Google prepares Gemini App for Avatars, Plugins, and Gemini 4

Google is preparing its Gemini desktop app for avatars, plugins, and the upcoming Gemini 4 model, with avatars and a hidden Customize area for apps, skills, and plugins appearing in the latest version. The next major model could arrive around December, following the cancellation of Gemini 3.5 Pro, and the desktop app is being adapted for new response types like Gmail and Calendar widgets. These features remain in development and are not yet in external testing.

Google continues building out its Gemini desktop app, and the latest version includes several additions that point to broader expansion. Avatars are being added to the desktop app, with a dedicated Settings section where users can create and manage them directly from the app. Google is also bringing over the previously spotted “ Customize https://www.testingcatalog.com/google-is-working-on-plugins-for-gemini-enterprise/ ” area. It remains hidden, as on the web, but opens a discovery screen for apps, skills, and plugins. The direction resembles what rivals such as Claude and Codex are already pursuing with their desktop apps. Google is relatively late to this approach. Broad connector and MCP support is still missing from the consumer Gemini app, potentially because Gemini models may require additional model-level work before they can reliably use a wider range of external tools. Connectors already exist in Gemini Business with a limited selection, while Spark was the first Google product to include custom MCP support. That capability still has not reached the main consumer experience. At the same time, Google is preparing internally for Gemini 4. Based on earlier information about roughly six-month training cycles, the next major model could arrive around December. The summer cycle was originally expected to produce Gemini 3.5 Pro, but with that release now canceled, Google may move directly to Gemini 4. That timing would resemble Gemini 3 https://www.testingcatalog.com/gemini-3-references-found-in-code-hint-at-google-deepminds-next-ai-model/ , whose early checkpoints began appearing during the summer before the model arrived later in the year. The desktop app is already being adapted for new types of responses, including Gmail and Calendar widgets, suggesting Google is preparing the client to handle upcoming Gemini 4 capabilities. For now, these desktop changes remain in development, and the new model-related behavior does not appear to be in testing outside Google. The eventual combination of avatars, apps, skills, plugins, connectors, and richer response widgets could turn Gemini https://www.testingcatalog.com/tag/gemini/ desktop into a much broader AI workspace, but the rollout timeline remains unclear.