Some months after confirming that upcoming LG smart TVs will get access to Copilot in the coming months, it appears that the Google Assistant is being removed from existing screens.
Top comment by matteventu
This shouldn’t affect any other Google apps on your TV, but it could affect your Google Home systems. As it stands, you can integrate LG TVs into your Google Assistant-powered smart home setup by linking via the ThinQ app. While it’s not clear, the removal of voice controls could cause problems.
I don't think that's the case, the two things are entirely separate from a software implementation perspective.
What's getting discontinued is the Google Assistant client running on webOS, i.e. the feature which allowed you to enquire Google Assistant queries directly to your TV via the microphone of the Bluetooth remote (i.e. using your LG TV as the input method for the "switch off the living room light" of "what's the weather like tomorrow" sort of commands).
What's not getting discontinued, is the integration of LG webOS TVs in the Google Home platform as an end-point, which is a whole separate - and most importantly, entirely unrelated - feature (i.e. what allows you to give Google Assistant commands to any GA enabled "input" speaker/device, and via those commands control the end-point device, i.e. in this case the TV, with commands like volume up, down, set volume to 14, pause media, switch on/off, etc dictated for instance to a Nest Mini or to your phone).
This is consistent with the partnership announced between Google and LG last year, which introduced another important Google ecosystem end-point feature on webOS 24+ LG TVs: support for Chromecast built-in.
Hope this helps :)
If you have an LG OLED TV connected to the internet, you can access the Google Assistant by first linking to your account and then utilizing the microphone button found on the bundled remote. However, this looks to be going away, as a “Google Assistant Service Termination” pop-up confirms the los off Google Assistant integration and functionality from May 1, 2025 – as shown in the screenshot below on an LG CX OLED TV:
Google Assistant Service Termination
Google Assistant will no longer be available on this device starting on May 1, 2025.
The voice recognition service provided through the microphone button on the remote control will still be available for use
As this notice makes clear, you will still be able to use basic voice controls on your TV. This will be handled by the in-built LG service rather than Google’s voice assistant.
This shouldn’t affect any other Google apps on your TV, but it could affect your Google Home systems. As it stands, you can integrate LG TVs into your Google Assistant-powered smart home setup by linking via the ThinQ app. While it’s not clear, the removal of voice controls could cause problems. However, there are no support pages available to confirm or deny that this will be the case when the service ceases. This pop-up is the first time LG has noted the removal of the function.
Depending on your use case, you may encounter numerous issues after May 1 if you have specific automation or routines set up on your Home account, so it may be worth checking or removing any links using the Google Account “Connections” page here. We would highly suggest removing the ThinQ app now in preparation to reduce any potential pain points.
More on the Google Assistant:
- Android Auto ditches Assistant mic icon for some with Gemini around the corner
- Android Auto 14.0 starts rolling out, prepares to replace Assistant with Gemini
- Gemini replacing Google Assistant on Chromebooks
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