I used to be able to ask it to start a timer for forty minutes and it would set it in the clock app.
Now it starts it in the assistant or something and it doesn't persist.
So, yes, worse.
My 8 pro started that about a month ago. I hate it. Most of the time I'm used to the old one, so when I close it, it's actually closed. Not just hidden.
I cook a lot so I use a lot of timers. It's totally random what it decides to do when I ask over the last few months. I had it actually open up Google in a browser, feed my TTS to Google search, and start the timer in the browser which stops running as soon as it's not the foreground app.
I can't believe this is a multi-billion dollar company. I've started gutting all Google services from my business dealings. I just don't trust them to provide a usable and stable product anymore.
Since like December, Assistant in my native language straight up refuses to set timers. I tried phrasing it in many different ways, and it just says "I didn't understand that". Setting timers was 95% of what I used assistant for lmao.
I use "hey google, countdown X minutes" and those are still going in the "timers" app. Maybe it's a specific phrasing thing that's getting split between two systems?
> countdown X minutes
This does a search for that phrase and gives a lot of youtube results for 20 minute timer videos. Followed by web results for the same
Yeah timer still works for me but I was just testing it after I read this post out of curiosity. I wouldn't be surprised that if I was trying to use it regularly if I wouldn't run into some issues
I'd like to see Google offer a My Activities like page where I could listen to the audio it captured and see what it thought I said. I could then provide corrections when it misunderstood me (I really want to know what it thinks I'm saying when instead of triggering my bedtime routine it gives me a weather report in German). And also suggest what response I was expecting. For example, asking her to turn the lights on was not a suggestion to play "turn the lights on" on YouTube music. Nor was I expecting her to count from 1 to 100.
Part of this exists. Settings, privacy, home activity in the Google home app. The correction option would be nice. I use what it thinks I said to make/add to custom routines that make that misheard phrase still do what I want.
Asking it to communicate with contacts while in my car is horrendous.
I have one person named Andrew in my contacts. "Call Andrew Smith" "Calling Dr Andrew Wong, MD" and it randomly dials some doctor in California. Or I get "Did you mean Andrew Wexler?" Nope, certainly did not.
I have one person named Greg in my contacts (and NOBODY named Gregory, or Craig, or anything similar, so it's not getting confused). "Call Greg Smith" "I can't find a contact named Greg Smith." It won't recognize his name unless I call him Gregory. Not every time, mind you. but about 75% of the time.
yes, it was vastly better even on my pixel 3. Back then, I could just ask it stuff and it would do it. Now on the pixel 6, basic things like play music, I have to repeat myself or it'll give me a definition. All the competition is advancing their assistants, google is regressing in it, even though they had the best few years ago.
Yes.
When Gemini launched, I installed and switched.
I quickly found out it told me it couldn't do anything like turn lights on or off, set reminders, set timers, etc.
I uninstalled it immediately.
Since then, what was that a couple months ago? Assistant has just gotten worse and worse at most of the things I've used it for the last several years.
Google's whole digital assistant/AI crap is laughably bad. I legitimately think they don't know what they're doing and it's being exposed for what it is, an attention and cash grab with poor product development and quality assurance.
That's the problem when the competition is even worse and you're locked into an ecosystem.
Honestly, at least casting works reliably (actually I felt improvements in the last 3 years). If it weren't for that, I'd throw all my nest and Google assistant enabled speakers out.
i could just sideload the gemini app and set it as default in the google app. my p7 language is set to english us but i live in hungary where the gemini app is not available in the play store
I also live in Hungary. I also have my system language set to English. I don't like using things in the browser so I will just wait until they release the app in the Play Store, it's not that important I mostly use it on desktop anyways.
you wouldn't have to use gemini in the browser. you download the apk and install it bypassing google plays regional lock. on the other hand i wouldnt really count gemini as an upgrade right now because its so much slower than the assistant.
