Is Gemini just a “flashy” ✨ gimmick, or is it actually saving you time? ⏳ From coding shortcuts 💻 to “impossible” spreadsheet formulas 📊, I’m finally finding where AI makes sense—and I want to know if you are too. 🤔

Further reflecting on Google’s practical focus for Gemini and AI in general at I/O 2026 last week 🗓️, I still find myself struggling to find ways to actually make this technology useful in ways that actually matter. 😵‍💫 So, what are you doing with Gemini? 🤖

Over the past couple of years, AI has been a part of daily life. 📅 Not necessarily in use, but at least in hearing about all the “progress” being made with it. 📈 I don’t really consider myself a flat-out AI hater, but I’m not exactly the biggest fan of this technology. 🙅‍♂️ AI can do impressive things, but it usually feels like a game of trying to reinvent the wheel. 🎡 Gemini’s AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search are a pretty flashy new experience, but they ultimately do the same thing, though often while being worse at that thing (all while Google admits the web is “in rapid decline” 📉 – I wonder why). AI tools, Google’s or otherwise, just don’t feel like an objectively better improvement, but usually a lateral evolution that’s also wildly resource-intensive 🔋 – I’m totally not bitter about RAM prices or anything. 💾

But, through it all, I am still trying to find places where Gemini and AI as a whole make actual sense in my life – it’s just an uphill battle. 🏔️

Perhaps the best real-world use case I’ve seen for AI is in coding. ⌨️ Being large language models, the reasoning of building out code is something these tools can be remarkably good at. I’ve only toyed around with this, building out a quick Chrome extension 🧩 I needed, but I can immediately see the appeal. I still believe that a good developer 👨‍💻 needs to be behind anything built by AI – especially anything sold or widely distributed – but the utility is obvious. 🛠️

Outside of that, though, it’s pretty hit or miss. 🎯

As mentioned in last week’s Weekender, I think Google is doing a good job in coming up with ideas for where AI can be useful. 💡 One recent “eureka” moment for me in finding use cases for Gemini was in Google Sheets. 📁

Spreadsheets can be a huge headache 🤕, but they’re really good at their job if you know how to use them. Personally, I think I’m at least not inept at using a spreadsheet and creating formulas to get what I need done, but the advanced side of things has never been easy. It usually involves a ton of searching around the web for tips and tricks, and then a ton of trial and error to make those tips work in the specific context of what I’m actually working on. 🔍 Gemini is really good at this, though. Without getting into the details, I was trying to build out a spreadsheet that could take multiple inputs – player names, payments, and a payout structure – and spit out results. 💸 I spent an hour trying to do this the “old-fashioned” way, but eventually I tried out Gemini’s integration into Sheets. Using natural language, it was able to spit out formulas that could actually use the context of the rest of the spreadsheet, creating “COUNTIF” and “XLOOKUP” formulas 🔢 that were far beyond what I would have been able to figure out on my own, and frankly, didn’t even know to research in the first place. I still had to make plenty of manual tweaks ✍️, something I couldn’t do if I hadn’t already learned how to use a spreadsheet and its formulas without AI’s help, but Gemini saved me a ton of time and frustration. ✅

Workspace as a whole is somewhere Gemini can be handy. 🛠️ I’m still left with an uneasy feeling about the whole “Docs Live” demo from I/O, but Sheets formula generation and perhaps image generation 🖼️ in a Slides presentation are actually useful ways to put AI to work. 🚀

#image_title

 But, really, I want to hear from our readers on this one. 🗣️

 What are you using Gemini for? ❓

 Search? Productivity? Coding? I’m really quite curious how you find Google’s AI tools useful. Let’s discuss! 💬

 This Week’s Top Stories 📰

Why Google redesigned Workspace icons, again 🎨

 Rolling out widely, Google’s new Workspace icons are a big change for the second time in recent memory. Why the change? 🔁 In short, Google is using these new designs to reflect the “Gemini era” while also giving every app its own identity 🆔 – the latter being everyone’s problem with the last big redesign.

