Slowly but surely, Google Assistant is dropping functionality across mobile and smart devices. Here are the latest features to get the boot.
Time is running out for Google Assistant as Gemini prepares to take its place on mobile and—eventually—smart devices. Now Google is announcing another round of features that Google Assistant is soon to lose. None of the about-to-be-yanked features are all that critical, but the move is yet another sign that Google Assistant is going by the wayside.
The nixed features were spotted by 9to5Google on a support page that lists other deprecated Google Assistant features, including more than a dozen that were dropped early last year. Among the chopped Google Assistant features that owners of Nest smart speakers and displays might miss is Family Bell, which allowed users to create reminder bells for family events such as breakfast or dinner time.
Originally launched back in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, Family Bell was actually marked for deletion more than a year ago, but it continued to work for many users past its expiration date. Indeed, I can still access a Family Bell settings page in the Google Home app for iOS. That said, the presence of the Family Bell feature in the updated list of soon-to-be-removed Google Assistant features suggests that the function is about to be shut down for good.
Also on the chopping block is the ability to get birthday reminders using Routines—again, not a huge deal, but annoying for those who have integrated such reminders into their Google Assistant automations. Luckily, you’ll still be able to ask the Assistant to remind you about a given birthday.
Another feature that’s disappointing to lose is the ability to ask Google Assistant to favorite, share, or ask when a given photo was taken. That means no more asking “Hey Google, when was that picture taken?” when a cute photo of my daughter in grade school appears on my Nest Hub Max. Sure, you’ll still be able to tap the screen for sharing controls and images details (you can do the same in Google Photos too), but still, it’s just one less thing that Google Assistant can do.
Other Google Assistant features that are going away include the ability to change photo frame or ambient screen settings with your voice, translating a live conversation using interpreter mode, and getting daily updates from the Assistant.
