Gemini fully replaces Google Assistant on Android; Gemini gets 'Call for Me', and Gems become skills

2026-09-28★★★after cutoffproductGoogleconfidence: high

In the week of Sept 24–28, 2026 Google removed the option to switch back to Google Assistant on Android phones, tablets, Wear OS, headphones and Android Auto, making Gemini the only assistant. It also began testing 'Call for Me', in which Gemini phones businesses for the user (navigating menus, waiting on hold, showing a live transcript). And it announced that Gems will be migrated into slash-invoked 'skills' from Nov 17.

Key facts

Sept 28: 'Switch to Google Assistant' removed on phones, tablets, Wear OS, headphones and Android Auto; Nest/Home speakers unaffected
Sept 24: 'Call for Me' test: Gemini calls businesses from the user's number, navigates phone menus, waits on hold, shows a live transcript; US Pixel 11, paid Gemini plan, Phone app beta
Sept 27/28: Gems become 'skills' invoked with '/', automatic migration from 2026-11-17
Also that week: new Connected Apps (Sept 23), Google Wallet integration (Sept 28), Flipkart purchases test in India (Sept 26)

What happened

Google completed the switch from Assistant to Gemini on Android and gave it more real-world agent abilities, such as making phone calls.

Why it matters

Google Assistant, the default assistant on billions of devices since 2016, ends on Android, replaced by an LLM agent.

Changelog

2026-09-29: created
2026-09-29: sweep 2026-09-29: added 9to5Google link on Gems-to-skills migration

Related events

2026-09-23DeepMind says Gemini 4 has entered post-training and will ship "much earlier" than end of 2026 ★★★
2026-09-15Google ships Gemini 3.8 Live voice models and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS with voice design and cloning ★★

Sources (5)

id: 2026-09-28-gemini-replaces-google-assistant-android · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline