This means:
- Downloading or updating the Assistant app now gives you Gemini instead.
- You can switch back to Assistant in the Gemini app settings.
- This might be Google’s first step towards replacing Assistant completely with Gemini.
- Some users are unaware of the switch and see two Gemini apps on their phones.
Overall, this may suggest Google is phasing out Assistant and transitioning users to the newer Gemini AI technology.
Do people use Assistant for more than just reminders, weather, and directions? Lol Just curious because that’s all I use it for.
“Make a big farting noice” is very popular with my kids
You use the assistant?
I only use it for opening Pocket Cast lol.
BTW if anyone has an alternative for Pocket Casts that is free and multiplatform I’m all ears lol (so far Spotify seems like a good alternative, but I don’t like it as a Podcast replacement app).
I use Antennapod on Android, it syncs with Gpodder (which requires self hosting on Nextcloud) and then there’s plenty of compatible clients over on desktop
I’m not crazy into podcasts, but I have no complaints with podcast republic. Although, the other suggestion for audiobookshelf is a solid one
I use and like Castbox for podcasts. It’s great, though they have become slightly more aggressive with ads lately.
I moved to Antennapod then ended up using Audiobookshelf since I was already hosting it for my wife’s audiobooks.
I like how audiobookshelf works and syncs, but their android app needs auto play/queue like the web version has. I’ve been listening to “Robot or Not” and episodes are like 2-8 minutes. Gets real annoying to keep needing to select the next episode. Especially while driving as it’s unsafe. The android auto syncing isn’t great either.
AntennaPod is nicer in that way, but I haven’t found a good web player that syncs with it.
Interesting, what is your complete setup for desktop and mobile? Does sync work well? I mean like starting a podcast in some app and continuing it in another.
So for antennapod I used gpodder Sync. It’s not really ideal imo but hosting audiobookshelf has been perfect for me. It’s all on the server so no matter what device I’m on, everything is the same.
But pocketcasts is already free, open source and multi platform right?
I do a job where my hands are potentially full and I cannot touch my phone for extended periods of time. I use the assistant for as much as it will let me…
I’ve only ever activated it by accident (I think it’s double-click the power button on my phone). Never actually used the thing.
One of the first things I disabled was the assistant.
Yes, I ask it random things like “is X food dog safe” or how many g of protein is in whatever food.
Or even general knowledge stuff like “how do covalent bonds work”
“set a timer for X minutes” And “set an alarm for X AM” are super helpful
Add X to Y list is great for when you run out of something in the kitchen.
X is already on my Why? list.
I’ve tried one extra layer of complexity - “Remind me to water the plants when I get home” or something like that. It has no idea what I’m asking or to do despite knowing the “remind me” phrase and knowing where my home is.
I was recently pleasantly surprised that this actually works with Siri, the former dunce child of mobile assistants. Stuff like “Remind me about X when I get in the car” also works now, so the reminder goes off when you connect to Carplay.
It used to work years ago. It’s not a technology problem. They changed their policy around location based reminders. One of the reasons I’m degoogling. I got rid of apple products too when they got rid of Google maps in favour of apple maps. Forcing a poorer product on users shows contempt for users.
But you can install any map app you like? There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not use an iPhone, but that’s not one of them.
Can install, but can’t default them.
Also a slightly degraded experience compared to the OEM app.
It wasn’t the app. It was the idea that rather than continue to default to a good app, they would default to their own poorer product, attempting to force it on consumers. I knew it would only get worse from there. No regrets. It’s just unfortunate that android continues to be further locked down too. It used to be more open and customisable.
On the old Nexus phones, didn’t you have to sign into Google to even use the device? At least that’s better now.
Tap tap tap, done.
or, continue making coffee while asking it to remind you to buy milk instead of either stopping to tap or completely forgetting which are the only possible outcomes
And ask it a second time because it didn’t understand you.
Well, i guess it depends on your type if it’s for you.
3 taps to set an arbitrary timer or alarm? No chance.
Removed by mod
That’s all it didn’t horribly fail at
Simple timers, controlling the lights, background music, reminders, and occasionally thing like “how many tablespoons in a pint”.
I don’t ask it for the weather because I don’t want a 30 second lecture on the weather, and it won’t give me “cold now, hot later, might rain between”.
Given that Gemini seem to be unable to give short answers, and it can’t control stuff, it’s missing most of what I require.
Removed by mod
It will give concise explanations like that, but say I want to know the weather 71 miles away at the place where my husband works? Or even 20 miles away where I work. I have to ask it to tell me the weather where I am, tell me the weather in “windhaven”, tell me the weather in "Waterdeep"etc. Or I can just pull up Home Assistant and see a card with that information (which used to work on Google Assistant Smart Displays, but doesn’t work on their current pixel tablet). And I even have a routine set up for this, and now I get a bunch of error messages on my phone and so on. So they broke a lot of things that used to work in Google Assistant, and now Gemini can’t even do those things at all.
Odd I seem to be able to control all my IOT devices no problem so far from Gemini with voice commands over the phone. This way included all smart switches and lights, thermostats and so on.
It seems to function a little quicker in response with the voice commands IMO.
I played with it some more, and it seems like it’s just flaky. I could ask it to turn on the living room lights, and it would, but asking it to turn them off got it to inform me that it can’t interact with the outside world.
So it’s not as bad as it first told me, but it’s still not feature parity, and I’m unlikely to use it if it’s not reliable.
Oh interesting. I’ll have to check it out again. When I first tried it I asked it to turn off the lights and it said it couldn’t interact with the outside world, a d some searching said they hadn’t implemented that yet, so away it went.