Gemini Q&A in Gmail app enters wider testing, can Summarize single emails

Abner Li | Aug 16 2024 - 3:38 pm PT

As previewed at I/O 2024 in May, the Gemini Q&A panel is now more broadly available in Gmail for Android and iOS if you’re part of Workspace Labs. In essence, this is a more complete version of Gemini for your emails on mobile.

Previously, the extent of Gemini in mobile Gmail was a Summarize feature, which fully launched in July, and Help me write. Gmail Q&A basically brings the side panel found on desktop web to the Android and iOS apps. The more limited display size presents an interesting design challenge.

It starts with a new sparkle icon in the top-right corner of the inbox that brings up a Gemini sheet. You can enter a full prompt, while some suggestions are offered. For example, tapping “Show unread emails from today/week” will essentially run a search with the appropriate filters set. Notably, results open in the app instead of as a response:

The Gemini button also appears in the app bar (next to archive) when you open an email. This slides up another sheet to enter a prompt or use one of the various suggestions.

Lastly, the “Summarize this email” feature previously only worked on messages with two or more responses. It now works on lone emails, which is great for newsletters and other long emails.

Gemini Q&A has a per-session history, while you can expand the panel as necessary to take up the entire screen. There’s also the ability to “Clear history” in the corner.

As of today, Gmail Q&A is seeing wider availability for those enrolled in the free Workspace Labs: you can join that program here. It has been slowly rolling out in recent weeks to those testers. The next step is a launch to paid Google One AI Premium subscribers.