{"slug": "ask-hn-how-useful-is-gemini-for-google-apps", "title": "Ask HN: How useful is Gemini for Google Apps?", "summary": "A user attempting to create a Google Slides presentation from a Google Doc using Gemini found the AI assistant unable to generate new documents or work on multiple slides at once, forcing them to use a different LLM to create a PPTX file and upload it to Google Drive. The experience highlights limitations in Gemini's integration with Google Workspace, frustrating users who expect seamless cross-app automation.", "body_md": "I recently wrote a Google doc to describe a presentation. I used a Heading 1 style for each \"Slide N: Description\" section, and it was otherwise cleanly formatted.\n\nThen I hit the magic Gemini button and asked (more or less) \"Make me a Google Slides presentation based on this document\"\n\nGemini (paraphrasing): \"Oh, sorry, I can't create new documents in Google Drive\".\n\nOK, I create a new blank Google Slides document. I press the magic Gemini button. After some preamble prompt BS, I paste my \"Slides\" document content, and ask it to create me some slides.\n\nGemini (paraphrasing): \"Oh, sorry, I can only work on one slide at a time\".\n\nWTF? I go to a different frontier LLM, I ask it to make me a PPTX file from my description (which I downloaded from Google docs as markdown). After a few minutes I have a nice PPTX file. I upload that to Google Drive and open it. Google converts it to Slides. NOW, finally, I have the joy of improving one slide at a time with Gemini.\n\nWhy does my workflow suck so bad here? There must be a better way! Please help me HN.\n\nI'm also keen to hear what are some actual cool tricks that do work with Gemini and/or frustrations others have had. Let loose.\n\nComments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48913970](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48913970)\n\nPoints: 3\n\n# Comments: 1", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-how-useful-is-gemini-for-google-apps", "canonical_source": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48913970", "published_at": "2026-07-14 22:55:13+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-14 23:18:09.125073+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "large-language-models", "generative-ai"], "entities": ["Google", "Gemini", "Google Docs", "Google Slides", "Google Drive"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-how-useful-is-gemini-for-google-apps", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-how-useful-is-gemini-for-google-apps.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-how-useful-is-gemini-for-google-apps.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ask-hn-how-useful-is-gemini-for-google-apps.jsonld"}}