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Do you need Gemini Intelligence? If the eligibility requirements for the new AI suite are indeed what we have described, many Android phones will be left out, even the most recent ones. Many Android and Gemini fans may be asking themselves that same question later this summer. While it’s easy to want the latest and greatest AI software, the answer might be “no.”
Without Gemini Intelligence, you won’t be able to ask Gemini to book a tour in the Expedia app in the background while you use your Android phone for other tasks. However, you’ll still be able to use features like Nano Banana, Gemini, and Circle to search without Gemini Intelligence. So it’s important to remember that the Gemini features you love aren’t going away—Gemini Intelligence just expands on them.
The limitations of Gemini Intelligence are somewhat surprising considering the intended scope of the AI suite. Google said in its announcement that Gemini Intelligence “will be available on your Android devices, including your watch, car, glasses, and laptops, later this year.” It also explained that it will begin a gradual rollout of features starting with “the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer.”
But considering the demanding system requirements for Gemini Intelligence, we doubt the suite will run on the device on platforms like Wear OS, Google built-in, or Android XR. Instead, it seems more likely that Gemini Intelligence could run on devices running Android phones and Googlebooks, with watches, cars and glasses accessing the advanced AI suite via a tethered connection. However, we’ll have to wait and see to know for sure.
Gemini Intelligence is the start of Android’s shift toward becoming an “intelligent system” rather than an operating system, but that shift could leave quite a few Android flagships behind. We recently learned about the Gemini Intelligence Home Page that strict technical requirements will prevent many recent flagships from running the new AI suite. The system requirements for Gemini Intelligence are a “qualified SoC” (in other words, a flagship chip), 12GB of RAM, and certain on-device AI models (AI Core and Gemini Nano v3).
As you’ve probably noticed, that list not only excludes next-gen flagships, but also some current models like the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Of course, Google could expand support for the Gemini Nano v3, and we hope so. But for now, Gemini Intelligence seems much more limited than we initially thought.
While some people may not trust Gemini with complicated tasks just yet, there is one area I can’t wait for Gemini to take over: filling out forms. With this latest update to Gemini Intelligence, Gemini can now automatically fill out all those annoying web forms with a single tap, including the boxes that Chrome’s current autofill always seems unable to fill. It’s about time!
Sticking with the topic of auto-navigation for another minute, I wonder how many people will feel comfortable letting Gemini perform these tasks. Do you trust AI summaries in Google searches or use AI to complete tasks like this with confidence? I know a lot of people who are skeptical about the accuracy of AI for this sort of thing (rightfully so), and I wonder how many people might be willing to delegate a task to Gemini and trust the end result. What do you think? I’d love to hear from the community on this topic!
Google also released the Chrome Autobrowse Featurewhich is based on Gemini Screen Automationwhich was launched alongside the Galaxy S26 earlier this year. With Autobrowse, you assign a task to Gemini and it does all the annoying searching and research for you. Google’s example was finding the best parking spot for an event, something that often requires the use of multiple apps or websites, plus a good amount of time finding it.
During the Gemini Intelligence portion of The Android Show, we got a look at a radically different UI design for Gemini. Google is being quite strange with this new design, telling Android Central: “Gemini Intelligence comes with an updated design language that is based on Material 3 Expressive.” Clearly, this design language is nothing like Material 3 Expressive, despite what the company says, so perhaps it’s just testing the waters for something new and relatively small to see how public reaction goes.
Security is an important part of Android and Google is improving user protection with a new anti-counterfeit protection feature. To protect users from spoofing, the system will verify bank calls in the background and end the call if it detects that someone is impersonating a bank.
The feature will work for participating financial institutions if the user has the associated app installed on their phone. Basically, the system will verify with the application that a call is actually being made from the bank. To start, only Revolut, Itaú and Nubank will support the new counterfeit protection feature, but it will expand to other banks in the future.
Android Auto He is receiving the love he needs so much. Users will be happy to know that the experience will be better suited to a wider range of infotainment screen shapes, like that of the Lucid Air. The update includes Material 3 Expressive wallpapers and UI elements, adding more color to your experience.
Android 17 is becoming more creator-friendly, and one of the coolest features coming to the platform is Screen reactions. If you’re a creator, you should find this very useful as it makes it easy to record an overlay of yourself over a clip in the background without needing to set up a green screen or use third-party apps.
Gemini Intelligence It’s a big step forward for Android, bringing more automation and context across Google platforms. We’ve already seen a lot of what this can do, thanks to magic sign and Now push on the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26, respectively. Google plans to take app automation to the next level and bring it to even more devices.
One interesting capability powered by Gemini Intelligence is an improved Gboard speech-to-text feature called Rambler. It intelligently transcribes your voice taking into account “ums”, “ahs” and “likes”, allowing you to speak more naturally while converting your voice.
