Hey Google, Assistant isn’t going away quietly

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⭐️ Starred

“Killed by Google” is a well-known refrain for good reason: the company is famous for ignominiously sunsetting products beloved by a subset of users. From Reader to Google+ to Stadia to Inbox (😭) to Play Music, Allo, Duo, Buzz, Wave, Hangouts, Picasa, the Google graveyard is a well-manicured plot of land.

The death of Google Assistant is going down a little differently; people are mad that its replacement, Gemini — loquacious and intelligent though it is — can’t do many of the basic things Assistant was designed to accomplish. For 10 years, people have been asking it to set alarms and timers, play certain songs, and turn on the living room lights, and from phone, speaker, or television the tool has performed admirably.

But Gemini’s AI foundations make it less predictable than the semantic, rules-based outcomes of Assistant, and our commenters are pretty upset that, come September, they won’t have the option of reverting back to it.

Personally, I think Gemini for Home is getting a pretty bad rap. While its early incarnation on smart speakers was confused by many requests, it’s now in a pretty good spot, and the team behind it is constantly issuing updates. It’s also much better at responding to those longer, winding queries we all tend to ask, particularly in the morning before coffee.

Of course, time will tell whether Google can alleviate the broader concerns people have about Assistant’s replacement, which, despite its issues, has served us well for over 10 years.

✉️ Inbox

• Leak confirms Pixel 11 ‘Glow’ is called ‘HiLight’ and what it can do. I’m pretty excited for the Pixel 11’s new notification light thing. I just hope that it can do more than the leaks suggest.
• Galaxy Z Fold 8 destroys pre-order record set by the late Note 10, and it isn’t over yet. The Fold 8 is really, really popular. No surprises here; it’s really, really good.
  • Samsung confirms Galaxy Z Fold 8’s record-breaking sales numbers as pre-order deals are ending
  • Galaxy Z Fold 8 is convincing Z Flip owners to switch, Samsung says
• Google Password Manager passkeys could be at risk with new ‘Pass-ta-key’ attack. Great name for a hack if you ask me.
• Nothing’s new CMF Clip Pro earbuds are $99 with open-ear audio and a clever case. Nothing makes great products; too bad about the AI images, though.
• Android 17 August update rolling out with three Pixel 10 fixes. Nothing to see here. Literally.
• Here’s the first Asus Googlebook as the floodgates start to open. This one isn’t quite as nice as the Lenovo Googlebook that leaked a few days ago, but it’s a looker all the same. Excited about these.
• Sunbird launches its iMessage for Android app, expecting you to trust it in the name of blue bubbles. The iMessage pretender is back. Don’t come within 10 feet of this one, trust me.
• Google clearing out official Pixel 10 cases ahead of Pixel 11 launch. Cheap Pixel 10 cases? Yes, please.
• Demis Hassabis no longer DeepMind CEO to focus on new AGI role, Jeff Dean departs. There are some major changes happening at DeepMind as Google continues to fall behind Anthropic and OpenAI on the frontier model front.
• Google Contacts reveals what colors Pixel 11 HiLight will support. Blue, Cyan, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Teal, White, and Yellow. ROYGBIV, anyone?
• UAG fixed my biggest Galaxy phone complaint with the Z Fold 8. I’m not a big case-on-foldables fan, but Samsung kind of makes it necessary. This one seems like a good option.

🤑 Action items

If you were a Pixel owner between 2017 and 2020, you may have been blessed with what is arguably the best accessory the company has ever made (though this one is a close second): the Pixel fabric case. Right now, I use an old Pixel 5 as an offline music player in my son’s room, and every evening I look forward to picking up the phone nestled in its cozy little fabric home.

Google discontinued the cases when it debuted the Pixel 6 in 2021, and since then dozens of us have been calling for their return. While that seems unlikely, I do have a couple of recommendations that get close.

Peak Design’s Everyday Case is my go-to option for most Pixels and iPhones; they’re well-designed and comfortable to hold, and have a fabric outer layer that, while slightly denser and coarser than Google’s, makes it feel luxurious. It also has a great MagSafe solution and a bunch of accessories like a magnetic mobile wallet (that I’ve used, irrespective of phone, for four years now) and a handy, hardy wall mount.

Though I have less experience with this one, I’m also a fan of Mous’ Limitless Speckled Fabric line, which includes Pixel and Galaxy options. It’s more of a hybrid option, with a hard plastic shell and fabric just on the rear plate, but it’s a really well-made product.

🙃 FWD: Will you be my friend?

This section has some of our favorite stuff from around the internet. Great videos, weird memes, fun reads, recommended apps, whatever. Send us your recommendations!

I don’t play too many games these days; kids and work and travel and reading and… life… generally get in the way of justifying the time. But co-op games hit different. In recent years, I’ve spent some of my favorite hours with friends playing through Hazelight’s superb It Takes Two and Split Fiction, and it looks like I’ve found my next one.

From House House, the team that made the strange and wonderful Untitled Goose Game, Big Walk is, in its simplest form, a walking sim. But it’s also an adventure game, a puzzler, and a life sim, depending on how you play.

I’ve been looking forward to this for years, and I’m so glad it’s finally here.

🗑️ Trash

You know what I always say: Don’t look a gift rocket in the mouth.

From BBC:

A stray SpaceX rocket is believed to have crashed into the Moon, forming a crater near a famous lunar landmark and giving scientists a unique research opportunity that could help future missions.

The empty upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket was due to strike the Moon near the Einstein crater at a speed of about 5,400mph (8,700km/h) on Wednesday. The short, dramatic flash it created would have been hard to catch by amateur astronomers even with high-end telescopes, but larger observatories in the Americas are analysing the information.

It could be days or even weeks before the full picture of what happened and what we can learn from it is known – but for planetary geologists, this accidental collision is a scientific gift.

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Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend. See you on Tuesday.