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Google’s Gemini AI is one step closer to becoming more like an actual assistant. Starting with some Pixel 10 phones and the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, Gemini will be able to hail Uber or set up a DoorDash order on their own.
It’s called “Task Automation,” and it starts with a Gemini prompt — something like “Bring me an Uber to the Palace of Fine Arts.” Gemini then launches the app in a virtual window on your device and goes through the process step by step. You can watch it all happen, with options to turn off the automation or control if necessary, or just let it run in the background while Gemini does its thing. The Assistant will let you know if it needs your attention to choose between two options, or if something you asked it to search for is out of stock. Once you’ve finished packing your ride or grocery cart, Gemini will alert you to take a look and submit the final order yourself.
According to Android ecosystem head Sameer Samat, this is one step in the journey of thinking of Android not as an operating system, but as an “intelligence system.” Application automation is not strictly limited to Gemini. Samat says the AI assistant’s ability to automate tasks is coming to the next major Android release, so we can expect to hear more about it as more about Android 17 is revealed.
So how exactly does Gemini assemble your burger order? The demos I saw were based on the Gemini 3 opening the app and using logic to click through the different steps, find the correct options, and consider alternatives. But app developers can also expose certain actions using MCP or the Android App Functions Framework, with Google laying the groundwork for the latter since at least 2024. And if none of those things exist, the idea is that Gemini will get in there and figure it out for themselves. “We look at it as a series of technology stacks, none of which the user really cares about, they just want it to happen,” explains Samat. “We think it’s important to support all of that, so that over time you can have an assistant who can complete all kinds of different tasks for you.”
So, in a future where Gemini takes over and uses your apps for you, isn’t there a possibility that this will rub app developers the wrong way? Wouldn’t Uber want the opportunity to remind me that I could save a bunch of money by signing up for Uber One? “This technology is a work in progress,” Samat says, and the question for the developer community is “… how can we figure out the right ways to adopt it together?”
The journey towards discovering this future begins very soon indeed. For now, task automation is limited to a few apps, including Uber and Grubhub, and will be available in the US and Korea as an early preview of the S26 series as well as the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL.