Google Gemini

Screenshots

About Google Gemini

Google Gemini app is your personal, proactive and powerful AI Assistant.

With Gemini on your iPhone or iPad, you can:

- Go Live with Gemini to brainstorm ideas, simplify complex topics, and rehearse for important moments. Just click on the Gemini Live button in your Gemini app

- Connect with your favorite Google apps like Search, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and more

- Study smarter and explore any topic with interactive visuals and real-world examples

- Turn any file into a podcast that you can listen to anytime, anywhere

- Create stunning images from just a few words

- Plan trips better and faster

- Get summaries, deep dives, and source links, all in one place

- Brainstorm new ideas, or improve existing ones

Level-up your Gemini app experience by upgrading to the Pro plan–unlock new and powerful features to tackle complex tasks and projects and enjoy industry-leading 1M token context window (enabling Gemini to process up to 1,500 pages of text or 30k lines of code), and:

- Get more access our most powerful model, like 2.5 Pro

- Generate and dive into detailed reports on any topic with Deep Research powered by 2.5 Pro

- Turn words into high-quality, 8 second video clips with video generation with Veo 3, and more.

Google AI Pro is available in 150 countries and territories, and includes additional benefits. Gemini app, as part of Google AI Pro, will continue to be available to qualifying Google Workspace business and education plans. Learn more: https://gemini.google/subscriptions/

Get the best of Gemini [app] by upgrading to the Ultra plan–unlock the highest level of access and exclusive features to turn anything into anything. Get the highest access to Google’s most powerful model, like 2.5 Pro, and features like video generation with Veo 3 and Deep Research. You’ll also get early access to try our newest AI innovations as they become available, including Agent Mode.

Gemini in Google AI Ultra is available in the US and includes additional benefits as part of a Google AI Ultra subscription. Google AI Ultra is not currently available to Google Workspace business and education customers. Learn more: https://gemini.google/subscriptions/

The Google Gemini mobile app is available in select languages and countries. Learn more:

g.co/gemini/iosrequirements

Gemini Live feature availability varies based on language.

g.co/gemini/ioslanguages

While Gemini can help you with many tasks like checking the weather, giving directions, finding and summarizing information across the web and apps, Gemini does not yet support device actions like setting an alarm, sending a text message, and others on iOS.

Review the Gemini Apps Privacy Notice:

g.co/gemini/privacynotice

Version

App Information

Remember when Siri was supposed to be the future? Yeah, me too. Fast forward to today, and I'm using Google's Gemini app on my iPhone more than Apple's own assistant. Never thought I'd say that, but here we are.

Last month, when Google finally released a standalone Gemini app for iPhone (took them long enough), I figured I'd give it a quick test run. Three weeks later, I've basically reorganized my entire digital workflow around it. Not what I expected from what started as Google's panicked response to ChatGPT.

What Gemini Actually Does on iPhone

At its core, Gemini is Google's attempt to put an AI brain in your pocket that actually understands context. Unlike the old Bard (remember that disaster?), this feels like a real product. The iPhone app launched in November 2024, and while Android users have been enjoying the full experience for months, we iPhone folks finally get the good stuff.

The app does everything you'd expect from an AI chatbot - answers questions, writes emails, creates images, all that jazz. But what makes it different is how deeply it hooks into the Google ecosystem while somehow feeling more useful than Siri on Apple's own turf. Wild, right?

Here's what really matters though. Gemini Live, the voice conversation feature, is genuinely impressive. You can interrupt it mid-sentence, change topics randomly, and it just... flows with you. Yesterday I was cooking Birria tacos (first time, dont judge) and had Gemini watching through my camera, giving me real-time advice. No touching my phone with messy hands, no scrolling through recipes. Just "Hey, does this look ready to flip?" and getting an actual helpful answer.

Three Weeks of Living with Gemini

Week 1 - The Honeymoon Phase

Downloaded it expecting another ChatGPT clone. Was immediately wrong. The Dynamic Island integration caught me off guard - when you're in a Gemini Live conversation, controls pop up right there in the island. You can walk away from the app, do other stuff, and the conversation continues. That's... actually brilliant?

First real test was helping my daughter with homework. She had this complicated history assignment about the French Revolution. Instead of me pretending to remember 10th grade history, I handed her my phone with Gemini Live running. Twenty minutes later, she understood the whole timeline better than I ever did. The AI even turned it into a quiz to help her study.

But here's where it got interesting - screen sharing. I could show Gemini what was on my screen and ask questions about it. Found myself using this constantly for those confusing work emails where you're not quite sure what your boss is actually asking for.

