Google released the first developer preview of Android 16 earlier this week and attentive observers are already uncovering interesting tidbits, including one that hints at a much more useful future for Google's ai assistant. In Android AuthorityMishaal Rahman writes about a mysterious new API in Android 16 called “app functions,” which appears to give the Gemini Assistant agent-like abilities to act on apps. It sounds awfully similar to updated “application intents” Apple is supporting iOS 18, and it's exactly the kind of thing that could make ai assistants much more useful than they are in their current state.
A page on the Google developer site describes a function of the application as “a specific functionality that an application offers to the system. These functionalities can be integrated into various system features.” It really clears things up. But Rahman points to a specific example buried in documentation that sheds some more light. It details how an app developer could use app features to expose certain actions to the system (in this case, ordering food). With this feature available for Gemini, you may be able to place an order at your neighborhood Thai restaurant without having to open the DoorDash app. Something neat.
Apple is working on a similar approach for a smarter assistant. One of their promises for the smarter Siri we're supposedly getting in iOS 18 is that it will be able to act in apps for you. By updating its app's intent framework, Apple has created a way for developers to expose “order food”-type functions to Siri. According to rumorsHowever, we probably won't see that update until spring 2025.
“Doing things for you” was the promise of smart assistants from the beginning, but that didn't start to materialize until very recently. Gemini can access information in certain apps with your permission, but is currently limited mostly to searching for things like Gmail and Google Maps. And Siri's biggest update in iOS 18 so far added a ChatGPT extension so you can ask more complicated questions, but it still fails to “take action.” Now, both platforms appear to be laying the groundwork for better assistants, and 2025 could be a very interesting year for ai in smartphones.