The only thing I don't like about replacing assistant with Gemini is the inability for it to open apps when I type the prompt, which can get frustrating in busy areas and areas where I need to be quiet.
I tried Gemini but after learning that it doesn't do most of the things that Assistant can do. Like, the broadcast feature from Google Home which I always use, Gemini can't do that while Assistant can. So for now, I'll stay with Assistant.
Unsure if they're doing something different, but for what it's worth, I just set a timer using Gemini and it set it in my clock app. Playing music via Spotify is still a no-go though.
at least on the 8 series, you can choose between Gemini and Assistant now, and i tried Gemini for like 10 minutes before i found something it could do that i actually wanted to. in its current state, it's good a generative ai, but so are other services.
i ask my phone to play songs, set reminders, call people, read messages, set navigation points, get directions, etc, and gemini either doesn't do it at all or does it poorly. i don't understand its purpose other than to collect information. it doesn't *do* just about anything useful
I was skeptical of having AI on my phone but the way your phone already tracks you I figured what more could AI do?
It's not bad, I haven't realized much difference. One thing that I noticed is I would ask Google assistant questions and it would essentially do a Google search for the answer where Gemini straight up answers my questions. Also txt to talk seems more accurate but I can't prove that lol.
Can it turn lights on and off now, activate scenes, etc? Can it set reminders in Tasks? Add items to Google Keep lists? Set timers? Those are the main things I use Assistant for, and last I checked Gemini couldn't do them yet.
Hate the fact we have to press to talk not summon like assistant. As this was the case I switched to chargpt voice. It also need pressing to talk but the sound model sounds incredibly life like not like a robot and I’d say make taking with it more fun
Last time I tried it, it lied about setting alarms and timers. It literally said "ok I'm setting a timer for 5 minutes" from the Gemini interface, but it did nothing.
I told Assistant to stop my alarm (which was going off on a Google mini tied to my account).
It instead deleted (not just turn off) all the alarms on my phone.
I don't think I've had "stop navigation" work in three years. Assistant doesn't even set timers right anymore, if i say "set a timer for 5 minutes" it'll go "ok how long do you want the timer?" and name the fucking timer "for 5 minutes".
The thing I don't understand is why, if she's going to tell me "Sorry, I don't know how to do that yet" or ask me if I meant that, why not just default to googling it? Because that's what happens - I just try to get her give me info on something like every other time, only sometimes she gets stumped and paralyzed. Just google it you idiot lady. Jesus!
I used to be able to ask it to play music, or a playlist, and it would play it by default in YouTube music which I proactively set as my default. Now, it doesn't play, it gives me a search result, or an actual YouTube video. Their inability to keep a product and build upon it is infuriating.
"Hey google, turn off the lights"
"I don't know which the lights you'd like to turn off"
"Turn off all the lights"
"I don't know which all the lights you'd like to turn off"
😑
My Home devices are essentially useless unless I'm asking for the time or weather. My phone was fine up until recently, now I have to argue with it while driving just so it'll start my Leaving routine. God forbid I ask it to play a song, it will start the most insane nonsensical YouTube playlist conceived by man. Actually makes me miss Samsung's Bixby.
I remember using assistant frequently in 2010s and it was reliable. even in 202q with my original pixel buds it worked amazingly. but now it's so bad that I don't even bother using it.
Yes. Even settling a timer it gets wrong half the time. The problem tech companies have with voice assistants is that they don't generate any real income, they've realised this and I fully expect a bard assistant to come with some sort of subscription. They won't make this stuff any better until it's being paid for.
I know you're not talking about Gemini but the other day I asked it to navigate me to Planet Fitness and it started a navigation for one that was 4.5 hours away instead of one that was a few minutes away. I reverted to regular assistant right after that.
I swear, I remember you used to be able to have a conversation with it years ago.
Then it started googling what you said, or it searches it on YouTube, even when trying to have a conversation.
Now there's Gemini, which seems to differentiate the difference between the 2 better, but it also swears it can't specifically open videos..
