Gemini is coming to Google’s smart speakers and displays, replacing Assistant for good.
Google is very excited about Gemini for Home, promising a “fundamentally new” experience — essentially the existing Gemini experience, but through your smart speaker. Early access starts in October 2025, but for many people, this change can’t come soon enough.
Over the past year, the Google Assistant experience has undergone a rapid decline in quality. Users have reported that commands they have used reliably for years no longer work, and Google has shut down multiple features.
However, these complaints weren’t brushed aside. Google has stated its regret for the substandard Assistant experience and its commitment to bringing long-term fixes.
Still, when Google is the one ruining the experience, these apologies ring hollow.
Google Assistant’s failures are suspiciously convenient
Google Assistant is a service you should avoid
While I think there is potential for Gemini to be a powerful upgrade to our smart homes, I’m not holding out hope, especially after Google’s disappointing debut of new AI features on the Pixel 10.
I’m not alone either. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in September 2025 discovered that 50% of Americans are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life.
Google is fighting an uphill battle to convince people that they need AI in their lives.
Until now, Google’s tactic to win over AI skeptics has been to develop new AI features rapidly.
However, while tools like NotebookLM are useful and powerful assets, their niche use case means they don’t find their way into everyday use for most people.
Overall, Google’s attempts to build AI tools for everyone have at best met with a resounding “meh.”
On the Pixel 10, the company tried to debut exciting new features, but it failed to learn from others. Daily Hub was pulled days after launch, and Magic Cue is unhelpful unless you exclusively use Google’s apps.
The problem here is not that Gemini is useless. For example, yesterday I used Gemini to create an itinerary from a one-hour family call outlining our holiday plans.
The problem is that Google is struggling to convince us that Gemini will improve our lives. New features aren’t doing the job, so Google is turning to planned obsolescence to trick us instead.
Assistant’s failings make Gemini look better than it is
I’m excited about Gemini on Home, but I shouldn’t be
Leaked screenshots of the new Gemini on Home app
In July, AP’s Rajesh Pandey wrote about how he had almost had to entirely stop using Assistant to control his smart home devices.
Redditors have pointed out that the Google Assistant experience is so bad that they can only use it to perform basic math, and some have even gone as far as disconnecting their Nest speakers entirely.
The complaints vary, but the common thread is that most of these problems have appeared recently.
Thankfully, Anish Kattukaran, Chief Product Officer of Google Home and Nest, was quick to reassure people that Google was working on a solution that would make Google Home devices more reliable and capable.
When Gemini launches on Google Home, the difference will be night and day. Even if the experience is identical to Gemini on our smartphones, I expect most complaints about Google Assistant to disappear overnight.
Gemini’s issues will feel like a reasonable compromise when compared with the broken Google Assistant. For that reason, I expect the reception to Gemini on Home to be mostly positive.
However, if Assistant were operating at the same level as a year ago, I think there would be widespread frustration over the replacement of the digital assistant with AI.
Google is deliberately making Assistant worse
Stripped features have turned Assistant into a shell of what it was
It sounds like a conspiracy theory (albeit a very believable one) to claim that Google is deliberately making Google Assistant worse, but the company has been public in announcing its steps to reduce Assistant’s usefulness.
In January 2024, Google removed features for controlling audiobooks, setting media alarms, managing stopwatches, and sending emails. In March 2025, it removed a variety of features it claimed were “underutilized” to “prioritize the experiences you love.”
This planned obsolescence is so blatant, I can’t help but laugh. I know Gemini will improve my smart home experience, but that’s only because I don’t use Google Assistant at all right now.
Don’t let Google trick you into thinking Gemini is saving you
I hate this underhanded tactic Google has employed to force Gemini on us.
While those of us who keep up to date on news about Gemini and Google Assistant are aware of what’s going on, many people will wake up one day to discover their smart homes are suddenly more useful with no knowledge of why.
I want Gemini to be good. I want Gemini to be a part of my daily life. I want AI to revolutionize my life. But the technology isn’t there yet.
I am open to the idea that AI will become more useful in the future, but Google’s sabotage of Google Assistant suggests an idea that’s hard to swallow.
Google knows that Gemini doesn’t hold up to the hype, so it has to resort to trickery to make us use it.
