Gemini Spark (Now Called Task): What It Is and How to Use It

Gemini Spark is Google's AI agent inside the Gemini app: you describe a goal, and it works through the steps in the background using Gmail, Drive, Calendar, the web and other connected apps. Google has since renamed Spark to Task, so today you start one by choosing Task next to the Gemini prompt box, on a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan with a personal Google Account.

Google announced Spark at I/O on May 19, 2026, and it has changed a lot since then. Plans, countries, menu names and integrations are all different from launch week. This guide covers what it is now, who can use it, and how to set it up step by step.

Checked against the Gemini Apps Help Center (Google) on October 20, 2026.

What is Gemini Spark?

Google's launch post called Spark "a 24/7 personal AI agent" and said it "runs on Gemini 3.5 and uses the Antigravity harness." It is cloud based, so a task can keep going after you close your laptop or lock your phone.

The difference from a normal Gemini chat is the hand-off. In a chat, you ask and Gemini answers. In a task, you give Gemini a goal ("plan and manage my business trip to London" is Google's own example), and it plans the steps, uses your apps and the web, and checks in with you when it needs a decision.

Google's help page groups the jobs into three kinds: saving time (clearing out newsletters, building a to-do list after a vacation), saving money (alerts when flight or hotel prices drop within your budget), and research that ends in a file, such as a PDF, document, spreadsheet or presentation with cited sources.

Spark is now called Task

If you are looking for Spark and cannot find it, this is why. Google's help page says beta users kept describing what they wanted as finishing tasks, so Google renamed Spark to Task. You now pick Chat or Task with a toggle next to the prompt box, and your existing tasks and schedules are still in the sidebar.

Google's release notes page still uses the old name ("What's new for Gemini Spark"), and the plans page says "Tasks in Gemini." All three names mean the same feature.

Who can use Gemini Spark (Task)?

Here are the requirements as Google's help page lists them today.

Two notes on access. First, Pro was not included at launch. Google opened Spark to Pro subscribers in the U.S. (in English) on July 16, 2026, then to Pro subscribers in "over 160 additional countries" on July 30, 2026. Second, Google has not given a reason for the excluded countries, and it has not published a date for them.

If you cancel or downgrade to a plan without Tasks, you lose access. Google says in-progress tasks finish, schedules pause, and nothing is deleted.

How to start a task, step by step

On the web or the Mac app

1. Go to gemini.google.com, or open the Gemini app on your Mac.
2. Below the text box, click Task.
3. Describe what you want done. You can say when it should run, such as at a set time or after an event.
4. To use a saved skill, type @ and pick the skill.
5. To add files, click Upload & tools, then Upload files, Add from Drive or Add Notebook.
6. To change the model or thinking level, use the model menu at the top.
7. Click Submit, then keep an eye on the thread in case Gemini needs input.

On Android, iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Gemini app (or gemini.google.com in your phone's browser).
2. Above the text box, tap Task.
3. Describe the task, add a skill with @ if you want one, and tap Submit.

On mobile you can also start a task from a Gemini Live conversation. Google says Gemini can detect complex task requests on its own, and if it does not, you can say "start a task."

First time? Type "set up," "get started" or "interview me" in a task, and Gemini will walk you through creating your first skills and tasks. Google added this on July 17, 2026.

Tasks, schedules and skills: how they fit together

Google describes these as the what, the when and the how.

Schedules

Gemini supports three types of schedules:

• Time-based: once, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.
• Gmail monitors: run when an email arrives that matches a Gmail filter, for example an email from your manager with an action item.
• Topic monitors: watch news, finance, sports, local events and more, and run when something specific happens.

You can create a schedule by describing it in a task, or by hand on the Scheduled page with Create a scheduled task (manual creation works for time-based schedules only). To test one, hover over it and choose More, then Run now. You can have up to 50 active schedules.

Google warns that monitors are "still not ideal" for fast-moving data or time-critical jobs, such as buying tickets the moment they go on sale.

Skills

To create a skill, open the sidebar, click Customize (under More if you do not see it), then Skills. From there you can:

• Create with Gemini, which builds the skill with you in a chat.
• Create manually, using a name, description and instructions.
• Start from a Recommended template.
• Upload a SKILL.md file, or a folder or .zip with SKILL.md in its main folder. The skill name inside the file must be lowercase with hyphens (for example, weekly-digest), and the upload limit is 100 MB.

To call a skill in a chat or task, type / (or @ if you have the updated shortcut). Gemini can also pick up active skills on its own when they are relevant. Skills work in regular chats without a paid plan.

