Google is renaming Gemini again; here's what each feature does now

Google is set to rename Gemini once again, with a focus on its standalone custom bots and AI features. On November 17, the company will merge personal Google account Gems into a new format called Skills, while work and school accounts will transition to the "Task" feature by 2027. The task, formerly known as "Gem," will now integrate with the main chat alongside Scheduled Actions, a timer feature introduced in 2025.

Skills allow users to apply multiple custom instructions within a single conversation, enabling the combination of features such as branding enforcement and writing tone adjustments. However, some built-in tools like Canvas, Deep Research, Guided Learning, and video/music generation are currently unavailable within Skills. Scheduled Actions enable users to set prompts, specify when and how often tasks should run, and receive results in the background.

These tasks can run up to 10 simultaneously on the web and receive push notifications on mobile devices. Unlike the scheduled actions, Spark, referred to as "Task" in the new interface, can initiate multistep jobs across apps and web platforms in response to events, making it a paid feature for Google AI Pro or Ultra subscribers.

Users are advised to back up Gems' instructions and knowledge files before the migration takes place, as Google may rename, merge, or retire certain features.