Google’s Gemini AI is one step closer to being more like a real assistant. Starting with some Pixel 10 phones and the Samsung Galaxy S26 line, Gemini will be able to call an Uber or put together a DoorDash order themselves.
It’s called task automation, and it starts with a challenge to Gemini — something like “Give me an Uber to the Palace of Fine Arts.” Gemini will then launch the app in a virtual window on your device and walk you through the process step by step. You can watch it all happen, with options to stop the automation or take control if necessary, or let it run in the background while Gemini does its thing. The assistant will alert you if it needs your attention to choose between two options, or if something you’ve asked for is out of stock. Once your cart or shopping cart is ready, Gemini will alert you to take a look for yourself and submit your final order.
According to Android Ecosystem President Sameer Samat, this is one step away from seeing Android not as an operating system, but as an “intelligent system.” And app automation isn’t just limited to Gemini. Samat says that this AI assistant ability to automate tasks is coming to the next major version of Android, so we can expect to hear more about it as more is revealed about Android 17.
So how exactly does Gemini put together your burger order? The demos I saw were based on Gemini 3 opening the app and using reasoning to click through the various steps, find the right options, and consider the alternatives. But app developers can also expose certain actions using MCP, or the Android App Feature Framework—which Google has been laying the groundwork for since at least 2024. Where neither of those things exist, the idea is that Gemini will get in there and figure it out on its own. “We see it as a series of technology stacks, none of which the users really care about – they just want it to happen,” explains Samat. “We think it’s important to support them all so that over time you can have an assistant that can do all sorts of things for you.”
So in a future where Gemini takes over and uses your apps for you, isn’t there a chance that app developers will mind? Doesn’t Uber want an opportunity to remind me that I can save a lot of money by signing up for Uber One? “This technology is happening,” says Samat, and the question for the development community is: “…how do we find the right ways to collectively embrace it?”
The journey to finding that future begins very early indeed. Task automation is limited to just a handful of apps for now, including Uber and Grubhub, and will be available in the US and Korea as an early preview on the S26 series, as well as the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL.