Google Assistant will disappear from your phone next month
The Verge Dominic Preston ● Covered by 2 sources
Google Assistant is getting killed off on phones and tablets starting September 4th. If you still use it instead of Gemini, you're out of time.
Based on reporting by The Verge, Dominic Preston — read the original for the full story.
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Google is finally pulling the plug on Assistant, and this time it looks real. An email sent to some users, first surfaced by 9to5Google and posted in full on Reddit, says Google will begin removing access to Assistant on Android phones and tablets starting September 4th. The Verge has asked Google to confirm the email is legitimate and is waiting to hear back.
According to the email, the rollout will take a few weeks to reach everyone, and once it hits your device there's no switching back. That's not just phones, either. Paired gear like Wear OS watches, headphones, and earbuds loses Assistant too, as does Android Auto in cars. There's one carve-out: vehicles running Google built-in will keep Assistant for now, and Google Home and Google TV devices don't appear to be affected by this particular announcement.
The catch is that this only applies if Gemini is available in your region and your device meets the minimum requirements, in which case Gemini becomes your only assistant option going forward. Google has been steering people toward Gemini for a while now, and Assistant's fate has felt sealed since Gemini showed up.
This isn't even the first deadline Google set for this. The company originally planned to cut off Assistant for most mobile devices sometime in 2025, then pushed that timeline back. Now the delay appears to be over, and Assistant is looking at a firm exit date rather than another postponement.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Killing a widely used assistant by email leak instead of a proper announcement is a very Google way to handle an ending, and forcing people onto Gemini with no way back removes any pretense of choice. If Gemini were clearly better for everyone, they wouldn't need to make retreat impossible.
Read more about this at: The Verge