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.
“set a timer for X minutes” And “set an alarm for X AM” are super helpful
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 it to do despite knowing the “remind me” phrase and knowing where my home is.
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.
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.
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.
Add X to Y list is great for when you run out of something in the kitchen.
X is already on my Why? list.
Don’t forget the “named tea” at the end
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.
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You use the assistant?
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.
“Make a big farting noice” is very popular with my kids
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 moved to Antennapod then ended up using Audiobookshelf since I was already hosting it for my wife’s audiobooks.
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 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
Thanks for the recommendation, but oh boy, I would prefer to be away from Nextcloud (I have a Synology NAS with its own stuff which I access through VPN), I barely use it and I swear it breaks each update lol
I’m also not a fan of exposing it as I know I wouldn’t take care of it properly… And I am behind a CGNAT and just shut down my VPS…
I’m not crazy into podcasts, but I have no complaints with podcast republic. Although, the other suggestion for audiobookshelf is a solid one
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check it out!
I use and like Castbox for podcasts. It’s great, though they have become slightly more aggressive with ads lately.
Huh, well, I guess we can’t have the best of both worlds 😅
That’s all it didn’t horribly fail at
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”
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There’s a lot of functionality that a lot of people could like using, but you have to go out of your way to learn about it all.
Gemini is slower to respond to tasks (for now, at least), can’t do all the things assistant can do, and can’t do anything at all without being on data.
Dont forget adding to your shopping list and opening the list
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.
Really? I use the Google Homes and they say “today it’ll be cloudy, with a high of x and a low of y”.
Sometimes it also starts going off about “by the way, if you want a summary of your day, just say ‘good morning’” or some shit like that which is annoying but not quite annoying enough to figure out how to turn off.