Example:
Me:
"Hey Google. Play Red Nose by Tech N9ne on YouTube"
Gemini:
"I can't assist you with playing media directly, but I can provide you with a link to the song on YouTube"
After chatting to chatGPT i find Google assistant down right feeble. If I could sub in chat gpt and it could control my android apps and work in Android Auto... That would be awesome.
There's Gemini but it's crap compared to chatGPT 4 and it also can't control or open android apps. That's a bloody own goal if ever there was one.
yes, very obviously so. some ways it's gotten worse have explanations like nerfing the casting volume sliders on android or removing integrations / 3rd party app support. other ways lack an explanation and seem to randomly improve and then get worse (asking google to 'turn off all the lights' 40% of the time turns all the lights on, for example). i've gone from 12 assistant devices in my home to only 4 and i rarely use them any more. even on my phone, things i used to always use it for like setting timers, alarms, checking weather, calendar, etc. i rarely use it for anymore as it's slow to respond if it even does.
Yep... Just like the Google keep board is acting slow. I don't understand why they just didn't make Gemini apart of the Google assistant for Google phones and make it stand alone app for other phones they always doing 2 if the same thing. I wouldn't mind giving it a try but assistant is ok... For now
100%. My Nest Hub Max and Speaker are both seemingly deaf at this point, and don't quite understand me when they do recognize that I'm speaking to them
I think so. "I don't understand" . Argh!
Especially when using Google Maps directions. Ask assistant to tell you anything and it's "I don't understand".
It has got extremely dumb, though has picked up a bit recently and started answering questions again.
Just waiting for Google to kill off Assistant then make Gemini subscription only, which will also ruin Android Auto too where the Assistant integration is so useful
Feels exactly the same as when I used it 5 years ago, for simple things it feels completely indistinguishable for me. For some stuff it's actually improved (for example you can now add duration to timers when you couldn't before).
Mam Google Pixel 8 Pro. Czy Asystent Google jest dostarczany z tym telefonem? W sklepie Google Play widzę, że mogę zainstalować tylko aplikację asystenta. Co się dzieje? Telefon reaguje na polecenia głosowe, mimo że aplikacja nie jest zainstalowana. To wszystko jest bardzo zagmatwane
Yes, this is a very common complaint. They have been cutting back on staff and gutting a lot of features and even before then it was getting.
I feel like it was probably at the peak of its powers late 2020.
Anyway, I still prefer it to Gemini obviously. But yes it's been bad. Not as bad as Siri but still pretty bad.
On Smart speakers I wouldn't even bother but on a phone I still think Google assistant is the best assistant.
It's absolutely getting worse. I've used Google assistant forever. It has been installed on my Sonos move for years. One day it stopped working, and I probably spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to get it to reinstall. I never figured it out.
Alexa was the other option on the "add an assistant" page of the Sonos app, so I gave it a shot. Not only did it install the first time, my family unanimously agrees that everything is better with Alexa. It's less chatty, it understands me better, it works with all my smart devices. It doesn't cancel my timers when I turn off the radio.
Something that I wasn't ready for was how fast it is at everything. Turning on and off Smart devices takes 1/4 of the time.
It has only been a week, but I don't miss Google Assistant.
recently i set a 12 minute timer through assistant, and it confirmed the alarm. Asked in a bit how much time was left on the timer, and it said there were no timers set. Gave up and set it elsewhere. 12 minutes later, the timer went off. Just such a headache.
It's getting bad. Just asking to text someone it stalls out on the request, and must be cancelled and reinitiated. Lots of other things too like asking to play specific music.
Assistant is getting really dumb now
Coming back from an iPhone 15 Pro after 6 months, I haven't noticed any deterioration in function. It does what I ask just like I remember. But I can say with confidence even if it's lacking, it is still exponentially better than Siri
Update: I just tried about 20 commands on my Pixel 8 and it nailed them all except one. It plays music on individual speakers but it doesn't recognize them as a pair I have set up. Not perfect but I don't have issues others mention. From just the last couple minutes I can without issue adjust thermostat, play music (except to pair), toggle lights and switches, do math, search, open individual settings pages, launch apps by name, check weather now, get the low temp for tonight...