 Google on why it redesigned the Gmail and Workspace icons 📧

 Motorola was hijacking the Amazon app, and we still don’t know why 🕵️‍♂️

 We reported earlier this week on some bizarre behavior on Motorola smartphones 📱 which left the Amazon app redirecting through your browser with just enough time to inject an affiliate code 🔗, monetizing your traffic. The behavior has since stopped, but Motorola declined to explain what happened, and why this was routed through a random fashion influencer. 👠

Google has already rolled out four beta versions of Android 17, giving us a remarkably clear picture of what the next major update entails. 🤖 Alongside brand-new capabilities, we’re seeing essential refinements to existing features that promise to make the operating system significantly more versatile and user-friendly. ✨

As the official Android 17 release draws closer, here are eight highly anticipated features and upgrades I am genuinely excited to try. 🤩

#App Lock

1. A native app lock, finally 🔒

Google is finally answering years of user requests by introducing the ability to lock individual apps natively. 🛡️ You’ll be able to secure your apps straight from the home screen—just long-press an icon and select the “App lock” option from the quick action menu. 🔑

This built-in security measure can be configured using a PIN, pattern, password, or biometrics (like face unlock 🤳 or your fingerprint ☝️), completely eliminating the need for third-party workarounds. On Google Pixel devices, it functions exactly as you’d expect, with an added privacy bonus: locking an app also hides its notifications, widgets, and shortcuts. 🤐

App lock in Android 17

App lock interface in Android 17 (image credit: Android Police)

Google does note that specific AI tools, like Gemini’s screen automation, might still interact with these secured apps depending on your granted permissions. 🤖 However, the system will actively notify you if any other applications have access to the app you’re attempting to lock. ⚠️

While many custom Android skins—such as Samsung’s One UI—have offered this functionality for a while, it’s a long-overdue and highly welcome addition to the stock Pixel experience. 📱

#Floating app bubbles

2. Floating app bubbles make multitasking easier 🫧

Although Android’s floating bubbles have existed for years, they were strictly limited to messaging and chat applications. Android 17 takes a massive leap forward by letting you transform virtually any app into a floating bubble. 🔄

Android 17 Beta 2 Bubbles feature

Bubbles in Android 17

Imagine watching a YouTube tutorial 📺 while taking notes in Google Keep. 📝 Instead of clumsily toggling between the two or cramming them into split-screen mode, you can minimize Keep into a convenient bubble. Tapping it opens a compact, floating window over your full-screen video, keeping your workflow seamless and uninterrupted. 🪟

Whenever you’re done, you can simply dismiss the app bubble by dragging it to the bottom of your screen. 🗑️

Naturally, this feature truly shines on large-screen devices like tablets and foldables, where you have plenty of visual real estate to juggle multiple floating windows. 📟

3. A more powerful screen recording with a preview screen ⏺️

Android 17 is overhauling the screen recording experience, introducing a highly refined interface and a brand-new preview screen. 🎬 Currently, tapping the screen record tile in Quick Settings triggers a basic pop-up for audio and capture area preferences.

#screen recording

In Android 17, that clunky pop-up is replaced by a sleek, floating pill interface. 💊 This new menu lets you easily dictate what gets recorded, manage microphone and device audio toggles, and choose whether to display screen touches. 🎙️ If you minimize it, simply tapping the recording indicator in your status bar will bring the floating pill right back.

screen recording in Android 17

The best part happens when you stop recording: a dedicated preview screen instantly appears. 🎞️ From here, you can play, trim, delete, or share your new clip immediately, completely bypassing the need to hunt for it in your gallery. ✂️

4. Mandatory Large-Screen Adaptivity 📏

Google is laying down the law regarding app resizability and orientation. ⚖️ A strict new policy prevents developers from locking their apps to a single orientation on large devices (specifically those with a minimum width of 600dp). This effectively targets tablets and foldables, leaving standard smartphones largely unaffected. 🖥️

