous emails to a limited extent, as it was able to give us details about our previous train ride. However, it refused to let us view unread emails within the chat window when asked, suggesting that deeper Gmail integration, as seen on the web version, isn’t offered just yet.
You might not want to hold your breath for this feature on your personal Gmail app, though. Gmail for the web already offers the same Gemini button, but it’s limited to Workspace users only.