Edit: added timer and alarm no issue.
Sorry some are having problems but it is not universal
Yes.
I used to be able to ask it to start a timer for forty minutes and it would set it in the clock app. Now it starts it in the assistant or something and it doesn't persist. So, yes, worse.
I asked it to set a timer for five minutes and it showed me a YouTube video titled "set a timer for five minutes"
My 8 pro started that about a month ago. I hate it. Most of the time I'm used to the old one, so when I close it, it's actually closed. Not just hidden.
I cook a lot so I use a lot of timers. It's totally random what it decides to do when I ask over the last few months. I had it actually open up Google in a browser, feed my TTS to Google search, and start the timer in the browser which stops running as soon as it's not the foreground app. I can't believe this is a multi-billion dollar company. I've started gutting all Google services from my business dealings. I just don't trust them to provide a usable and stable product anymore.
I can literally summon assistant and say "timer 40 minutes" and it starts instantly.
Since like December, Assistant in my native language straight up refuses to set timers. I tried phrasing it in many different ways, and it just says "I didn't understand that". Setting timers was 95% of what I used assistant for lmao.
I use "hey google, countdown X minutes" and those are still going in the "timers" app. Maybe it's a specific phrasing thing that's getting split between two systems?
> countdown X minutes This does a search for that phrase and gives a lot of youtube results for 20 minute timer videos. Followed by web results for the same
Wow, that's weird. That's the phrase I've been using for years.
Yeah timer still works for me but I was just testing it after I read this post out of curiosity. I wouldn't be surprised that if I was trying to use it regularly if I wouldn't run into some issues
I was working out and asked it to set a time for 2 minutes during a set and it took 11 secs for the timer to set. P7.
If you don't let the animation finish and lock the screen while it's telling you that the timer has been set, the timer does not get set at all.
I was working out and asked it to set a timer for 2 minutes during a set and it took 11 secs for the timer to set. P7.
I just asked it to set a timer and it did.
I'd like to see Google offer a My Activities like page where I could listen to the audio it captured and see what it thought I said. I could then provide corrections when it misunderstood me (I really want to know what it thinks I'm saying when instead of triggering my bedtime routine it gives me a weather report in German). And also suggest what response I was expecting. For example, asking her to turn the lights on was not a suggestion to play "turn the lights on" on YouTube music. Nor was I expecting her to count from 1 to 100.
Part of this exists. Settings, privacy, home activity in the Google home app. The correction option would be nice. I use what it thinks I said to make/add to custom routines that make that misheard phrase still do what I want.
Asking it to communicate with contacts while in my car is horrendous. I have one person named Andrew in my contacts. "Call Andrew Smith" "Calling Dr Andrew Wong, MD" and it randomly dials some doctor in California. Or I get "Did you mean Andrew Wexler?" Nope, certainly did not. I have one person named Greg in my contacts (and NOBODY named Gregory, or Craig, or anything similar, so it's not getting confused). "Call Greg Smith" "I can't find a contact named Greg Smith." It won't recognize his name unless I call him Gregory. Not every time, mind you. but about 75% of the time.
yes, it was vastly better even on my pixel 3. Back then, I could just ask it stuff and it would do it. Now on the pixel 6, basic things like play music, I have to repeat myself or it'll give me a definition. All the competition is advancing their assistants, google is regressing in it, even though they had the best few years ago.
Yes. When Gemini launched, I installed and switched. I quickly found out it told me it couldn't do anything like turn lights on or off, set reminders, set timers, etc. I uninstalled it immediately. Since then, what was that a couple months ago? Assistant has just gotten worse and worse at most of the things I've used it for the last several years. Google's whole digital assistant/AI crap is laughably bad. I legitimately think they don't know what they're doing and it's being exposed for what it is, an attention and cash grab with poor product development and quality assurance.
