Google has renamed several key features inside its Gemini AI assistant. The changes affect three core tools and add to an already long list of branding shifts. As a result, users must now relearn familiar features under entirely new names.
The biggest change turns Gems into Skills. Gems previously let users create custom AI assistants for specific tasks like drafting emails or summarizing notes. Skills work similarly but also allow stacking, so users can combine multiple Skills in a single conversation. Google began rolling out Skills on October 5 in Workspace and October 13 in the Gemini app. Furthermore, existing Gems will automatically migrate to Skills by November 17. After that date, users can no longer create or edit Gems.
Google has also folded its Spark agent into the main Gemini interface under the new name “Tasks.” The company originally launched Spark at I/O 2026 in May as a “24/7” autonomous agent. However, Spark previously lived in its own separate section, which split the workspace. Now, a “Chat” and “Task” toggle sits beneath the prompt box in Gemini. In addition, a new “Scheduled” page in the sidebar shows all active, paused, and completed tasks. Consequently, “Gemini Spark Settings” in the account menu now reads “Task settings.”
Meanwhile, Google also renamed Extensions to “apps” earlier in 2025. This change carried no functional impact but replaced technical-sounding language with a more familiar term. Therefore, the page that once said “Turn Gemini Extensions on or off” now says “Manage which apps Gemini connects to.”
These renames follow a pattern that started in February 2024, when Google rebranded Bard as Gemini. Since then, Google also renamed Duet AI to Gemini for Workspace and restructured Gemini Advanced into tiered plans. Google’s AI product lead Sissie Hsiao previously acknowledged the problem. “Frankly, having so many names is really complicated for people,” she said. However, the ongoing cycle of renames continues to add to the very confusion Google says it wants to fix.
