After just nine years, Google is moving Assistant to the graveyard.
Last fall, Google announced it was officially replacing Assistant, the default Android assistant on your phone, with Gemini. You still had the option to use Assistant, but now that option is ending and users must move to Gemini.
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In a recent blog post, Google announced it’s officially winding down Assistant. “Later this year,” the post read, “the classic Google Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices or available for new downloads on mobile app stores.”
This change means users with routines and reminders with Assistant will need to create new ones with Gemini.
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It’s not just phones making the upgrade. Google added that Gemini is also coming to tablets, cars, devices that connect to your phone, like watches and headphones, home devices, such as speakers and displays, and TVs “in the coming months”.
The only way to keep Assistant is if your device doesn’t meet the minimum requirements of at least 2GB of RAM and Android 10 or above.
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Google said millions of people have already made the switch, with Gemini now available in more than 40 languages and over 200 countries.
So, why has Google made the change? The goal is for Gemini to become a technology beyond Assistant’s capabilities.
Google has slowly added support to let Gemini do what Assistant could do — basic tasks, such as setting timers, playing media, setting reminders, and controlling smart home devices.
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However, Google wants to create an assistant that can also interact with other apps and services, that’s aware of the world around you, to make you more productive and creative, and, perhaps most importantly, to be personal — and artificial intelligence is at the core of that approach.
