Google could be getting Gemini ready for Android Go

Gemini is the future of Google’s virtual assistant — make no mistake about that. While the transition has felt a bit piecemeal so far, little by little we’re seeing Google get around to replacing Assistant with Gemini on everything from smart speakers to our vehicles. While phones were some of the first devices to make the switch, that move hasn’t applied universally, and a big blank spot there has involved lower-powered hardware that didn’t initially meet Gemini’s minimum spec requirements. Now we’re finally getting an idea of what a path forward to Gemini might look like for those devices — or getting the first hint of a bleak future with neither Assistant nor Gemini.

Back when Google first started detailing how the transition to Gemini was going to work, the company was clear that the long-term goal was to move users off Assistant; while we initially had the option to stick with Assistant, Google eventually made that mandatory for all compatible devices. The problem there is that Gemini has minimum requirements like 2GB of RAM, so Google said that if your phone wasn’t capable of accessing Gemini, you’d be free to stick with Assistant.

That was over a year ago, though, and Gemini models have gotten a lot better on multiple fronts — including the ability to function with fewer resources. Could that maturity mean that Google’s getting ready to bring Gemini to even Android Go devices?

Low-powered Android Go handsets have had access to Google Assistant Go — a pared-down version of Assistant that lacks fancier features like smart-home control. So far, though, there hasn’t been an equivalent solution available for Gemini. But in Google’s version 2.18.0 update of the Assistant Go app, we’re seeing some text strings that may suggest that’s about to change:

We can see a couple things going on in here. Even if the strings themselves don’t make explicit reference to Assistant Go, we can see in the string labels that this messaging is being prepared for the deprecation of Assistant Go. And similarly, even without anything like a direct mention of anything like a “Gemini Go,” there’s still talk about a path forward to Gemini.

That said, there’s also a whole lot of “check to make sure it works with your phone” language here, from which we have to infer that there are still devices it won’t ever work with. There’s just nothing here yet that gives us a clear idea of where that line might lie, especially if we’re talking about an all-new Gemini Go with yet-unknown requirements.

We also have to consider the possibility of a worst-case scenario: that Google is just killing Assistant Go off without anything like Gemini Go to replace it, and it really does intend to force users to upgrade their handsets.

While this is ultimately a bit of a tease, it’s definitely more to go on than we had before — and is now keeping us primed to look for further evidence of this upcoming transition. We’ll share any additional details we’re able to uncover, as Google continues to go all-in on Gemini.