Everywhere you look within the Google universe these days, it’s Gemini, Gemini, Gemini. Just this past week, El Googleton devoted essentially its entire Google I/O conference keynote to — yep, you guessed it — Gemini. We heard about all sorts of futuristic-sounding ways the generative AI assistant will, like, totally revolutionize our lives, with endlessly technical explanations of how the latest and greatest Gemini models will move into more and more Google services and take over more and more of our day-to-day doings. That’s all fine and dandy — in theory. In reality, of course, these genAI engines are far less capable, consistent, and reliable than they’re made out to be, and most of those more advanced functions (including anything involving any manner of info seeking, answer providing, or text processing) are generally more of a liability than an asset. But while it’s best to take most of the breathless hype with a hefty grain of salt, Gemini does have some genuinely useful capabilities. They just tend to be much more basic and narrowly focused than the overly ambitious ideas Google’s goin’ gaga for (and, as far as I can tell, most normal people have no idea what to do with in the real world). Fittingly enough, this week, I accidentally stumbled onto a perfect example. It’s a simple-as-can-be Gemini feature that handles one basic task and handles it extraordinarily well. It won’t upend the world, revolutionize your life, or give you a glimpse of our allegedly inevitable AI-laden future. Honestly, it’s debatable as to whether it actually even qualifies as AI at all. But it’s incredibly useful, in a way that’ll instantly fit into your workflow and make your days easier. And, if you ask me, that’s a much more meaningful measure of success than what any complex AI-assessing metric can measure. [Want even more actually practical Android knowledge? Check out my free Android Shortcut Supercourse to learn tons of time-saving tricks.] Gemini as your on-demand memo machine This Gemini gem is so simple, in fact, that it’s actually something our beloved old Google Assistant also used to be able to handle. But I had no idea it had carried over into Gemini in an updated form until I randomly happened to try it whilst playing around with something unrelated. So here it is: With a simple spoken — or, if you prefer, typed out — command, Gemini can remember anything you tell it. And then, at any point down the road, it can recall that info for you and bring it back to your attention with a quick ‘n’ easy ask. It’s essentially your own on-demand memo machine, in other words. And it’s already right there in your pocket, waiting to be called into action. Here’s all you’ve gotta do to tap into its tucked-away powers: Summon Gemini on whatever Android phone or tablet is in front of you. Depending on the device and its settings, you might be able to do this by saying Hey Google, by pressing and holding your power button, or by tapping a shortcut on your home screen — or, no matter what device you’re using or how it’s configured, you can always ​download the standalone Gemini app and open it up that way, too. Type or say remember that [something] is [something] — filling in your own description and item to be remembered in those two spots. So, for instance, you might say remember that the door code is 77773, remember that my boss’s husband is named Hubert, remember that my rental car license plate is PORKY292, or remember that lot 3 is the best place to park. In the blink of an eye, you should see a confirmation that Gemini has remembered what you asked. Once you’ve asked it to remember something, Gemini will confirm that it’s made a (metaphorical) mental note.JR Raphael, Foundry Now, ready for the cool part? Total Gemini recall The next time you need to recall whatever info you told Gemini, you can simply summon the service once more — exactly as you did a moment ago — and ask it for whatever you provided.  To follow our same examples from earlier, then, you might ask things like: What’s the door code? What’s my boss’s husband named? What’s my rental car license plate? Where is the best place to park? And, shazam: So long as your inquiry is reasonably close to the description you used when you saved the info, Gemini will cough it back up for you anytime, anywhere. One quick command will recall anything you’ve asked Gemini to remember.JR Raphael, Foundry You can even access the same info via Gemini on any device where you’re signed into the same Google account — phone, tablet, or any kind of computer, too. It works the same exact way, no matter what specific setup you’re using. And one extra little tip: If you ever want to see and optionally also edit the entire list of everything you’ve ever asked Gemini to remember, you can do so by pulling up this page in any browser where you’re signed in. All of your saved info in a single spot — available on any device, anytime.JR Raphael, Foundry As you may notice, this feature is officially meant for telling Gemini things that’ll affect how it interacts with you — like, for instance, that you prefer short and concise responses or that you’d like it to include a translation to Spanish with every answer it serves up. But within that ambitious architecture exists a delightfully simple memo-making superpower. And sometimes, it’s the simplest stuff that’s the most useful of all. Get six full days of advanced Android knowledge with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. Tons of time-saving tricks await!