The days of Google Assistant are coming to an end. On Friday, Google announced that all Android devices are switching to Gemini as the default assistant, and “the classic Google Assistant will no longer be available on most mobile devices.”
The company says it is working to transition more mobile devices from Google Assistant to Gemini by 2025, and plans to “update tablets, cars, and devices that connect to your phone, such as headphones and watches,” to the new AI assistant. This likely includes other platforms such as iOS as well. Although smart home devices have not been a major focus for Google recently, the company has also confirmed plans to use Gemini to create new capabilities for speakers, displays, and streaming set-top boxes.
The only way to avoid Google Assistant retirement is to have a device that does not meet Gemini’s minimum system requirements: It must run at least Android 10 and have at least 2 GB of RAM. If you have both, say goodbye to your old assistant.
For those who want to see, the writing has been on the wall for Google Assistant for a long time. Google released the Pixel 9 line with Gemini by default instead of Google Assistant, which is a pretty bad sign considering that the Pixel functions as one big advertisement for Google’s lifestyle. The company also deliberately tried to give Gemini basic assistant capabilities over time, presumably to make this transition possible.
It’s unclear when that will happen, but for any Android 16 device, it would be wise to use Gemini rather than last year’s model.
