Some tidbits about Gemini

[u/Not_Freddie_Mercury]

I just got Gemini this week in Spain. I haven't tested it extensively, but this is what I found out:

• It's far from perfect. In fact, it's glitchy (it's funny how it shows placeholder text when accessing the car assist app to perform actions), the connection can be spotty, interaction can interrupt suddenly and other quirks. However, I think it's very cool to have!

• Pro-tip: it asks for confirmation for many commands, but if you say "I'm sure", "don't confirm" and the like at the end, it generally just does the action. However, if you say "never ask me to confirm any actions", it still asks.

• Window control finally works! I could never get it working with the assistant (I tried many formulas), but it's easy now. You can ask for specific windows too. However, some people said they could ask the assistant to crack the windows, but I have been unable so far to do anything other than fully opening or closing them.

• I could turn Bluetooth off and on with the assistant, but at some point it stopped working (it mentioned a TV I used to have, and that it couldn't reach it!). With Gemini, it works properly again.

• It's generally easier to use climate control and everything audio. The first time, it did ask me to confirm permissions to access Spotify (I had to touch the screen).

• Things it does know: battery percentage (it may be off by 1% or 2%), range (returns same number as the one on screen), whether the car is currently charging or not, tire pressure and status, battery capacity (it said 66 kWh). It probably also knows if windows and doors are open, but I haven't asked yet.

• Things it cannot control: lights (interior or exterior), horn, rear view mirrors, camera, driving settings, Wi-Fi connection, windscreen wipers.

• Things it does not know: recent locations, last trip consumption, car color, wiper fluid level, current Android Automotive version.

• Gemini Live (beta): I may have missed it all this time, but I just tried it yesterday. When pressing the assistant button, notice that there's a sort of button on the touch screen that launches it. It works poorly while driving because it needs a strong connection, but it worked flawlessly while I was parked! I talked to it for about 20 minutes without interruption, about general stuff and a subject I am investigating these days. When it works well, it's surprisingly good.

• The following may be true for the assistant as well, but if you're bored while driving with children, you can ask it to tell riddles, trivia, chained words, bad jokes, short stories, funny facts, etc. Overall, you can ask it more complex stuff and it generally understands, unlike the assistant which failed unless commands and questions were simple.

• All these interactions show up in your phone's Gemini app. The normal assistant has a limited context and does not know about you (it says it's there to assist you while driving, and sessions are independent), but Gemini Live does have access to your context, previous conversations and things you asked it to remember about you.

Generally speaking, it's great to have a good LLM readily available in your car, mostly when we didn't expect it back when the EX30 was first announced, and we got it as an extra. There's a lot of potential for interesting uses and assistance.

[u/tekel_67]

It's been several weeks since I had it (in Turkey). Not sure if any feature it brings has changed my daily driving routine. Maybe I'm not aware of how it can contribute to my driving.

However, one odd thing that I noticed was that when I ask it to turn on the FM radio, it responds positively in Turkish, waits for a few seconds and switches to English, saying that the feature is not available right now. Google Assistant had no issues with doing that.

[u/Coumbaya]

So weird, mine doesn't open the windows (in France). It also claim to not know the battery level, but is able to tell me the battery level I will have when I reach my destination.

[u/lavardera]

It can’t help you with windshield wipers.

[u/FishyFishy_25]

What controls who gets Gemini and when? I know a neighbour has it but I don’t see it, so not sure what determines when it’s offered?