Google's Gemini Nano AI Comes to Third-Party Android Apps

Google Is Opening up Gemini Nano for Android Apps

Google has announced the expansion of access to its Gemini Nano model for Android developers through the AI Edge SDK and AICore. This essentially lets developers use the on-device generative AI capabilities in their Android applications. This doesn't mean that apps could start using Nano instead of a cloud-based model, because it's more complementary than a replacement. Gemini Nano is essentially Google's most efficient model designed specifically for on-device tasks. Gemini Nano has a lot of text-based use, like rephrasing text for tone adjustment, generating smart replies in chat threads, proofreading for spelling and grammar errors, and summarizing lengthy documents. These functionalities are designed to enhance user experiences across different applications. However, it's not meant to fully replace cloud-based models, which are much more powerful and capable of handling complex or open-ended requests. Nano takes over when it can do a job better than the cloud. It will likely take a long time before many apps try Nano instead of cloud processing. This is especially true because it's still in an experimental phase, which means the phone user likely won't see any big changes yet. This is also currently limited to the Pixel 9 series, but there are plans to extend it to more devices. Many Google applications, including Pixel Screenshots, Talkback, and Recorder, have already integrated Gemini Nano. For example, Talkback uses Gemini Nano to give better image descriptions for users with visual impairments. On the other hand, Pixel Recorder uses the model to support longer recordings and make higher-quality summaries. We'll have to wait and see if more apps start implementing Gemini Nano, and whether or not they will replace existing AI models or lead to new features being implemented. In theory, it would be a lot easier (and cheaper) for apps to use Gemini than implementing their own AI models. Source: Google

Google opens the door to Gemini Nano for all Android apps!

Starting today, all Android app developers can experiment with Gemini Nano using a tool called the AI Edge SDK. The Google AI Edge SDK for Android was previously under a closed early access preview program but is now available for developers working on Google Pixel 9 devices. Support for more devices will be added soon. Essentially, app developers can now experiment with Gemini Nano in their apps. This should open the floodgates for AI integration into many more apps than currently available. At present, Google is only letting developers experiment with text-to-text prompts. The company says support for more modalities (images, etc.) will be added in the future. Even so, more developers can now play around with Gemini Nano to add use cases like rephrasing, smart replies, proofreading, and summarization.