If you have an Android phone and still say "Hey Google" out of habit, get ready for a different voice to answer. Starting September 4, 2026, Google began switching Android phones, tablets, Wear OS watches, and paired earbuds or Android Auto over to Gemini as the one and only assistant — and this time, there is no setting to switch back to the old Google Assistant.
What's actually changing. Google Assistant, the voice helper that has answered "Hey Google" on Android phones for years, is being retired on personal devices in favor of Gemini, Google's newer AI assistant. This has been coming for a while — Google announced the plan and then delayed it once after complaints that Gemini felt slower and less predictable than the assistant it was replacing — but this week the mandatory switch actually started rolling out.
Why "mandatory" matters here. Until now, Android let you choose: keep the classic Google Assistant, or opt into Gemini yourself. That choice is disappearing. In an email sent directly to users, Google was blunt about it: "You will no longer be able to use — or switch back to — the legacy Google Assistant on your Android phone, tablet, or paired accessories." Once your device gets the update, saying "Hey Google" or holding down the power button brings up Gemini instead — permanently.
It won't happen to everyone at once. Google is rolling this out gradually, over a period of weeks rather than switching every device on the same day. If your phone hasn't changed yet, that doesn't mean it has been skipped — it likely just has not received the update yet. Google has not published an exact date for when the rollout reaches every device, so expect it to arrive at different times for different people.
What stays the same, for now. Two places keep the old Google Assistant, at least for the moment: cars with Android Automotive built directly into the dashboard (not your phone mirrored through Android Auto), and Google's smart speakers and Google TV devices. If you mainly talk to Google through a Nest speaker at home, nothing changes yet.
What this actually feels like day to day. Basic things — setting a timer, sending a text, making a call — will still work. What changes is the personality answering you: Gemini talks more like a chatbot having a conversation, while the old Assistant was built around quick, single commands. If a request that used to just work now gets a longer or different-sounding answer, that is the new assistant, not a broken phone. Our guide to using Gemini on Android walks through what it can do and how to get comfortable with it.
One more thing worth knowing. If you get an email from Google about this change, it is real — Google is notifying users directly as the switch reaches their devices. That said, this is exactly the kind of "your service is changing, click here" message that scammers like to copy. Stick to checking assistant settings directly on your phone rather than clicking links in an email you were not expecting, and see our guide on spotting a fake AI app if anything about a message like this feels off.