This bold move is intended to force the Android ecosystem to become truly adaptive. 🧩 On Android 16 and older, opening a portrait-locked app on a landscape tablet results in a stubborn, narrow column flanked by ugly black bars. In Android 17, that same app is forced to rotate and scale, utilizing the available screen space for a vastly superior user experience. 🚀

Mobile games, however, are exempt from this mandate to ensure complex graphical layouts don’t break during critical gameplay. 🎮

Google actually started phasing out fixed orientations in Android 16, but developers were given an opt-out loophole. With Android 17, the training wheels are off—adaptivity is now mandatory, and developers can no longer bypass the requirement. 🛠️

5. Hide app names on the home screen 🙈

Introduced in the Beta 3 build, Google is finally giving users the option to hide app labels on the home screen. While it might seem like a minor tweak, it’s a fantastic tool for minimalists looking to curate a beautifully clean and uncluttered interface. 🪄

#Hide app

To achieve this text-free look, navigate to Wallpaper & style, tap Home screen, select Icons, find the Names tab at the bottom, and disable the “Show app names” toggle. 🎨 Just bear in mind that this aesthetic change only applies to the main home screen; labels will still appear in your app drawer and inside folders. ✨

6. Separate Wi-Fi and mobile data toggles 📶

On Pixel devices running Android 16 or older, managing your connectivity is surprisingly tedious. 😩 To toggle Wi-Fi or mobile data, you have to pull down your Quick Settings, tap the unified “Internet” tile, and then adjust your network preferences in a secondary menu.

Users have voiced their frustration over this unnecessary extra step for years. Now, after almost four and a half years of the unified menu, Android 17 finally restores the ability to add distinct, individual toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data. 🌐

This is a massive win specifically for Pixel purists, as most competing Android interfaces—like Samsung’s One UI and OnePlus’s OxygenOS—wisely never abandoned the separate toggles to begin with. 🏆

7. Give apps limited access to your contacts 👥

Currently, Android’s contact permissions are an all-or-nothing affair. If an app requests access to your contacts and you hit “allow,” it gains unfettered access to your entire address book. 🙅‍♂️

#Contact picker UI in Android 17

Because this isn’t exactly a privacy-friendly approach, Google is rolling out a system-level Contact Picker. 🛡️ This new interface empowers you to handpick exactly which specific contacts an app can see. 👤 Furthermore, Google ensures that third-party apps will be completely blind to any future edits you make to that contact’s information.

Contact picker UI in Android 17

The Contact Picker operates by granting temporary, session-based read access strictly to the data fields you choose to share. ⏳ Once the session times out, the app loses access and must request permission again, providing a massive boost to your personal privacy. 🔐

8. Seamless task continuity on another device 🔗

Google is developing a powerful “Task Continuity” feature aimed at unifying your tech ecosystem. 🌐 Expected to debut with Android 17, this tool will let you sync notifications, share files, and dynamically continue app sessions across all your linked Android devices. 📲 Essentially, it allows you to freeze an app’s current state on your phone and instantly pick it right back up on another device. 💻

As noted by Android Authority, the feature works by displaying a smart suggestion on your taskbar that represents the active app from your other device. 💡 Clicking this prompt triggers a seamless handoff, perfectly transferring the remote app’s live state. 🤝

This is powered by the new Handoff API, which Google unveiled in Android 17 Beta 2. It allows developers to dictate exactly how their applications should resume on a secondary device, prompting the Android system to push a contextual handoff suggestion to the launcher of your nearby tech. 📡

Final build may not include all of them ⚠️

If you’re a veteran of Android update cycles, you know that not everything tested in a beta makes it to the final cut. ⏳ However, given the polish we’re seeing, there’s an incredibly strong chance that the majority of these additions will survive to the stable launch. ✅

Every feature highlighted above is currently live in the Android 17 beta builds. 🧪 You can flash the beta on an eligible Google Pixel device right now to test them yourself, or simply sit tight for the stable release, which is expected to arrive around June 2026. 📅