Gemini on Android Will Soon Connect to Apps Even If User Disables Activity Logs, Won’t Affect Privacy

An email from Google raised privacy concerns among some users due to unclear phrasing.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 26 June 2025 14:53 IST

Gemini on Android Will Soon Connect to Apps Even If User Disables Activity Logs, Won’t Affect Privacy

The new changes to Gemini is said to start rolling out after July 7

Highlights

Google said the AI will connect to apps even if Apps Activity is disabled
Gemini Apps Activity refers to the activity logs Google records
There was a confusion since the mentioned feature is also called Apps

Google reportedly shared an email to some users on Tuesday, which raised privacy concerns among some users. Several users posted screenshots of the email on social media platforms, highlighting a particular line where the company said that the Gemini AI assistant on Android will be able to connect to some apps, irrespective of whether App Activity is turned off. The confusion occurred since the feature is also called apps. However, it turns out that the Mountain View-based tech giant might be referring to something else altogether.

Google's Email Might Have Been Misunderstood

In the email, the company said, “Gemini will soon be able to help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” Later in the email, however, Google mentions, “If you don't want to use these features, you can turn them off in the Apps settings.”

Now, the confusion was this. Gemini extensions that enable the AI assistant to connect to and perform tasks on first-party and third-party apps are also referred to as “Apps.” This led to users finding a contradiction in Google's email. Users also felt that the company did not properly explain how to turn the feature off.

You Can Now Code in the Terminal With Google’s Free Gemini CLI Tool

As explained by 9to5Google, “Gemini Apps Activity” refers to something entirely different. It is a setting, currently only available on the website, which controls whether Google saves user prompts exchanged with Gemini in an activity log or not. This setting is available via the profile menu on the mobile apps and in the side panel on the web client. You can also find it here.

When this setting is turned on, Google can use user data to “provide, improve, develop, and personalise Google products and services and machine-learning technologies.” The information is also available to human reviewers. When turned off, this data is deleted after 72 hours (once the server processes the data to generate AI output).

Earlier, when this setting was turned off, the Gemini AI assistant could not connect to on-device apps, as mentioned in the report. However, with the upcoming July 7 update, this will no longer be the case. Users will not need to enable activity logs to have Gemini connect to WhatsApp, Phone app, Messages, and Utilities.

It turns out that the update will not create any new privacy concerns, but instead alleviate an existing pain point for the company.

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Further reading: Google, Gemini, Android, AI, Artificial Intelligence

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In hi... more »