Google Assistant

Google is pulling the plug on Assistant Snapshot, the only trace left of Google Now

Ben Schoon | Mar 3 2022 - 6:42 am PT

Google Snapshot is a useful tool that lives within Assistant and acts as a hub for predictive information — in essence, it’s a limited version of Google Now. Unfortunately, Google is killing off Snapshot, with a message now appearing to users saying that the feature is “going away soon.”

A message has started to appear within Snapshot when accessing the tool through Assistant saying that Snapshot is “going away soon.” It’s not clear exactly when this message started appearing, but it first came on our radar this morning. On verifying that the message does appear in the app, we actually saw it switch over from a generic “welcome” message on our Galaxy S22+, suggesting it could be a message that Google is just now rolling out today.

Our Andrew Romero has an excellent guide diving into how you can use Snapshot and everything it can do – well, everything it could do.

Google hasn’t set a public date for when Snapshot will be removed, but has published a support page that details where Snapshot’s information can be found in other Google products once the product dies.

When Snapshot goes away, you will still find updates in other Google Assistant products and features.

Google Assistant Snapshot was first announced in 2018.

9to5Google’s Take

It comes as absolutely no surprise that Google is pulling the plug here. Snapshot is a useful function, but one that Google has never given any priority whatsoever. Access to Snapshot is buried, and after a “bug” hid the easiest access method last year, many were left without a consistent way to get to the feature until this day. My Pixel 6 Pro, for instance, can’t even access Snapshot as none of Google’s former methods are actually working on my device.

The unfortunate truth is that Discover is a more important product for Google. It drives revenue and engagement, something Snapshot couldn’t do to the same degree. That’s probably a big reason why Google made it impossible for Snapshot to replace Discover on the left-most homescreen page, which always felt like a huge oversight.

Regardless of Google’s reasoning, it’s a product that will be missed, when it eventually goes away for good.