Week 2 - Finding the Rhythm

By the second week, I'd set up widgets everywhere. Lock screen, home screen, you name it. The widgets are honestly better thought out than ChatGPT's single offering. There's one for voice chat, one for text, one specifically for image analysis, even one that jumps straight to the camera view.

Started using it for meal planning. Showed it the inside of my fridge (embarassing), asked what I could make for dinner. Got three realistic options, not some fancy recipe requiring truffle oil and saffron. When I picked one, it walked me through it step-by-step, adjusting when I mentioned I was out of oregano.

The image generation with Imagen 3 surprised me too. Asked for "galaxy-themed almond-shaped nails" for my wife (she's into nail art), and it actually delivered something she could show her nail tech. Way better than DALL-E's weird interpretations.

Week 3 - The Reality Check

Okay, so it's not perfect. The iOS version still can't do everything the Android version can. You can't set alarms or send texts through it like Android users can with their system integration. That's Apple's locked-down ecosystem for you, not Google's fault, but still annoying.

Also discovered that while Gemini pulls from Google Search (obviously), it sometimes gives different results than if you just... googled something yourself. Not wrong necessarily, just different. And unlike ChatGPT, which clearly marks when it's searching the web, Gemini kind of seamlessly blends searched info with its training data. Sometimes that's smooth, sometimes it's confusing.

The Good, The Bad, and The "Why Can't Siri Do This?"

What Actually Works

Gemini Live is the star here. It's not just the natural conversation flow - it's that you can show it things. Your screen, your camera, whatever. Last week my car was making a weird noise. I know nothing about cars. Held my phone near the engine, described the sound, and Gemini gave me three possible issues to check. Saved me from looking like an idiot at the mechanic.

The integration with Google Workspace is clutch if you're already in that ecosystem. It can pull from your Gmail, add events to Calendar, search your Drive. Asked it to find that presentation from last quarter about project timelines - boom, there it was. Try getting Siri to do that.

Dynamic Island support makes this feel like an actual iPhone feature, not some third-party addon. When you're in a Live conversation and switch apps, that little pill in the Dynamic Island keeps you connected. It's basically what I hoped Siri would become five years ago.

Where It Falls Short

Free version limits are real. You get Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is fast but not as smart as the Pro models. Want the full 2.5 Pro experience? That's $18.99/month for Google One AI Premium. Steep, especially when ChatGPT Plus is $20 and arguably gives you more variety.

Privacy is... complicated. Look, it's Google. They say they're not training on your personal conversations, but everything goes through their servers. If you're the type who puts tape over your laptop camera, this might make you uncomfortable. Apple Intelligence at least pretends to care about on-device processing.

Sometimes it just makes stuff up. Asked about a local restaurant's menu, and it confidently told me about dishes that don't exist. When I called it out, it apologized and admitted it was "inferring based on typical offerings." That's a fancy way of saying it lied.

Quick Take: Pros & Cons

Gemini vs The Competition

Against ChatGPT? It's honestly a toss-up. ChatGPT feels more creative for writing tasks, better at coding, and the o1 model is incredible for complex reasoning. But Gemini's voice mode is more natural, the Google integration is unmatched, and those iPhone-specific features like Dynamic Island support make it feel more native.

Against Siri? Not even a contest. Siri can set timers and play music. Gemini can watch you cook, help with homework, analyze documents, generate images, and have an actual conversation. The fact that Apple is supposedly integrating Gemini into iOS someday tells you everything.

Against Perplexity or Claude? Different beasts. Perplexity is better for research with citations. Claude is better for long-form writing. But Gemini is the best all-rounder, especially if you're already using Google services.

The Bottom Line

Here's the thing - I went into this expecting to uninstall Gemini after a few days. Instead, I'm considering the premium subscription. On an iPhone. That's insane.

Is it perfect? Nah. Will it replace every other AI app? Probably not. But for everyday "I need help with this random thing" moments, it's become my go-to. The combination of voice, vision, and Google's knowledge base just works.

If you're an iPhone user frustrated with Siri's limitations, download this. It's free, takes two minutes to set up, and honestly might change how you use your phone. Just don't blame me when you realize how behind Apple's AI efforts really are.

For Android users wondering if iPhone users finally get the full experience - we don't. You still have deeper system integration. But what we do get is good enough that I'm not jealous anymore. Well, mostly not jealous.

Should you download it? If you've ever wanted Siri to actually be helpful, yes. If you're a ChatGPT loyalist, still yes - try the free version at least. If you're paranoid about Google having your data... probably stick with Apple Intelligence when it eventually gets good in 2027.

Me? I'm keeping it. Gemini on iPhone isn't just a good AI assistant - it's proof that Apple needs to seriously step up their game. And until they do, I'll be asking Google's AI for help. Even if that feels a bit like betrayal.