Google's massive project to replace the good old Google Assistant with its smarter artificial intelligence successor Gemini. comes with a slight delay. The transition is definitely still happening, but it won't be completed this year as originally promised. Instead, the company has confirmed that the rollout will last until 2026, giving us all a little more time with the legacy Assistant while they work out the kinks of the new experience.
Back in the spring, Google unveiled a bold vision to completely overhaul the way we use our smartphones.
The plan was to move from a traditional voice assistant that simply carries out commands to an artificial intelligence capable of real reasoning and deep contextual understanding. The original announcement in March suggested that we would see a quick “upgrade” to Gemini on mobile phoneand the old assistant will disappear from new Android phones and app stores over the coming months.
But Twins Going mobile is more than just a rebrand. Google sees this as a fundamental shift toward AI-powered, personalized assistance that understands natural conversation and can actually interact with other apps on your phone. It's powered by the latest generative AI technology, allowing for features like free-flowing chats in Gemini Live and the ability to give complex, carefully crafted answers—something the old assistant just couldn't handle.
Despite big ambitions and early launches of Wear OS and Android Auto watches, Google is slamming on the brakes. They want to make sure the transition is truly seamless before they abandon Assistant for good. A quiet update on their support pages clarified that the migration of mobile users to Gemini is now a process that will continue until 2026, rather than ending in 2025. The development timeline for other platforms, such as cars, is likely moving along a similarly slow path.
For anyone with an Android phone, this means you won't lose the Assistant you know overnight.
You can still rely on it for basics like setting timers, making calls, or answering quick questions. If you want, you can manually download the Gemini app to try out the new features now. Gemini will eventually become the default, performing these daily tasks while also pulling data from your apps for smarter assistance.
This delay essentially shows that Google is treading cautiously when making sweeping changes. Replacing a system that has been the backbone of Android for nearly a decade isn't easy. To work on billions of devices without breaking anything requires careful testing and slow improvements.
Google's end goal remains the same: phasing out Assistant and push Gemini into everything – tablets, headphones, smart home devices and cars. We'll likely see this transition become much more aggressive in the first half of 2026 as Gemini gets smarter and integrates deeper into the Google ecosystem.