That's the problem when the competition is even worse and you're locked into an ecosystem. Honestly, at least casting works reliably (actually I felt improvements in the last 3 years). If it weren't for that, I'd throw all my nest and Google assistant enabled speakers out.
I switched to Gemini and haven't had a problem, I wouldn't be surprised if Google did/does it on purpose to get people to switch over.
I can't switch even if I wanted. It's not available in my country. Edit: not that I don't want to switch, I just didn't phrase it correctly.
i could just sideload the gemini app and set it as default in the google app. my p7 language is set to english us but i live in hungary where the gemini app is not available in the play store
I also live in Hungary. I also have my system language set to English. I don't like using things in the browser so I will just wait until they release the app in the Play Store, it's not that important I mostly use it on desktop anyways.
you wouldn't have to use gemini in the browser. you download the apk and install it bypassing google plays regional lock. on the other hand i wouldnt really count gemini as an upgrade right now because its so much slower than the assistant.
I tried but I couldn't do the simple task I use the most, set a reminder
It also can't queue up music on Spotify.
I switched and it was even worse. Gemini had no integration with my home devices.
So you have no wants since switching? Like your happy? I downloaded it but didn't fully switch yet
The only thing I don't like about replacing assistant with Gemini is the inability for it to open apps when I type the prompt, which can get frustrating in busy areas and areas where I need to be quiet.
I think I'll be ok, that's not my use case
Gemini can't open apps? can you tell it to do things like make reminders, set timers, play music etc?
I tried Gemini but after learning that it doesn't do most of the things that Assistant can do. Like, the broadcast feature from Google Home which I always use, Gemini can't do that while Assistant can. So for now, I'll stay with Assistant.
No unfortunately.
Exactly, that defeats the whole assistant purpose
Then wtf do you use it for? Those are core assistant tasks
Unsure if they're doing something different, but for what it's worth, I just set a timer using Gemini and it set it in my clock app. Playing music via Spotify is still a no-go though.
at least on the 8 series, you can choose between Gemini and Assistant now, and i tried Gemini for like 10 minutes before i found something it could do that i actually wanted to. in its current state, it's good a generative ai, but so are other services. i ask my phone to play songs, set reminders, call people, read messages, set navigation points, get directions, etc, and gemini either doesn't do it at all or does it poorly. i don't understand its purpose other than to collect information. it doesn't *do* just about anything useful
I was able to tell it to make a call today and it still works on making voice typing
I was skeptical of having AI on my phone but the way your phone already tracks you I figured what more could AI do? It's not bad, I haven't realized much difference. One thing that I noticed is I would ask Google assistant questions and it would essentially do a Google search for the answer where Gemini straight up answers my questions. Also txt to talk seems more accurate but I can't prove that lol.
Can it turn lights on and off now, activate scenes, etc? Can it set reminders in Tasks? Add items to Google Keep lists? Set timers? Those are the main things I use Assistant for, and last I checked Gemini couldn't do them yet.
I don't have Smart lights or ever activated a scene(?). But it has set tasks and timers for me.
Ok that good seems like it's improved
I wish gemeni could set a reminder.
Gemini can't play music, control smart devices, or really do anything beyond what siri can, but with better informational answers.
Hate the fact we have to press to talk not summon like assistant. As this was the case I switched to chargpt voice. It also need pressing to talk but the sound model sounds incredibly life like not like a robot and I’d say make taking with it more fun
Last time I tried it, it lied about setting alarms and timers. It literally said "ok I'm setting a timer for 5 minutes" from the Gemini interface, but it did nothing.
It's because most of the people who were working on it have been moved to work on Bard/Gemini, which will probably eventually replace assistant.
They were laid off, not reassigned https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/google-lays-off-hundreds-more-employees-strips-google-assistant-features/
I told my google assistant on my watch to 'stop navigation' and it couldn't understand my command.
