What it’s good to know
- Assistant Driving Mode in Google Maps is officially gone for good, the corporate has confirmed.
- Assistant Driving Mode is one other characteristic casualty of the Gemini transition, which is presently underway.
- The characteristic misplaced most of its performance in February 2024, and solely a media management bar and voice assistant button remained up till lately.
Google is officially eradicating Assistant Driving Mode from Android as half of the Gemini transition. The characteristic has undergone quite a few modifications since its introduction in 2019, most lately dropping the app dashboard that was an important half of the Driving Mode expertise. Now, it is now not accessible as half of the Google Maps app for Android, the corporate advised 9to5Google.
As of February 2024, the app launcher that featured giant, easy-to-touch icons whereas driving was eliminated. The most latest model of Assistant Driving Mode solely provided a media playback bar and the a management button. It was largely utilized by Android customers that did not have a automobile with Android Auto performance, since Driving Mode provided comparable utility at one level.
In truth, Assistant Driving Mode was initially seen as a alternative and various to Android Auto for Phone Screens, was killed in 2021.
The Assistant Driving Mode app launcher was one of many Google Assistant characteristic removals introduced in January 2024. “Using app launcher in Google Assistant driving mode on Google Maps to learn and ship messages, make calls, and management media,” the corporate defined in a help doc on the time. “You can nonetheless use voice management on Google Maps the identical approach.”
Over a 12 months later, not even the Assistant Driving Mode’s playback controls or voice management button can be found as half of Google Maps. This is an intentional removing that’s half of the Gemini transition, per the corporate. At this level, it means Assistant Driving Mode in Maps is gone for good.
The transfer is a component of a bigger transition from Google Assistant to Gemini that was introduced officially in March 2025. It’s presently underway, and can see most cellular gadgets ditch Assistant in favor of Gemini in the close to future.