Gemini Spark Is Now Just a ‘Task’ Button on Android, and That’s the Right Call

Google’s always-on AI agent just lost its own room in the Gemini app, and it is better for it. A server-side update rolling out on Android puts two buttons above the prompt box, Chat and Task, and the second one is Gemini Spark. No separate section, no switching modes in the drawer. You pick what kind of help you want and type.

The change was spotted by 9to5Google late Monday, and it follows the same redesign landing on the web earlier this month.

What changed in the app

Spark launched at Google I/O in May as Gemini’s “24/7 personal agent,” a version of Gemini that runs on Google’s cloud machines and keeps working on multi-step jobs after you close the app. It can pull context from Gmail, Docs and Drive, browse the web, and run recurring jobs on a schedule. At launch it even got its own Gmail address, so you could email it a task the way you would a coworker, as The Next Web reported.

Until now, though, Spark lived in a silo. On Android, the redesign changes that in a few specific ways:

• Chat and Task buttons sit just above the prompt box. Google calls Task the “new home for Spark.”
• Spark leaves the navigation drawer. A new Scheduled page shows tasks and scheduled actions, sorted into Active, Paused, Completed and Suggested.
• One history. The old “Recents” list is gone; chats and Spark tasks now share a single conversation list.
• A new filter sorts that history by All, Ready, Needs attention or In progress.
• Settings renamed. “Gemini Spark Settings” in the account menu is now “Task settings.”

The web version picked up the same Chat and Task toggle and a Scheduled section around October 1, according to Chrome Unboxed. iOS had not been updated as of Monday night.

Why dropping the Spark name is smart

Google has a long habit of naming features before people know what they do. “Spark” told you nothing. “Task” tells you everything: this is where you hand off work, as opposed to where you ask a question. Chrome Unboxed’s Robby Payne called the rename “100% the right move,” and it is hard to argue with him.

There is a practical reason too. Agents are only useful if people remember to use them. Burying Spark in its own section meant it was easy to forget it existed. Putting a Task button next to Chat, on the screen you already open dozens of times a day, is the difference between a demo feature and a habit. The new “Needs attention” filter also matters more than it looks, because an agent that quietly stalls waiting for your approval is worse than no agent at all.

Who actually gets Task

The interface change is cosmetic for anyone without a paid plan. Spark launched on AI Ultra only, then expanded to AI Pro in the U.S. in July, per APH Networks. Here is where the plans stand:

Ultra’s price itself is the result of a big cut: Google dropped it from $250 to roughly $100 a month at I/O. Outside the U.S., Google says Spark is coming “soon,” but its documentation excludes the European Economic Area, the UK, Switzerland and Nigeria for now.

What to do if you don’t see it

Because this is a server-side rollout, there is nothing to download. Keep the Gemini app updated through the Play Store and the Chat and Task buttons will appear when Google flips the switch for your account. If you are on AI Pro and already use Spark, your existing tasks and schedules should show up in the new Scheduled page rather than disappearing.

The bigger story is direction. Google is betting that the future of Gemini is not answering questions faster, but doing jobs while you are not looking. Making that a one-tap choice on the main screen is the clearest sign yet of how seriously it means it.

Sources: 9to5Google, Chrome Unboxed, APH Networks, The Next Web. Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash.