Gemini is coming to Google’s good audio system and shows, changing Assistant for good.

Google could be very enthusiastic about Gemini for Residence, promising a “basically new” expertise — basically the present Gemini expertise, however by means of your good speaker. Early entry begins in October 2025, however for many individuals, this alteration cannot come quickly sufficient.

Over the previous 12 months, the Google Assistant expertise has undergone a fast decline in high quality. Customers have reported that instructions they’ve used reliably for years now not work, and Google has shut down a number of options.

Nonetheless, these complaints weren’t brushed apart. Google has said its remorse for the substandard Assistant expertise and its dedication to bringing long-term fixes.

Nonetheless, when Google is the one ruining the expertise, these apologies ring hole.

Google Assistant’s failures are suspiciously handy

Google Assistant is a service it is best to keep away from

Whereas I believe there’s potential for Gemini to be a strong improve to our good houses, I am not holding out hope, particularly after Google’s disappointing debut of recent AI options on the Pixel 10.

I am not alone both. A Pew Analysis Middle survey carried out in September 2025 found that fifty% of Individuals are extra involved than excited concerning the elevated use of AI in every day life.

Google is combating an uphill battle to persuade people who they want AI of their lives.

Till now, Google’s tactic to win over AI skeptics has been to develop new AI options quickly.

Nonetheless, whereas instruments like NotebookLM are helpful and highly effective property, their area of interest use case means they do not discover their manner into on a regular basis use for most individuals.

General, Google’s makes an attempt to construct AI instruments for everybody have at greatest met with a convincing “meh.”

On the Pixel 10, the corporate tried to debut thrilling new options, but it surely didn’t be taught from others. Every day Hub was pulled days after launch, and Magic Cue is unhelpful except you solely use Google’s apps.

The issue right here shouldn’t be that Gemini is ineffective. For instance, yesterday I used Gemini to create an itinerary from a one-hour household name outlining our vacation plans.

The issue is that Google is struggling to persuade us that Gemini will enhance our lives. New options aren’t doing the job, so Google is popping to deliberate obsolescence to trick us as a substitute.

Assistant’s failings make Gemini look higher than it’s

I am enthusiastic about Gemini on Residence, however I should not be

Credit score: Android Authority

Credit score: Android Authority

Leaked screenshots of the brand new Gemini on Residence app

In July, AP’s Rajesh Pandey wrote about how he had virtually needed to fully cease utilizing Assistant to regulate his good house gadgets.

Redditors have identified that the Google Assistant expertise is so unhealthy that they’ll solely use it to carry out fundamental math, and a few have even gone so far as disconnecting their Nest audio system fully.

The complaints fluctuate, however the widespread thread is that the majority of those issues have appeared not too long ago.

Fortunately, Anish Kattukaran, Chief Product Officer of Google Residence and Nest, was fast to reassure people who Google was engaged on an answer that may make Google Residence gadgets extra dependable and succesful.

When Gemini launches on Google Residence, the distinction can be evening and day. Even when the expertise is similar to Gemini on our smartphones, I count on most complaints about Google Assistant to vanish in a single day.

Gemini’s points will really feel like an affordable compromise in comparison with the damaged Google Assistant. For that cause, I count on the reception to Gemini on Residence to be principally constructive.

Nonetheless, if Assistant have been working on the identical stage as a 12 months in the past, I believe there could be widespread frustration over the alternative of the digital assistant with AI.

Google is intentionally making Assistant worse

Stripped options have turned Assistant right into a shell of what it was

It seems like a conspiracy principle (albeit a really plausible one) to say that Google is intentionally making Google Assistant worse, however the firm has been public in asserting its steps to scale back Assistant’s usefulness.

In January 2024, Google eliminated options for controlling audiobooks, setting media alarms, managing stopwatches, and sending emails. In March 2025, it eliminated quite a lot of options it claimed have been “underutilized” to “prioritize the experiences you like.”

This deliberate obsolescence is so blatant, I can not assist however chortle. I do know Gemini will enhance my good house expertise, however that is solely as a result of I do not use Google Assistant in any respect proper now.

Do not let Google trick you into pondering Gemini is saving you

I hate this underhanded tactic Google has employed to pressure Gemini on us.

Whereas these of us who maintain updated on information about Gemini and Google Assistant are conscious of what is going on on, many individuals will get up at some point to find their good houses are immediately extra helpful with no data of why.

I need Gemini to be good. I need Gemini to be part of my every day life. I need AI to revolutionize my life. However the expertise is not there but.

I’m open to the concept that AI will turn into extra helpful sooner or later, however Google’s sabotage of Google Assistant suggests an concept that’s onerous to swallow.

