Google’s Gemini Assistant to Soon Play Music via Third-Party Apps: Report

Google added its native artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to the Android operating system as an on-device voice assistant earlier this year. This feature gave users the option to replace Google Assistant with Gemini as the default assistant for the smartphone. However, there were certain drawbacks to using the AI chatbot as it cannot set alarms, add reminders or launch apps like its counterpart. A new report has now found that the tech giant might soon add the capability for it to play music with a simple voice command.

The new feature was spotted within the settings options of the Gemini app for Android by a PiunikaWeb report (via AssembleDebug). Based on screenshots shared, a new option was seen within Gemini Settings. The second option from the bottom now has a Music option which features the description “Select preferred services to play music”. Another screenshot shows that within the option, another title says “Choose your default media provider”.

Based on the screenshot, the second setting page is currently empty. The report did not mention whether the new setting was spotted within the codes in the latest version of the app or the beta build, but it highlighted that the functionality is currently not available to use. The feature does not show any third-party apps that can be connected with the Gemini Assistant. However, the report added that the feature could be launched in a future update.

It is unclear how the feature might work, but taking the reference of Google Assistant, it should be able to play music from Spotify or YouTube Music based on voice commands. Gemini could also offer a song identification feature where a user asks the AI to listen to music playing somewhere or someone humming to identify its name and to play it through the music streaming app. It is unlikely to feature any playlist creation features, however.

Earlier this year, a report highlighted that Google is working on adding Gemini to Google Assistant-powered headphones. This would allow the wearable devices to use Gemini as the voice assistant and connect with smartphones which are running the AI chatbot as the assistant. Currently, despite having Gemini on the smartphone, these devices use Google Assistant when prompted.