Waze is ditching Google Assistant for Gemini on iOS, and for good reasons | usagoldmines.com

• Waze on iOS is ditching Google Assistant soon
• Gemini and Conversational Reporting is taking over
• Google Assistant stays in Waze for Android for now

Gemini is replacing Google Assistant across multiple apps and multiple devices at the moment, and if you use Waze on your iPhone you’ll soon notice the mapping app swapping the older AI bot for the newer one.

As spotted by Tech-Issues Today (via MacRumors), the announcement was made on the official Waze community forums. The announcement acknowledges that Google Assistant on Waze for iOS has been buggy for some time, which is one reason for the switch.

“Rather than simply patching a feature that has faced ongoing difficulties, we’ve decided to phase out Google Assistant on iOS starting tomorrow and replace it with an enhanced voice interaction solution in the near future,” reads the forum post.

While Gemini isn’t mentioned specifically in that post, the enhanced AI app has been named as the foundation of the Conversational Reporting feature that Waze has already previewed, and which is being tested with a limited number of users at the moment.

Chatting on the go

The upgraded Conversational Reporting feature, powered by Gemini, will enable more natural conversations with Waze when you’re on the go. It’ll understand a broader range of phrases, and will ask follow-up questions where necessary.

So you might say “the cars are jammed up ahead” or “there’s a mattress in the road”, or anything else casual or informal – and Waze understands what you mean and makes sure the correct report is logged in the app for other users.

Given the buggy nature of Google Assistant on Waze for iOS, and the superior capabilities of Gemini, it makes a lot of sense for this switch to be made now – especially as Google seems to be speeding up in phasing out Google Assistant.

Google Assistant will remain in place on Waze for Android for the foreseeable future, though that change will no doubt happen eventually too. Waze says Conversational Reporting will roll out to everyone in the “coming months”.

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