Google Assistant is removing some of its most useful features

Google announced that it will major changes have been made to the Master. After confirming the layoffs of 1,000 employees – some of them from its Assistant division – the tech giant confirmed that some functions will stop working in the next few days because they are not used much.

In a blog post, Google said it will prioritize the most popular products and invest in technology to improve them. Because of this, will remove Assistant features that are not frequently used.. The measure will go into effect in the coming weeks, so Google will send a notification to those who try to take advantage of them.

According to the support site, Google is eliminating 17 Assistant features, most notably the ability to create alarms. write an email or send a message in your voice, reschedule an event in Calendar and much more. The list includes other ways to interact with third parties, such as activating Calm for meditation or controlling activities with your voice on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 devices.

Google will notify users about these features starting January 26th.. The message will include the date the feature was removed and, in some cases, suggestions for replacement, if applicable.

“Over the years, we’ve made using Assistant even easier, thanks in large part to your feedback,” said Duke Doukellis, vice president of Google Assistant. “And to continue improving your experience and building a better Assistant, we’re making some changes to focus on quality and reliability and ultimately making Assistant easier to use across all devices.”

These are the features that will disappear from Google Assistant

Action	Alternative
Play audiobooks in Google Play Books and control them with your voice	You can still stream audiobooks from your mobile device.
Install or use media, music, or radio signals on Google Assistant-enabled devices.	You can create your own procedure with similar behavior or use a standard alarm.
Access or manage your cookbook, transfer recipes from one device to another, play recipe tutorial videos, or display step-by-step recipes.	You can use Google Assistant to search for recipes online and on YouTube.
Stopwatch control on smart screens and speakers.	You can still set timers and alarms.
Use your voice to call your device or send a message to a Google Family group.	You can still stream to devices in your home.
Use your voice to send an email, video or audio message.	You can still make calls and send text messages.
Reschedule an event in Google Calendar using your voice.	You can still schedule a new event.
Launch apps in Google Assistant driving mode on Google Maps to read and send messages, make calls, and control media.	You can still use voice control in Google Maps in the same way.
Schedule or listen to family announcements on a preprogrammed speaker, smart display, or mobile device.	You can create your own procedure with similar behavior.
Ask to meditate using Calm	You can still request the meditation option from other providers such as YouTube.
Voice activity control will no longer be available on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 devices.	You will need to use the buttons on your device to start, stop, pause, and resume activities. You can still control actions on your Pixel Watch using your voice.
Viewing sleep summary data will only be available on smart displays like the Nest Hub.	You can still request sleep information by voice on third-party smartwatches.
Calls made using smart speakers and displays won’t show up with Caller ID unless you’re using Duo.	—
View travel time estimates on smart displays.	You can still request travel times and receive voice directions.
Consult personal travel itineraries using your voice.	You can still ask about the flight status.
Request information about your contacts.	You can still call your contacts.
Request to perform certain actions by voice, such as sending a payment, making a reservation, or posting to social networks.	You can still ask Assistant to open installed apps.

Google will make other adjustments to its mobile app

The announced changes will also impact behavior in the Google app. You will no longer be able to use the microphone icon to activate Assistant. and complete the actions. This feature will be replaced by voice search as it was originally.

Users will be able Call Assistant by saying “Hey Google” or holding the Home button. in some terminals. In the case of iOS, access will be through a special application.

Google promised a transition period to allow people to get used to the new changes. This includes alerts several days in advance to notify the user which features will disappear. These changes coincide with Bard’s desire to become a true smart assistant.

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