Google Assistant's days have been numbered for a while, but the company has now settled on a date to retire its pre-AI assistant robot. In an email being sent out to users, Google confirms that Assistant on Android devices will be shut down starting on September 4, forcing everyone over to Gemini. Google told us it was coming, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

A long goodbye for Google Assistant

The initial plan was to retire Assistant in late 2025, but the service got a brief reprieve as Google shored up some aspects of Gemini. Now that Gemini is ready to take over, Google will begin ending support for the old system on September 4. The email, however, notes that it may take several weeks for the process to complete. So those stubbornly clinging to Assistant may still be able to use it a bit longer before the option disappears. For those who made the switch already, nothing will change.

Google Assistant first launched in 2016 as a major upgrade from Google Now. It quickly became one of the most widely used voice assistants in the world, powering billions of Android devices. It allowed users to set alarms, send messages, control smart home devices, play music, and get quick answers to factual questions. Over the years, Google expanded Assistant to a wide range of products, including smart speakers, smart displays, watches, TVs, and cars. Its integration with Android was seen as a key advantage over rival assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri.

But the rise of generative AI changed everything. When Google introduced Gemini as its new AI model, the company made it clear that Assistant would eventually be replaced. Gemini offers a much more conversational experience and can handle complex multi-step tasks. It can reason about images, generate text, and connect to Google apps and services in ways that the old Assistant could not. Google has been slowly transitioning users to Gemini over the past year, and now that transition is becoming mandatory for mobile users.

What devices are affected?

By ending Assistant on mobile devices, Google is also killing it on myriad other gadgets that connect to your phone for smart features. So smartwatches, headphones, and cars with Android Auto are also being forcibly moved to Gemini. Most of Google's smart home devices have already transitioned to Gemini.

For smartwatch owners, this means the voice assistant on your wrist will now be powered by Gemini. The same goes for wireless earbuds and headphones that support Google Assistant. In cars with Android Auto, the assistant that responds to your voice commands will now be Gemini. This could change how you interact with navigation, messaging, and media controls while driving, as Gemini's responses may be more verbose and less predictable than Assistant's straightforward commands.

Smart home devices are also part of the shift. Google has already moved many of its Nest speakers and displays to Gemini. This means that when you say "Hey Google" to your smart speaker, you are often talking to Gemini rather than the old Assistant. The company has been updating these devices in phases, and the remaining devices are expected to make the transition soon. For users with older smart home devices, the change may feel more abrupt, as the voice interaction style and capabilities will become more ChatGPT-like.

Who gets a reprieve?

Assistant won't be totally dead after this process is complete. The email notification doesn't mention Android-powered TVs and set-top boxes, nor are vehicles with Google built-in on the list. These platforms will transition to Gemini-only in the future, but Google doesn't have a date for that yet. That means if you rely on Assistant to search for movies, control playback, or adjust your thermostat from your TV, you can continue to do so for now. Vehicles with Google built-in, which have Assistant deeply integrated for navigation and cabin controls, will also keep the old assistant until Google is ready to update those systems.

You may also get a reprieve if you have an older device that doesn't meet Gemini's minimum specifications or if you live in a region where Gemini is not supported. However, virtually everyone will lose access to Assistant on phones within the next month or two. After that, you'll have to talk to the gen AI-based Assistant or shut off voice control entirely. The full details were shared in a Reddit thread, where users have been comparing notes about the email and what it means for their specific devices.

For those with older phones, the reprieve might be temporary. If Gemini isn't supported on a device because of memory, storage, or processing power requirements, Assistant may continue to work for a while. But Google is unlikely to maintain two assistants indefinitely. Eventually, all Android devices will be expected to run Gemini, and older hardware may simply lose voice assistant support altogether. In unsupported regions, users could see Assistant disappear without a direct replacement, leaving them with no voice assistant at all.

Life after Assistant: adjusting to Gemini

There may be an adjustment period for Assistant holdouts. Where once you could say "Hey Google" and get the limited but predictable Assistant, you'll now have the powerful yet confounding Gemini chatbot. Gemini calls tools to complete tasks that used to be baked into Assistant. While the old system couldn't carry on a conversation, you knew what you were getting. Gemini sometimes goes off on a tangent or forgets that it does, in fact, have access to a particular tool. That can make it frustrating to use for what's supposed to be a quick voice interaction, but this is the future.

One of the biggest differences is how Gemini handles simple commands. With the old Assistant, saying "set a timer for 10 minutes" would immediately start a timer with a distinct confirmation chime. With Gemini, the assistant might respond with a verbose sentence like "Okay, I'm setting a timer for 10 minutes, starting now." It can also sometimes ask follow-up questions that feel unnecessary in the middle of cooking or driving. For users who are used to quick, efficient interactions, this can be a jarring change.

Another issue is reliability. Assistant had a well-documented set of capabilities that worked consistently. Gemini, on the other hand, is a large language model that can occasionally misinterpret commands or produce unexpected responses. It may also have trouble with certain third-party apps that have not yet been updated to work with Gemini. Google has been working with developers to bridge this gap, but the transition is still ongoing.

The shift to Gemini is part of Google's broader effort to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT and other generative AI products. By replacing Assistant entirely, Google can focus its development resources on a single AI platform rather than maintaining two separate assistants. This also allows Google to push users toward a more interactive and generative experience, which in turn gives the company more opportunities to integrate its AI capabilities into everyday tasks.

For now, the September 4 date is the official start of the shutdown, but the process will be gradual. Google says it may take several weeks for the change to reach all affected devices. The company has not announced a final date by which Assistant will be completely gone from Android, but the writing is on the wall. Within a few months, there will likely be no Android device where you can invoke the old Google Assistant. The only question is whether users will embrace Gemini or simply stop using voice assistants altogether.

Source: Ars Technica News