Goodbye to “Voice Commands”: starting in 2024, Google Assistant will no longer support THESE functionalities
Voice commands for specific activities will no longer be available, and functions like maintaining recipes, playing audiobooks, and setting media alarms will all be discontinued.
In a recent blog post, Google announced a series of changes aimed at enhancing user experience, quality, and reliability of its Assistant, effective from January 26, 2024. These adjustments focus on streamlining capabilities, prioritizing frequently used features, and improving overall performance.
Some major changes include discontinuation of support for underutilized features, with users receiving notifications about functionalities that will no longer be available after a specific date. Affected features include playing and controlling audiobooks on Google Play Books with voice commands, setting or using media alarms on Assistant-enabled devices, and managing cookbooks or instructional recipe videos.
Users will no longer be able to manage stopwatches on Smart Displays and Speakers with voice commands, but timers and alarms can still be set. Voice commands for calling devices or broadcasting messages to Google Family Groups will be discontinued, although users can still broadcast messages within their homes.
Sending emails, video, or audio messages via voice commands will be phased out, but users can still make calls and send text messages. Rescheduling events in Google Calendar through voice commands will no longer be supported, though users can schedule new events through alternative methods.
Voice control for Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 devices will no longer be available, necessitating the use of device buttons for activity control. Sleep summaries will only be viewable on Google Smart Displays, while third-party smart clocks will still allow users to inquire about sleep details by voice. Calls from speakers and Smart Displays will no longer display caller IDs unless users are utilizing Duo. Ambient “Commute to Work” time estimates on Smart Displays will no longer be visible, but users can still ask for commute times and directions by voice. Checking personal travel itineraries by voice will be phased out, with users encouraged to ask for flight status instead.
Other changes include the removal of voice commands for information about contacts, certain actions like sending payments or making reservations, and posting to social media. Users are encouraged to use Assistant to open their installed apps for these tasks. The microphone icon will now exclusively trigger search results, with users still able to activate Assistant using “Hey Google” or traditional long press on the home or power button. Users with older Google app versions (v12 and older) will be prompted to upgrade for access to the latest Google Assistant features.
