Gemini is coming to Chrome on iOS, giving Apple users another route to the Google AI.
It will allow more ways to interact with a page, like asking more questions, summarising or making lists.
Google's Gemini AI continues to make its way into absolutely everything and it's now the turn of Chrome on iOS. With the addition of Gemini to the Chrome browser app, iPhone users will be able to explore the content in new ways.
At the moment, Google is shoehorning its Gemini AI into its apps, allowing more ways to use the AI to interact with content. That means conversational understanding to ask about what's on the page beyond just straight searching. For Google, this is also a route to get Gemini into the Apple ecosystem for those choosing to use Chrome rather than Safari on their device.
Access to Gemini will provide a route to summarising the page, asking specific questions or perhaps testing yourself on the page's content. It will also allow you to modify things like recipes, make comparisons and ask wider questions. Currently, there isn't a direct parallel feature on Android, although similar can be achieved using the Gemini voice assistant.
As detailed by 9to5Google, Gemini is first starting to roll out to Chrome on iOS in the US, something that Google had promised when it outlined what Gemini could do in Chrome. It's been landing for desktop users on Windows and Mac (again in the US), with no word on a wider rollout just yet.
Previously, iOS offered access to Google Lens and now that expands the offering in lieu of the system-level Gemini inclusion that Android phones offer. It's a great way for those with an iPhone to do a little more with a webpage.
It's estimated that about 30% of iPhone users choose to use Chrome over Safari, most likely to access Google services and for greater parity when working between platforms. Google will likely hope that adding features like Gemini will help make a stronger case for its products, while Apple Intelligence struggles to get off the ground.
As we reported recently, Apple Intelligence could integrate Gemini as the AI wars roll on. Apple Intelligence originally made a play to ChatGPT to supplement its own intelligence, but that's said to be expanding. There's a strong feeling that Gemini could become the dominant AI in a field that sees it competing with the likes of Perplexity and Anthropic as well as Open AI.
For Google however, it's not just about having a point of access to an AI chatbot, it's about integrating that experience into every Google app and feature, so it becomes a constant companion.
There's no word on when these additional Gemini features will expand beyond the US.
