Google App Adds Code for Gemini Phone Linking Across Devices [APK Teardown]

Gemini already has a broader push toward completing multi-step tasks on your phone. Google now appears to be extending that idea beyond the handset itself, using a linked phone to support actions requested from your other devices.

Now, a teardown of Google app v17.70.10.sa.arm64 reveals a new connection prompt that describes exactly what the linked phone would enable: finding contacts, sending messages, and running tasks across devices.

Gemini is preparing a cross-device phone connection

The new flow centers on a straightforward “Connect phone” action. Its accompanying explanation says that connecting your phone to Gemini will allow the assistant to find contacts, send messages, and run tasks from any of your devices.

The new strings, seen below, point to a phone-backed remote execution system:

The wording is notable because it describes the phone as the connection point for actions initiated elsewhere. Rather than limiting contact lookup, messaging, and task execution to the device in your hand, Gemini could use the connected phone to carry out those actions when you interact with the assistant from another device.

This goes beyond Gemini’s already-public phone automation

The broader capability is already public: Gemini’s on-phone multi-step task automation has previously been detailed. What is new in this build is the explicit phone-linking layer and its promise that Gemini can use that connection from “any of your devices.”

That distinction matters. The strings do not merely describe Gemini performing actions locally on a phone. They introduce a setup flow in which the phone supplies access to contacts, messaging, and other phone-backed tasks across devices.

We found these strings in Google app v17.70.10.sa.arm64, but we could not surface the connection flow in the app yet. The code does not provide further details about supported devices, availability, or timing.

The feature is not available to users yet, and we’ll watch future Google app builds for signs of its rollout.

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