Fitbit smartwatches like the Versa and Sense are about to lose Google Assistant functionality, the company has announced.
In an updated support post, Google announced it is phasing out the voice control functionality which has been available on devices like the Versa 3 since 2020.
In better news for Versa owners, support for Amazon Alexa functionality isn’t going away, so there’ll still be the opportunity for Fitbit users to communicate with a voice assistant.
The phase out was explained during a Fitbit support post late last month, which flew under the radar until a 9to5Google report today.
“Over the next few weeks we will be progressively phasing out Google Assistant on your Fitbit device. You can learn more about this process here. This change means that Google Assistant voice control for activities will soon no longer be available on your Fitbit device,” a moderator called Stefanie wrote.
“We understand that changes can be disruptive, and we value your feedback. We remain committed to continuously improving your Fitbit app and developing exciting new features.”
The Google Assistant is currently being phased out across Google devices in favour of the new Gemini generative AI platform. In March, Google revealed the Assistant is being phased out on all mobile devices, as well as cars, headphones, smart displays, TVs and smartwatches.
“When we launched Google Assistant in 2016, natural language processing and voice recognition technology unlocked a more natural way to get help from Google,” the company said at the time. “Nearly a decade later, we’re in the midst of another platform shift — this time, generative AI is transforming the way we interact with technology.”
It’s not clear whether Fitbit watches will end up getting Gemini like the best Wear OS watches at some point.
Opinion
Do you widely use Google Assistant on your Fitbit watch? Then this is a blow. Would it really hurt Google to keep it available on these watches as it makes the transition to Gemini?
