Android Studio Gets Smarter with Gemini: Full Tasks, Not Just Code Hints

Google's latest update to Android Studio marks a significant step forward in how developers interact with AI inside their integrated development environments (IDEs). Rather than offering single-suggestion completions or simple bug fixes, Gemini's new agentic capabilities let developers assign entire tasks.

"Software development is undergoing a significant evolution," said Android Product Manager Sandhya Mohan in a statement, "moving beyond reactive assistants to intelligent agents."

The new Journeys feature allows developers to describe high-level tasks in plain English. For example: "Test this login screen." Gemini responds by generating the test, running it, and surfacing the results all within the IDE. Google states that this kind of agentic workflow is designed to reduce the time developers spend jumping between files or debugging minor issues.

Later this year, Agent Mode is set to launch in Preview. Agent Mode goes further, allowing Gemini to autonomously handle changes that affect multiple parts of a codebase, like upgrading an SDK version or integrating a third-party API. The AI can make edits, resolve errors, and even suggest follow-ups, with developer oversight, of course.

There's also a new Version Upgrade Agent, which identifies outdated libraries, fetches the latest versions, updates them, and adjusts any impacted code. Combined with design support—like turning wireframes into Compose-ready code—these features aim to reduce the overhead of setup and maintenance, allowing teams to focus more on design and logic.

All of this is powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro, which is designed with stronger reasoning and better multimodal support, allowing developers to input not just text, but also images or structured data.

The effectiveness of these agentic AI features will ultimately depend on their performance in real-world development environments. If Gemini consistently handles complex, multi-step tasks with accuracy and minimal intervention, it could streamline routine workflows and increase overall development efficiency.