Google is aware of that Gemini does not maintain as much as the hype, so it has to resort to trickery to make us use it.

Google’s Pixel smartphones mix nice {hardware} with essentially the most superior Android options, together with entry to bleeding-edge beta updates. Recently, although, there’s been a rising elephant within the room: Battery reliability, particularly on the A collection. From the Pixel 4a’s “replace of loss of life” to the Pixel 6a’s inconsistent battery efficiency, energy issues have gotten tougher to disregard.

Now, Google could also be getting ready to clamp down additional, with an upcoming change to its Battery Well being Help (BHA) system that would power customers into stricter battery administration — with out their say (Supply: AssembleDebug for Android Authority).

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An replace positive to encourage blended emotions

An APK teardown of Google’s Settings Providers app model v1.1.0771997146 hints at a coverage shift that would have an effect on how Pixels deal with growing older batteries. Particularly, the code modifications counsel that Battery Well being Help might quickly turn out to be necessary on gadgets as soon as battery degradation passes a sure threshold. Meaning no turning it off till you change the battery.

For context, BHA is a set of options launched with the Pixel 9a, designed to protect long-term battery life by limiting max voltage and charging speeds. The thought is to increase the usable lifespan of your battery and stop injury. However there is a catch: it additionally leads to slower charging and diminished battery capability over time. That’s a tricky capsule to swallow for anybody already battling poor endurance.

Till now, BHA has been elective on older Pixel fashions, however that may be altering. One up to date string within the new APK explicitly states, “Battery well being help can’t be modified till the battery is changed.” That’s a giant shift from the earlier messaging, which allowed customers to decide out of the characteristic.

The present code stating you possibly can’t modify the characteristic:

What the APK teardown revealed is within the works:

If correct, this may mark a refined however important change in how Google handles battery growing older: basically locking customers into diminished efficiency profiles until they shell out for a battery alternative, which isn’t at all times straightforward or reasonably priced, particularly for midrange Pixel A collection house owners.

The reasoning right here isn’t solely misguided. Lithium-ion batteries degrade, and a few of Google’s latest gadgets have had hassle managing that gracefully. BHA might assist keep away from future “replace of loss of life” eventualities by proactively managing voltage, even when it feels a bit heavy-handed.

To be clear, this characteristic is not reside but, and there’s no official phrase from Google. APK teardowns typically spotlight in-development options that will by no means ship. However with Pixel battery woes mounting, it would not be shocking if Google made BHA enforcement customary.

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Fortunately, it does not should be so sophisticated

Digital calendars have turn out to be a ubiquitous a part of our day by day lives, with Google Calendar as the first platform most flock to due to its tight integration with the Google ecosystem.

The platform has a clear UI that’s intuitive to make use of, full with computerized occasion reminders, a number of shortcuts, an choice to share your calendar with others, assist for extensions, and much more.

Nonetheless, a tweak, which appears to have gone dwell across the finish of February, is forcing customers to search out options.

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Get essentially the most out of the app

For reference, the Google Calendar app on cellular, on each Android and iOS, presents 5 distinct views. These are: Schedule, Day, 3 days, Week, and Month. ‘Schedule’ provides a top-down and scrollable view of your occasions over the following a number of days. The opposite 4, as their respective names recommend, supply a time-based view of your occasions for the times, for the following 3 days, for the week, and for the month.

Usually Beforehand, tapping a selected day inside the month-to-month view would floor the day’s occasions, adopted by occasions for subsequent days in a Schedule view. Now, nevertheless, tapping a selected day inside the month-to-month calendar takes you on to the ‘Day’ view. We’re seeing this on Google Calendar model 2025.09.1-732918122.

There is a workaround

As identified by TechIssuesToday, complaints in regards to the change have made their option to Google’s Neighborhood discussion board, with customers saying that they detest the tweak. “I’m going to modify over to Apple Calendar if this error shouldn’t be modified for the higher,” wrote one consumer, whereas others had been relieved to be taught that they weren’t the one ones going through the problem. A number of others additionally instructed that that they had despatched in-app suggestions for the tweak to be reversed. The change has made its option to each Android and iOS.

For what it is price, customers can replicate the previous default habits, albeit with an additional step. As discovered by consumer 7983611536499069217, tapping the present day and date on the highest left of the ‘Day’ view immediately switches the UI to the Schedule view. Though this can be a band-aid answer, it’s a lot quicker than manually going into the overflow menu to modify to Schedule view.