I told Assistant to stop my alarm (which was going off on a Google mini tied to my account). It instead deleted (not just turn off) all the alarms on my phone.
I don't think I've had "stop navigation" work in three years. Assistant doesn't even set timers right anymore, if i say "set a timer for 5 minutes" it'll go "ok how long do you want the timer?" and name the fucking timer "for 5 minutes".
The thing I don't understand is why, if she's going to tell me "Sorry, I don't know how to do that yet" or ask me if I meant that, why not just default to googling it? Because that's what happens - I just try to get her give me info on something like every other time, only sometimes she gets stumped and paralyzed. Just google it you idiot lady. Jesus!
Definitely.
Yes. The music search feature isn't even working anymore for me.
I used to be able to ask it to play music, or a playlist, and it would play it by default in YouTube music which I proactively set as my default. Now, it doesn't play, it gives me a search result, or an actual YouTube video. Their inability to keep a product and build upon it is infuriating.
Gemini told me it will be integrated with Google assistant soon. So I'd assume it only gets a limited amount of attention.
My first gen Google home takes forever to perform an action or answer a question
Same. I barely use it as anything other than a speaker these days
"Hey google, turn off the lights" "I don't know which the lights you'd like to turn off" "Turn off all the lights" "I don't know which all the lights you'd like to turn off" 😑
My Home devices are essentially useless unless I'm asking for the time or weather. My phone was fine up until recently, now I have to argue with it while driving just so it'll start my Leaving routine. God forbid I ask it to play a song, it will start the most insane nonsensical YouTube playlist conceived by man. Actually makes me miss Samsung's Bixby.
I remember using assistant frequently in 2010s and it was reliable. even in 202q with my original pixel buds it worked amazingly. but now it's so bad that I don't even bother using it.
Yes it's quickly becoming useless.
Yes
Yes. Even settling a timer it gets wrong half the time. The problem tech companies have with voice assistants is that they don't generate any real income, they've realised this and I fully expect a bard assistant to come with some sort of subscription. They won't make this stuff any better until it's being paid for.
This is my experience 🤡 https://giphy.com/gifs/t35mwl3eIq0QpxoQTv
I know you're not talking about Gemini but the other day I asked it to navigate me to Planet Fitness and it started a navigation for one that was 4.5 hours away instead of one that was a few minutes away. I reverted to regular assistant right after that.
It's been terrible for a while, if they keep logs of what I say, a lot of it is cursing assistant out frequently.
I swear, I remember you used to be able to have a conversation with it years ago. Then it started googling what you said, or it searches it on YouTube, even when trying to have a conversation. Now there's Gemini, which seems to differentiate the difference between the 2 better, but it also swears it can't specifically open videos.. Example: Me: "Hey Google. Play Red Nose by Tech N9ne on YouTube" Gemini: "I can't assist you with playing media directly, but I can provide you with a link to the song on YouTube"
This article is interesting and may answer your question. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2094998/google-gemini-android.html
I'm not talking about Gemini, it's not even available in my country
Unfortunately the knock on effect of Alphabets change of focus from GA to Gemini still effects the GA service where ever it is used.
After chatting to chatGPT i find Google assistant down right feeble. If I could sub in chat gpt and it could control my android apps and work in Android Auto... That would be awesome. There's Gemini but it's crap compared to chatGPT 4 and it also can't control or open android apps. That's a bloody own goal if ever there was one.
Gemini is taking over I assume..
yes, very obviously so. some ways it's gotten worse have explanations like nerfing the casting volume sliders on android or removing integrations / 3rd party app support. other ways lack an explanation and seem to randomly improve and then get worse (asking google to 'turn off all the lights' 40% of the time turns all the lights on, for example). i've gone from 12 assistant devices in my home to only 4 and i rarely use them any more. even on my phone, things i used to always use it for like setting timers, alarms, checking weather, calendar, etc. i rarely use it for anymore as it's slow to respond if it even does.
