Google's Gemini stumbles on branding; why AI apps hide their engineering behind confusing feature names

Google's latest Gemini update promises users won't have to guess which feature handles which task—yet the app has become cluttered with separately branded tools like Spark, Daily Brief, and chat, each with its own navigation spot. This fragmentation undermines the very simplicity Google claims to offer.

The daily brief problem#

Daily Brief exemplifies the issue. Marketed as a smart, personalized agenda powered by Gmail and Calendar data, it often feels like an engineer's idea of clever rather than something consumers actually want. The feature struggles to distinguish between truly urgent information and unwanted notifications—reminding users about prior Google searches or chat history that has no bearing on their current needs. That kind of ambient monitoring, even if technically useful, lands closer to intrusive than helpful.

Spark's identity confusion#

Spark suffers from a different problem. It's among Gemini's more genuinely valuable components—an AI agent capable of taking real actions on a user's behalf—but Google has wrapped it in its own brand identity when it needn't be. The internal desire to create distinct team-branded products within a company doesn't translate to consumer benefit. Users shouldn't have to choose which "side" of the app to use; they should simply state what they need and let the system route the request appropriately, invoking an agent silently when the task demands it.

The industry-wide pattern#

The issue extends well beyond Google. Claude splits its experience into separate "Chat" and "Cowork" modes, while ChatGPT forces swaps between "Chat" and "Work." All of these companies are essentially exposing their internal design choices directly to end users—asking them to learn branded interaction modes rather than simply asking for help in a natural way.

Why simplicity wins#

Apple's low-key approach to Siri points toward a better model. iPhone users need not adopt new behaviors or learn new interfaces; existing apps like Photos, Spotlight, and Siri itself simply become smarter without user friction.

Separately, text-based AI services—including , Ollie, Lindy, Orchid, Lucas, Folk, Tomo, and Instinct—are gaining traction by using plain SMS as their interface. Text messaging is intuitive, requires no learning curve, and sidesteps the need to navigate app menus. As a16z partner Justine Moore , "People don't want to open an app every time they need help – they want a contact they can text like a friend."