Android 15 made a significant change to the way in which apps work, requiring them to make use of an “edge-to-edge” format the place content material from the app is proven behind the standing and navigation bars. Which means apps focusing on the newest OS must have a clear nav bar and standing bar, basically making them full-screen. However there was an opt-out clause within the new rule, so builders might add a line of code to override the mandate. Android 16 is altering that.

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Extra behind-the-scenes modifications

In Google’s announcement for Android 16 Beta 2 as we speak, the corporate knowledgeable builders that the opt-out for edge-to-edge show is being eliminated in Android 16. Which means apps focusing on the brand new model (API stage 36) can have no selection however to show content material from the highest fringe of your display all the way in which to the underside.

Android 15 enforced edge-to-edge for apps focusing on Android 15 (SDK 35), however your app might opt-out by setting R.attr#windowOptOutEdgeToEdgeEnforcement to true. As soon as your app targets Android 16 (Baklava), R.attr#windowOptOutEdgeToEdgeEnforcement is deprecated and disabled and your app can not opt-out of going edge-to-edge.

Do not count on each app to go full-screen immediately

There’s an vital distinction to pay attention to right here: This transformation solely applies to apps that goal Android 16. Normally, meaning app builders can successfully ignore these mandates for years and years, however lately, Google has been tightening up on when apps are all however compelled to undertake a majority of these modifications.

Google leverages its Play Retailer market dominance to successfully pressure apps to focus on newer Android variations. If an app desires to succeed in as extensive of an viewers as doable, it ought to goal final 12 months’s Android launch — or at least, the one from the 12 months earlier than that.

At present, new apps being uploaded to the Play Retailer should goal Android 14 (API 34). Current apps have to focus on Android 13 (API 33) to ensure that them to even present up for customers on Android 14 or 15. So this is not an ironclad requirement to focus on newer Android variations, however it’s a reasonably large incentive.

The distinction between apps with out (left) and with edge-to-edge show (proper).

Android 16’s accelerated timeline might velocity up this modification, too

The Play Retailer coverage modifications talked about above went into impact a few month and a half earlier than Android 15 was launched. But it surely was fairly apparent that there was a delay with Android 15 final 12 months. Earlier than that, we had been anticipating it on the finish of August — proper about the identical time the Play Retailer adopted the Android 14 focusing on requirement for brand new apps.

So it stands to purpose that, with

Android 16’s accelerated timeline
, the Play Retailer will replace these API focusing on necessities to Android 15 for brand new apps and Android 14 for current apps on or round Could 2025. Then, this edge-to-edge decide out can be semi-mandatory by Android 17’s launch in Q2 2026, and just about totally obligatory by Q2 2027.

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Earlier than 5G took off in 2019, the 4G LTE commonplace was how telephones transmitted information. At the moment, among the finest 5G smartphones are available, however it does not come with out its fair proportion of issues. For instance, regardless of being 5G succesful, the sign is usually weak, and switching to 4G LTE may end in higher connectivity. Switching between the 2 networks is important, particularly in the event you encounter connection points. Our information discusses the best way to activate each providers and pressure your cellphone to make use of solely one in all them when required.

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Lengthy sufficient you do not have to fret about it but

Forcing your cellphone to make use of 5G solely, and why you most likely should not

In the event you solely need your cellphone to make use of 5G connectivity, you may pressure the choice by following the steps (decided by your smartphone) outlined later on this article. Nevertheless, not all telephones and carriers permit customers to pressure 5G. Preserve that in thoughts in case your choices differ from ours. For instance, as you will see beneath, Samsung does not make this straightforward.

When you’ve got the choice to pressure 5G, this prevents your system from switching to 4G even when 5G is unavailable, so method this route with warning. If Wi-Fi is obtainable, it is prone to have a greater connection. Nonetheless, you may comply with the identical steps to pick the 5G/4G or 4G-only possibility if you cannot keep on a 5G community.

Easy methods to flip off the 5G community

Though it is come a good distance, the 5G community just isn’t as widespread because the 4G community, and there are nonetheless some areas the place it is missing. Concurrently, it’s possible you’ll discover events the place a 5G community is so overpopulated with gadgets — suppose sporting occasions or live shows — that dropping to 4G provides higher speeds. In both case, you may wish to take into account ditching the community.

Every Android producer depends on a barely totally different technique to manage your 5G settings, so try our tutorials beneath to seek out the community settings in your cellphone. Whether or not you wish to use 5G, 4G, or each, you may typically management your community mode and select an possibility. The obtainable choices rely in your cellphone and provider. Android telephones will be totally different from iPhones, and AT&T is perhaps totally different from Verizon or T-Cellular.

