Joe Maring / Android Authority
Keeping up with Gemini’s ever-growing list of capabilities is an impossible task. Between video generation tools like Veo 3, new features for Gemini Live, AI-powered web browsers, and more, Google’s doing so much with Gemini and so quickly that knowing what Gemini can and can’t do isn’t as easy as it should be.
Not only does this make Gemini feel overwhelming at times, but it can also cause many features to be easily overlooked, especially the less flashy ones. For example, having Gemini look at my phone screen to add events to my calendar.
Is this a new feature? No. Is it as exciting or eye-catching as some of Gemini’s other capabilities? Not at all. But it’s something I’ve been using regularly over the last couple of months, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite ways to interact with Google’s AI assistant.
Have you ever used 'Ask about screen' to create a Google Calendar event? 44 votes Yes 18 % No 82 %
Adding events to my calendar has never been easier
Joe Maring / Android Authority
This feature hinges on Gemini’s “Ask about screen” mode, which enables the AI to view the content of your phone’s display and answer questions/perform commands based on what it sees. “Ask about screen” has been available since last August, though, because of the reasons outlined above, I’ve hardly used it until recently — either forgetting the capability existed or not knowing what to use it for.
“Ask about screen” is featured prominently each time you summon Gemini, though I’ve never been sure what to do with it. However, while looking at an order confirmation email for a movie ticket, I had an idea. I prompted Gemini, asked it to look at my screen, and simply typed “add this to my calendar.” Just like that, Gemini added an entry to my calendar with the movie name, date, starting time, and location.
Now, could I have manually created a calendar entry? Sure. Making a Google Calendar event isn’t a complicated task, and it would have taken just a few seconds to do so.
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