The option to return to Google Assistant has disappeared from the Gemini app on Android devices checked in the U.S. and Europe. Gemini now opens through the usual assistant gestures on those phones, according to 9to5Google’s September 28 report. For affected users, that removes a practical fallback: if they preferred Assistant for a particular task, they can no longer select it in Gemini’s account menu.
Google announced this transition earlier. It said removal would begin on September 4 and take weeks. September 28 was not a new deprecation announcement or a confirmed worldwide shutdown date; it was when 9to5Google reported that the change appeared widespread across the devices and accounts it checked.
The mobile transition also covers tablets and certain phone-linked experiences, including Wear OS watches, headphones, and Android Auto. Google Assistant has not vanished from Nest speakers, Google Home displays, or every car with Google software.
The Switch-Back Setting Is Missing From Gemini
Before the mobile transition reached a device, users could open the Gemini app’s account menu and choose “Switch to Google Assistant.” In its September checks, 9to5Google found that setting missing on the devices and accounts it examined in the U.S. and Europe. The shortcut was also absent with Google app versions 17.60 stable and 17.62 beta.
Those version numbers describe the software 9to5Google checked. They are not a published minimum version at which every account must lose the option. Across its checked devices, the publication found both the missing setting and changed assistant behavior.
On an affected Android phone, long-pressing the power button or swiping from a corner now opens Gemini, where those gestures are configured to launch the assistant. The gesture is familiar, but the service behind it has changed. The former menu route back to Assistant is no longer available on those accounts.
Google had warned users about that outcome in its mobile transition notice. The September report shows the announced change in use across a broad set of checked devices. It does not establish that every Android account changed on the same day.
The Mobile Cutover Extends Beyond Phones
Google’s removal of Assistant access covers phones and tablets, along with paired devices tied to the mobile assistant experience. Its earlier communication, , included Wear OS watches, headphones, and vehicles using Android Auto projected from a phone.
