Google Assistant Driving Mode

Google Permanently Parks Assistant Driving Mode

Google has begun shutting down the Assistant Driving Mode. The company will complete the removal of the entire dashboard on Nov. 21, a little over three years after its I/O 2019 reveal as an Android Auto mobile app replacement.

Assistant Driving Away

Google is specifically ending the Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard, the screen that appears when drivers tell the voice assistant, “let’s drive,” or “launch driving mode.” Google first started rolling out Google Assistant Driving Mode to users in 2020, eventually sunsetting the existing smartphone version of Android Auto in its favor when the Android 12 OS came out.

Google Assistant Driving Mode uses large tiles representing common actions that can be activated by touch as well as by voice command. Google has since upgraded its look and added new features. The current split-screen design offers smart replies, voice-enabled music searches,  and context-based suggestions from Google Assistant on what it should do for drivers. Google claims the Driving Mode landing page is unnecessary because most people just interact with its features through the Google Maps app. In fact, Google is simply renaming that driver-friendly Maps format Driving Mode, which is a simpler design anyway.

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