The writing has been on the wall for a while, but the shift away from Google Assistant is now official. Google has announced that it will shift users to Gemini as the default AI assistant on their devices in the coming months. Once that happens, they will no longer be able to access the Google Assistant.
At the moment, you can switch to Google Assistant as the default option on your Android phone, even on newer phones that come with Gemini running out of the box. In addition to phones, Google will be giving a similar treatment to smartwatches, Android Auto, tablets, smart home devices, TVs, and audio gear.
“We’re also bringing a new experience, powered by Gemini, to home devices like speakers, displays, and TVs,” says Google, without sharing a specific time frame for the transition. What happens to Google Assistant following the transition? Well, it will be removed from devices and will no longer be available to download from app stores.
Talking about apps, Gemini can already interact with a wide range of Google’s own as well as a few third-party apps. Users can ask it to perform chores across different products, without ever having to open those apps. In addition to in-house apps such as Docs, Drive, and Gmail, the Gemini assistant can also perform tasks in third-party apps such as WhatsApp and Spotify, alongside a bunch of Samsung apps.