Easy methods to pressure 5G or LTE in your cellphone

Whether or not making an attempt to push your cellphone onto 5G solely or staying on the older LTE community, forcing Android to stay to one of many two is straightforward. This is the way it’s performed on telephones by every main producer.

Pressure 5G or LTE on a Google Pixel or Motorola system

Google’s Pixel collection have come a good distance from their predecessors. Though their modems aren’t as much as par with the most effective from Qualcomm, the connectivity points that plagued the earlier era aren’t as prevalent. Nevertheless, in case your Pixel runs higher on LTE or 5G solely, swapping your mode on a Google-made system — or a cellphone operating near-stock Android, like a Motorola cellphone — will be straightforward if you recognize the place to look.

Whereas older variations of Android allowed you to tweak your community in Settings, that is not true since Android 13. To pressure LTE or 5G, you will entry hidden menus by way of a cellphone code or third-party apps. We discovered these instruments on a Pixel 7 Professional utilizing Netmonitor, a dependable utility for monitoring your mobile reception. Regardless that our screenshots use a Pixel 7 Professional, you may apply these steps to the Pixel 8 and 9 collection.

To make use of Netmonitor on a Google Pixel (alongside different smartphones), do the next:

1. Obtain Netmonitor from the Google Play Retailer.
2. Faucet the blue Service menu banner on the backside of the app after accepting the permissions.
3. Faucet Cellphone information.

   

   

4. Search for the Set Most well-liked Community Kind drop-down menu and choose the choice you need. NR refers to 5G, so in the event you see NR/LTE choices, choose NR solely to stay to 5G bands solely.

   

   

The menu accessed by way of Netmonitor does not characteristic an LTE-only possibility, a minimum of on our Pixel 7. In the event you’re making an attempt to keep away from next-gen networking, you will have to look elsewhere.

Some Pixel telephones can choose their most well-liked community kind. Even when others do not, examine your cellphone’s specs. You may discover it underneath the SIMs settings in Community & web if it is there.

Motorola and different smartphones with near-stock Android builds have stored cellphone entry codes that not work on a Pixel. That makes accessing these secret menus straightforward while not having a third-party app.

1. Open the dialer in your cellphone.
2. Kind *#*#4636#*#* to load your cellphone’s testing menu, then faucet 5G/LTE Debugging Info.

   

   

3. Go to the upper-right nook, faucet the overflow menu (the triple-dot icon), and choose between NR (5G) or LTE choices.
4. To pressure 5G, flip off LTE. To pressure LTE, flip off NR.

   

   

This may trigger issues together with your system, significantly with voice calls over 5G. We additionally bumped into points the place turning off LTE on a Motorola system would break information connectivity, although this did not at all times occur. Your mileage could differ.

Pressure 5G or LTE on a OnePlus smartphone

On the newest OxygenOS builds, OnePlus gadgets preserve issues so simple as potential, assuming you do not wish to activate the 5G-only mode. This is the best way to entry community settings on OxygenOS:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Cellular Community.
3. Select the SIM card to entry SIM information & settings.

   

   

4. Choose Most well-liked community kind, then select the mode you need.

   

OxygenOS solely permits you to drop beneath 5G, and the cellphone menu choices that labored on Motorola do not work right here. Strive a third-party app like Netmonitor to entry NR-exclusive modes.

Pressure 5G or LTE on a Samsung Galaxy system

All of Samsung’s fashionable smartphones have 5G modems, starting from the costly Galaxy S24 Extremely to the funds Galaxy A35 possibility. Nevertheless, the corporate eliminated the flexibility to toggle your community mode in settings and prevented the workarounds described on this article from working. Even third-party apps like Netmonitor and Samsung Band Selector not work after a change in mid-2022.

When you’ve got a contemporary Samsung cellphone with One UI, you will should make do with computerized community choice or search for obtainable customized roms.

Pressure LTE or 5G on different telephones

Many of the choices on this listing for different smartphones are price making an attempt. Between built-in settings menus like on OnePlus, cellphone testing menus like on Motorola, and third-party apps like Netmonitor on Pixel, these are the 3 ways you are prone to pressure your system to connect with the community of your alternative.

Merely caught in computerized mode

Many cellphone producers do not permit customers to swap the community mode. Nonetheless, most 5G networks are extra sturdy than a few years in the past; even now, 5G has seen important upgrades, like lowered battery drain and elevated cellular connectivity. In the event you nonetheless have connectivity-related points, carry out a community reset or restart your cellphone. Easy fixes like that may resolve community connectivity issues and not using a manufacturing facility reset. If nothing helps, it is perhaps time for an improve.