Connecting your apps

Tasks can use these sources, according to Google's help page:

• Google Workspace: Calendar, Docs, Drive, Gmail, Keep, Sheets, Slides and Tasks.
• Other Google services: Contacts, Gemini Notebook, Google Photos, YouTube, and Search, Finance, Flights, Hotels and Maps.
• Third-party apps: Google's release notes show Canva, Instacart and OpenTable support rolling out on July 1, 2026, and Dropbox and Zillow on July 7, 2026.
• Custom apps: any app with a standard MCP (Model Context Protocol) server URL, added since June 29, 2026.
• Personal Intelligence: memory of past chats, your instructions for Gemini, and supported Connected Apps.

To see what is available and connect an app, open the sidebar, click Customize, then Connectors. Click Add to connect an app, or More options, then Disconnect to remove one. Connected Apps do not work on the web or iOS if Keep Activity is off.

To add a custom app, go to gemini.google.com, click Settings, then Connected Apps (or Personal Intelligence, then Connected Apps). Under Custom apps, enter the app's MCP server URL and follow the prompts. Google is clear that it "does not control, monitor, or secure" third-party MCP servers, so only connect ones you trust.

Working on websites: Chrome and the remote browser

For web jobs like shopping, booking travel or reservations, Gemini uses one of two browsers:

• Your local Chrome (desktop only): Gemini can reach the sites you are signed into and, with permission, use logins saved in Password Manager. Your computer and Chrome need to stay awake until the task finishes.
• A remote browser in the cloud: keeps working even if you close your device. When it reaches a sign-in page, it pauses so you can take over.

The first time Gemini browses for you on a device, Chrome asks permission to connect. After that, Gemini asks for confirmation before each task that involves browsing. To take over a remote session, click View live in the thread, then Take over task, and Go back to Gemini when you are done. To switch auto browse off in Chrome, go to More, Settings, AI Innovations, Gemini in Chrome.

What Gemini asks before it acts

Gemini is designed to stop for your review and confirmation before it:

• Sends communications, modifies your data, makes purchases or submits web forms.
• Signs in to a website with Sign in with Google.
• Edits shared Docs, Sheets or Slides files.

One exception to know: Google says Gemini can make bulk changes to your private Google Tasks list without confirmation.

Google's own safety advice: never type passwords or payment details into a task thread (take control of the browser and enter them on the page), watch for prompt injection hidden in websites, emails or documents, and avoid scheduling sensitive work, because you may not be able to stop a schedule that runs while you are offline. You can clear saved sign-ins under Settings, Task settings, Delete remote browser data.

Limits to plan around

• 15 tasks at once. A schedule will not run if 15 tasks are already running.
• Compute-based usage limits that rise with higher plans. Complex or frequent tasks use more, and Gemini warns you when you are close.
• 50 active schedules.
• Mac file backups are kept for 24 hours or until you start a new task.

How to turn Task mode off

• Web: Settings, Task settings, then Turn off under "Use task mode to hand off work."
• Mac app: Gemini, Settings, Tasks, then turn off "Use task mode to hand off work."

Turning it off deletes remote browser and remote code execution data, and pauses schedules. Your tasks, threads, schedules and files stay. To turn it back on, click Task below the text box and follow the prompts.

Gemini Spark timeline: what changed since launch

On pricing at launch: PCWorld reported on May 19, 2026 that AI Ultra moved from a single $250 tier to plans starting at $100 a month, with a top tier at $200. Check Google's plans page for current prices in your country.

A worked example: a weekly inbox digest

This is a hypothetical setup to show how the pieces connect. Your results will depend on your inbox and settings.

1. Open the sidebar, click Customize, then Skills, then Create and Create manually.
2. Name it weekly-digest. In the instructions, write something like: "List emails from the past seven days that need a reply from me. Group them by sender. Give each one a one-line summary and a suggested next step. Skip newsletters and receipts."
3. Click Create.
4. Back on the main screen, click Task below the text box and type: "Every Monday at 8 AM, use @weekly-digest on my Gmail and save the result as a Google Doc in a Drive folder called Weekly Digest."
5. Click Submit. Gemini creates the schedule, and you will find it on the Scheduled page.
6. Use More, then Run now to test it before the first Monday.

The skill holds the "how," the schedule holds the "when," and the task thread is where you review results and refine the instructions.

Prompts to try first

These are adapted from the examples on Google's help pages:

• "Summarize or archive my newsletters and unsubscribe me from email lists."
• "Every day at 7 AM, look through my emails, calendar and Drive, and let me know what to prioritize for the day."
• "Whenever I receive an email from my manager with an action item for me, help me address it and draft a reply."
• "When my flight is delayed, notify me and propose an update to my itinerary."

Each one hands Gemini a goal plus a trigger, which is where tasks do better than a regular chat.

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