Google Assistant is going to lose a lot of functions that the company considers “little used”: here is the list

In recent months, many users have had the feeling that Google Assistant has been getting worse over time by neglecting many important updates. The main reason? The American firm’s commitment to Bard, its artificial intelligence.

And it seems that it is not an isolated and meaningless assessment, since Google has announced that its assistant will lose 17 of its own functions on January 26.

The explanation for all this seems logical: The firm believes that these functions are “rarely used” and are intended to create a “more consistent experience” for users of the virtual assistant.

Some of the affected features include the ability to send an email or audio message with your voice, the ability to view personal travel itineraries by voice, voice control options for Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 devices, an integration of meditation with Calm, and other options.

If you’re curious, the full list of features that will be disappearing from Google Assistant can be seen at this link.

As Google points out on its blog, starting January 26, users who try to access these functions You will see a notification explaining its unavailability after a certain date.

To reassure app users who could have really enjoyed many of these features, Google argues the following:

“We know change can be disruptive, but we will do everything we can to make these transitions as smooth as possible. Although Google Assistant has evolved a lot in the last 7 years, one thing remains true: our improvements are driven by your feedback. And we want to listen to them.”

Now, while it may make some sense that Google wants to present these recent changes as a way to make the Assistant user experience more streamlined and cleaner, It’s also hard not to see it as connected to the fact that the company has just reduced the size of the team in charge of developing the app.

To be clear, the company has been laying off a lot of staff in recent months, including many of its Google Assistant team, according to CNBC.

Last Thursday, the company laid off hundreds of workers in its hardware and engineering divisions. This represents the company’s largest cut since the 12,000 layoffs at the beginning of 2023, they point out from Gizmodo.

Like other tech companies, Google has made clear that these job cuts are due in part to its shift toward greater reliance on artificial intelligence.