Looks like a bunch of features are being removed due to “underutilization”
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I disabled the google app years ago. I use my browser for search, and then when I get the results, the results actually show in my browser, and I don’t have to switch apps or anything to get to my browser.
Plus, I don’t have to look at the vestiges of all the features the app used to have, which now just feel like they’ve left the UI cluttered and pointless.
Plus, every time I open the app, I feel like I’m being spied on, because I am.
Plus, Google Assistant sucks ass. I don’t want AI to guess what I’m trying to search for, deterministic imperative searches are actually better.
That being said I wish android had a dedicated search browser similar to Google search app. I’m searching on my browser and I have soooooooooooo many open DDG tabs it’s ridiculous. Nothing wild, just a searchbar with history that won’t delete itself when I hit back too many times and a web view to open links.
I didn’t even know that most of these were possible. Voice commands are not very discoverable.
I mostly use it to set a timer/an alarm or to put things on Google keep lists. For the alarm you have to be very specific or it can be an unexpected time. Putting things on lists works mostly just for my shipping list and even that has problems.
And if I now can’t even easily access it I will probably not even use it for that
just bring back google now
Google is a spy company. Don’t use there products if you don’t want to be manipulated like a lab rat.
There? Where?
Rescheduling an event in Google Calendar with your voice. You can still schedule a new event.
This feature is underutilized because I could never get it to work.
This company sucks. It’s like they throw so many ideas and things at a wall and then never foster or care for any of it. And then they take away the wall so anything that relied on it gets fucked when the app isn’t available or works correctly anymore. And this is CONSTANT!
They deserve each and every loss. Pretty sure the only new developments sticking around are the Google Pixel phones. Who knows, maybe they’ll delete features for the old ones in the future too. Or remove support for their phones entirely and randomly leave.
I use to hate Microsoft so much for this with their early hardware I used to buy.
They would abandoned the devices by not providing the drivers needed for newer versions of Windows leaving the device a brick unless you want to still run 98 or XP.
it’s just Google Voice Search with a fancy UI at this point
Funny they didn’t mention the 1000 people they laid off across the various Assistant divisions being a part of the reason for the changes : https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/11/24034124/google-layoffs-engineering-assistant-hardware
Does anyone here ever use assistant for more than the basics? I find that I need to remember to be way too explicit and verbose which makes the whole thing useless, because it’s not the way humans talk so by the time I remember how to say it the right way, I could have already entered it in manually. Eventually I just stopped trying.
I have a few of these devices in my place as a part of my home automation. It’s been struggling the last year with not confusing the basics and not mixing up the beginning of a news podcast as my voice commands. It seems like the newest display I own has the most issues.
I generally just use it to control and schedule lights and devices with smart plugs. The odd time I try to set timers or reminders but I’ve never really been a big voice command person. I too struggle on the best way to get it to play my YouTube music likes list. I just cast from my phone instead.
One thing it mostly gets right is stopping whatever is playing.
With my Soundbar no longer being new enough to work with Google Assistant I’m not looking forward to when the rest of my smart lights, switches, and plugs join it as we go forward.
I found, ages ago, that I never used the google app for something I couldn’t do in my browser. Like, this was back in the days just after Google Now died—all the features that almost worked just got scrapped because they really didn’t work. It allowed me to keep up with one college sports team, but other than that, opening the app was just a slower version of opening up my firefox and searching there.
So that’s what I do now. I disabled the Google app, and I don’t miss it at all.
It depends what you mean by “more than the basics.” Some things I used to do which could be considered more complicated have already been handicapped (like using 3rd party services). Others aren’t reliable so I stopped using them. Personally, I have no problem trying stuff out and speaking in the way the assistant understands, but there are very few complicated actions which are supported and reliable!
My Nest Hub 2gen is just an expensive clock now, and it isn’t even working well at that.
It used to control all my home automation. Now it’s a lot of “sorry, I don’t understand” clock.Has anyone had any success flashing a Google home? I’d be interested in putting a custom assistant on there
