Google Gemini on Android: What It Does, What It Replaces, What It Costs

Google Assistant launched in 2016 and spent nearly a decade as the default voice interface on Android phones worldwide. In 2026, it is being retired. Gemini is replacing it, and the transition is already under way on hundreds of millions of devices.

Most Android users have not chosen this. They will encounter it when their phone upgrades and the assistant they have used for years is no longer there. This article explains what Gemini is, what it replaces, what it can do that Assistant could not, and what it costs.

What happened to Google Assistant

Google Assistant launched in 2016 alongside the original Pixel phone. It handled voice commands, answered questions, controlled smart home devices, set timers, and connected to third-party apps. For most users on most days, it worked reliably for a narrow set of tasks.

Google announced in March 2025 that Assistant would no longer be accessible on most mobile devices and would be removed from app stores. The original deadline was the end of 2025. In December 2025, Google pushed the full mobile transition to 2026, citing the need for a seamless handover. The migration is now rolling out during 2026 on a staged basis.

Devices running Android 9 or earlier, or with less than 2GB of RAM, are exempt. Those devices retain Google Assistant. Everything else is transitioning to Gemini.

What Gemini is

Gemini is Google’s large language model-based assistant, built on the same generative AI technology that powers Google’s AI products across Search, Workspace, and the web. On Android, it functions as the system-level assistant, activated by the same “Hey Google” wake word that launched Assistant.

The distinction from Assistant is in the underlying approach. Assistant was a command-and-response system: it matched voice input to a database of intents and returned a result. Gemini is generative: it processes natural language, understands context across a conversation, and generates responses based on reasoning rather than pattern matching.

In practice, this means Gemini can handle multi-step requests, follow-up questions, and tasks that require synthesising information from several sources. Assistant could set a timer. Gemini can help plan a schedule, draft a message based on context from your calendar, and answer a follow-up question about that schedule in the same conversation.

What it replaces, feature by feature

Google has been explicit that Gemini covers the core Assistant functionality. Playing music, setting timers, making calls, sending messages, controlling smart home devices, and accessing the lock screen assistant all remain available. The “Hey Google” hotword continues to work.

The deeper integration extends across Google’s own apps. Gemini connects to Gmail, Google Docs, Drive, Calendar, and Meet. A user can ask Gemini to summarise an email thread, find a file in Drive, or check whether a meeting conflicts with another commitment, without switching between apps.

Gemini also has awareness of what is on the screen. It can read content visible on the display and act on it, allowing queries and actions that reference whatever the user is currently looking at.

For smart home devices, the transition is on a separate timeline. Gemini is rolling out to Google speakers, displays, and televisions, but that process is independent of the mobile migration. Smart home users may find their devices on different assistant versions for some time during 2026.

What Gemini adds that Assistant did not have

Several capabilities in Gemini have no equivalent in Assistant.

Gemini Live enables extended, free-flowing voice conversations. Rather than responding to individual commands, it sustains a dialogue across multiple exchanges, tracking context throughout. Google describes it as closer to a conversation than a query.

Deep Research allows users to set a complex research task and have Gemini compile information from multiple sources into a structured summary. This is not a web search wrapper; it reasons across the material it finds and presents conclusions.

Gemini also supports image input. Users can share a photo and ask questions about it. This includes on-screen content and images captured through the camera.

What it costs

Core Gemini functionality on Android is free. The basic assistant features that replace Google Assistant, including voice commands, app integration, and conversational responses, require no subscription.

Gemini Live and some advanced features are included with a Google One AI Premium subscription, which is priced at $19.99 per month in the United States. This tier also includes access to the most capable Gemini model versions and integration with Google Workspace apps at a deeper level.

Some smart home features, including AI-powered notifications and the Ask Home and Home Brief capabilities within Google Home, require a Google Home Premium subscription.

The timeline for your device

New Android phones from Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and Motorola have shipped with Gemini as the default assistant for the past year. If you bought a new Android phone in 2025 or 2026, Gemini is likely already your assistant.

If you are on an older device that still has Google Assistant, the transition will arrive as a prompted upgrade during 2026. Google has not published a precise date. Users will see an upgrade prompt before the switch happens. After the transition, the option to revert to Google Assistant will no longer be available on supported devices.

Google Assistant remains available on devices that do not meet the minimum requirements for Gemini: Android 9 or earlier, or less than 2GB of RAM.

What it means in practice

For most users, the day-to-day experience will be familiar at first. The wake word works the same way. Basic tasks work the same way. The difference becomes apparent when the request is more complex, more contextual, or spans multiple steps. That is where Gemini’s underlying architecture produces different results from what Assistant could deliver.

The transition is not optional for users on supported devices. Google Assistant is being retired. Gemini is its replacement, and 2026 is when that replacement completes on mobile.