He is neither dead nor mad, but almost. Yesterday we reiterated that Google Assistant’s driving mode had its days numbered and now Google says it’s no big deal: will survive, but as a lower bar without further ado.
Google it continues like this, dismantling piece by piece which was selling to us at the time as a replacement for Android Auto for phones. From February 7, this replacement will be a simple bottom bar that appears in Google Maps when we are on a route.
Not dead, but almost
Google wants you to know that Google Assistant Driving Mode will still be there after February 7, because what’s going to go away is the application launcher which is displayed when you press the four-square button. For many it is essentially the driving mode itself, since what remains when we eliminate it is essentially a bar with the microphone icon and another to open said launcher.
If this is confusing you and you don’t know what will disappear on February 7, here is a diagram. Basically there will be no special interface for driving mode and everything will happen in the bar that appears while you are driving on Google Maps. Here it is summarized graphically:
This bar shows the accessory icon and includes information about media playback, so we can always use it to change songs or pause music. Come on, the ambitious driving mode of Google Assistant that we knew in 2021 has become a bar to talk to the Assistant and control musicnothing more.
This last downgrade It will arrive from February 7, when the application launcher view disappears and, if I can predict, it will certainly not be the last. After all, it is enough to analyze Assistant Driving Mode Change Timeline from Google to see what the trend is and what its likely future is:
By | 9to5Google
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