Gemini replacing Google Assistant on Android is no longer a plan on a calendar. It has happened. Droid Life reported on September 28 that its own Pixel 11 Pro no longer offers the option. The setting for switching back to Google Assistant has vanished from the Gemini app. Once the update reaches a phone, there is no route back.
We covered the shutdown announcement itself in early August, when Google confirmed a September 2026 deadline. The deprecation was first slated for 2025 and then pushed back. This post is the follow-up to that announcement: the deadline has now landed on real hardware.
What disappeared from the Gemini app
The Gemini app’s account menu used to carry a control for picking which assistant handled your voice requests. Droid Life quotes the wording on the now-removed settings button:
Choose your digital assistant from Google.
That option is gone. Gemini is now Google’s only assistant on the phone. 9to5Google separately reported the same removal after users began flagging it.
Your watch, earbuds and car go with it
The switch does not stop at the handset. Anything paired to the phone inherits it. That covers Wear OS watches, Gemini-enabled headphones and earbuds, and Android Auto. Google’s support documentation, as reported by 9to5Google, says Assistant can no longer be used or switched back to on those devices.
Google Assistant stays on Nest and Google Home speakers
There is one clear exception. Smart home hardware keeps Google Assistant for now. Nest devices and Google Home speakers and displays are not part of this wave.
How the rollout is arriving
The migration ships through the Google app rather than a system update. It is tied to version 17.60 on stable and 17.62 on beta. Droid Life’s own device was running build 17.62.9 when the option disappeared. Not every phone will hit this on the same day.
Worth stating plainly: this removes a choice rather than adding one. Until this week, anyone who preferred Google Assistant could go back to it from inside the Gemini app. That setting is the specific thing Google deleted. There is currently no supported way to restore it on a phone that has taken the update.
It is not the only change moving through Gemini right now. Google is also replacing Gemini Gems with skills, another feature swap users do not get to decline.
Sources: Droid Life, 9to5Google
