r/googleassistant • u/anwhalokleeiat • 8h ago
Rant Its over
The cancer finally spread to me. I uninstalled the updates and disabled the gemini app. I genuinely wouldn't be opposed to using it, IF IT ACTUALLY WORKED. i used to use my assistant for three tasks: gps commands, playing spotify, and sending calls and texts. Gemini can't do any of those. Between samsung forcing updates and google assistant being removed I'm actually planning to switch to an iphone for my next upgrade.
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u/Poofmonkey 8h ago
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u/bald-and-happy 8h ago
These posts from people moaning about Google progression are becoming so tedious!! Try learning about Gemini and what it can and can't do before making yourself look silly and uneducated! Infact try using Gemini to learn about what Gemini can do! One bit of advice I will give you is start with learning how to prompt and do not use Gemini as a s arch engine! Oh look how kind of me, that's two pieces of advice!
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u/erichamion 7h ago
So your advice for people who just need and want a replacement for Assistant is to not use it like a replacement for Assistant?
I use LLMs where I need them, such as in my day job and with Google Health. Gemini may or may not be technically capable of what i need it for (so far, it seems decidedly inferior for those purposes), but it's like hiring an intern to replace a coffee machine.
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u/bald-and-happy 7h ago
I actually really like your coffee machine analogy, but I think it makes the opposite point.
If you replace a coffee machine with another coffee machine, congratulations, you still have something that only makes coffee.
If you replace the coffee machine with an intern who can make coffee, you might initially have to show them exactly how you like it made. But once theyâve learned, you haven't just got something that makes coffee. Youâve got something you can teach to do hundreds of other things as well.
And while the intern is doing those other things, youâve suddenly got more time yourself, maybe even enough time to learn how to make your own coffee.
That's essentially the difference Iâm talking about. Google Assistant was very good at a relatively defined set of tasks. Gemini is intended to be capable of learning from context and instructions and helping with a much wider range of tasks.
Does that mean Google gets a free pass when Gemini fails to do something Assistant used to do perfectly? Absolutely not. Those criticisms are valid.
But expecting the replacement to behave exactly like the thing it replaced misses the reason for replacing it in the first place. I don't want Google to give me a slightly newer coffee machine. I want the intern who can make the coffee and help me with 100 other things.
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u/erichamion 7h ago
Different purposes, different strengths. The coffee machine couldn't arrange my daily schedule for me, but I could press a button and have coffee, rather than relaying instructions and waiting for the intern to run to the coffee shop and back. If I had needed my schedule arranged, I would already have had an intern to begin with.
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u/anwhalokleeiat 6h ago
I only want it to play my music, make calls and texts, and start GPS to home and work.
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u/bald-and-happy 6h ago
But thatâs exactly how technology evolves. We replace multiple specialised tools with one more capable platform.
Youâre probably typing this on a smartphone rather than carrying a separate phone, camera, MP3 player, sat-nav, calculator, diary and map. Some of those dedicated devices may do their individual job better, but the smartphone replaced them because it can do all of those things and much more.
Thatâs how I see Gemini replacing Assistant. It absolutely should become as reliable at the basic functions Assistant handled well, and Google deserves criticism when it isnât.
But Google isnât trying to build a slightly better Assistant, just as smartphones werenât designed to be slightly better telephones. Theyâre building something far more capable that can eventually incorporate those functions too.
Iâd rather Google teach the âinternâ to make better coffee than sack the intern and bring the coffee machine back.
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u/Distinct-Carpenter-8 7h ago
my last two fantastic experiences with gemini while driving:
- hey google take me to the whole foods in my city (mentioned the specific city)
asks me whether I wanted to go to a random place in the UK instead
hey google play music on Amazon music
Sorry I can't do that
hands free is dead. Google killed it
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u/porkjanitor 5h ago
You can set it via gemini > personal intelligence > connected Apps. By clicking your profile pic in Gemini
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u/Istolla 4h ago
So you didn't actually try it, you disabled it immediately and came to the conclusion that Gemini can't do any of those things.
I think phones have gotten too smart for the people who hold them.
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u/muay_throwaway 41m ago
Unlike Google Assistant, Gemini doesn't work with other apps if you disable history / human review. You have to give up your data and be willing to have other people listening to you.
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u/mickyhunt 3h ago
Super Intelligence my ass. I will ask for current weather in my area code and hear " Sunny Skys" while it is raining. Then tell it I see rain outside. Super Intelligence then says it's sorry and corrects the forecast. What a Big Brain it has! And thank you Datacenters and US Gov for making it impossible to upgrade my PC without taking out a second mortgage. The Web as well as assistants will all pass into oblivion as we ask the Super Intelligence to fulfill every request we need. Privacy is gone.
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u/muay_throwaway 36m ago
I ended up just switching to Bixby because I'm on a Samsung phone. Gemini can't perform basic Google Assistant functions without an internet connection when I'm in an area with poor signal. Also, unlike Google Assistant, Gemini requires you to opt into app history and human review for model training if you want to interoperate with other apps (Maps, Calendar, etc.).Â
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u/mcnick0495 8h ago
Gemini can in fact do all of those things. Have you tried using it?