Gemini Extensions Can Be Accessed When Your Android Phone Is Locked

It took a year from launch, but Gemini on Android is now a much better phone assistant. The latest update lets you access Gemini Extensions from the Android lockscreen.

Last Friday, Google made official how “Gemini extensions are now accessible directly from your Android mobile device’s lockscreen.” This includes when long-pressing on the power button or using the “Hey Google” hotword. Users have been noticing this improvement in recent weeks, and it should now be widely available.

This means some of your most frequently used interactions with Gemini can now be executed without having to unlock your device.

In July, Gemini added a setting to let you get answers to general questions from your Android lockscreen. As of today, that preference is called “Use Gemini without unlocking” under Gemini Settings > Gemini on lock screen. You can:

Get answers to general questions
Make calls or answer text messages
Handle some personal requests, like creating a reminder
Control most smart devices, like Smart Displays or a smart thermostat
Set, stop, and snooze alarms
Set and stop timers
Control media, like pause a song
Control some phone features, like turn on the flashlight and change the volume

Example prompts, which are more complex, include:

“I’m planning a date night tonight, remind me to pick up some chocolates, strawberries and roses”
“What time does the nearest Starbucks close at, and how long would it take me to get there?”

Like with Google Assistant in the past, this does not change how “Gemini will still require you to unlock for some actions” that involve personal content from apps, like calendar events.

This joins how Google in December rolled out a separate “Make calls and send message without unlocking” setting that you have to enable.

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