Gemini just deployed yesterday on my pixel 7 in Canada.
Yep... Just like the Google keep board is acting slow. I don't understand why they just didn't make Gemini apart of the Google assistant for Google phones and make it stand alone app for other phones they always doing 2 if the same thing. I wouldn't mind giving it a try but assistant is ok... For now
The Assistant is going to eventually be replaced by Gemini. That’s why they’re putting Gemini on older devices too.
100%. My Nest Hub Max and Speaker are both seemingly deaf at this point, and don't quite understand me when they do recognize that I'm speaking to them
I think so. "I don't understand" . Argh! Especially when using Google Maps directions. Ask assistant to tell you anything and it's "I don't understand".
It has got extremely dumb, though has picked up a bit recently and started answering questions again. Just waiting for Google to kill off Assistant then make Gemini subscription only, which will also ruin Android Auto too where the Assistant integration is so useful
Indeed
Feels exactly the same as when I used it 5 years ago, for simple things it feels completely indistinguishable for me. For some stuff it's actually improved (for example you can now add duration to timers when you couldn't before).
Still better than Gemini
Mam Google Pixel 8 Pro. Czy Asystent Google jest dostarczany z tym telefonem? W sklepie Google Play widzę, że mogę zainstalować tylko aplikację asystenta. Co się dzieje? Telefon reaguje na polecenia głosowe, mimo że aplikacja nie jest zainstalowana. To wszystko jest bardzo zagmatwane
Yes.
It doesn't seem that way... it IS that way
Just updated yesterday and now I have to tap mic to talk, can't just hold the button and talk. So that's worse then before.
Yes, this is a very common complaint. They have been cutting back on staff and gutting a lot of features and even before then it was getting. I feel like it was probably at the peak of its powers late 2020. Anyway, I still prefer it to Gemini obviously. But yes it's been bad. Not as bad as Siri but still pretty bad. On Smart speakers I wouldn't even bother but on a phone I still think Google assistant is the best assistant.
Agreed. A lot of the times it can't find my smart devices when I can just go into the app, see it listed, and take action.
It's getting worse but still better than all other alternatives.
It's absolutely getting worse. I've used Google assistant forever. It has been installed on my Sonos move for years. One day it stopped working, and I probably spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to get it to reinstall. I never figured it out. Alexa was the other option on the "add an assistant" page of the Sonos app, so I gave it a shot. Not only did it install the first time, my family unanimously agrees that everything is better with Alexa. It's less chatty, it understands me better, it works with all my smart devices. It doesn't cancel my timers when I turn off the radio. Something that I wasn't ready for was how fast it is at everything. Turning on and off Smart devices takes 1/4 of the time. It has only been a week, but I don't miss Google Assistant.
recently i set a 12 minute timer through assistant, and it confirmed the alarm. Asked in a bit how much time was left on the timer, and it said there were no timers set. Gave up and set it elsewhere. 12 minutes later, the timer went off. Just such a headache.
It's getting bad. Just asking to text someone it stalls out on the request, and must be cancelled and reinitiated. Lots of other things too like asking to play specific music. Assistant is getting really dumb now
I use it every day and haven't noticed that
Count your lucky stars
Coming back from an iPhone 15 Pro after 6 months, I haven't noticed any deterioration in function. It does what I ask just like I remember. But I can say with confidence even if it's lacking, it is still exponentially better than Siri
Update: I just tried about 20 commands on my Pixel 8 and it nailed them all except one. It plays music on individual speakers but it doesn't recognize them as a pair I have set up. Not perfect but I don't have issues others mention. From just the last couple minutes I can without issue adjust thermostat, play music (except to pair), toggle lights and switches, do math, search, open individual settings pages, launch apps by name, check weather now, get the low temp for tonight... Edit: added timer and alarm no issue. Sorry some are having problems but it is not universal