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Google is withdrawing Assistant support from Samsung TVs. Starting on March 1, 2024, you will no longer be able to use Google Assistant on your Samsung TV. According to the Korean firm, this is due to a change in Google’s policy. Neither company has shared more details on the matter.
Samsung to remove Google Assistant from its TVs in March
Samsung has been the world’s largest TV manufacturer for the past 17 years in a row. The TVs are powered by the Linux-based open-source operating system Tizen, with the Korean company handling its development work itself. The company shipped the devices with Google Assistant built-in, allowing users to quickly access entertainment, get answers on screen, control smart devices, and more using their voice.
However, last year, Samsung abruptly stopped offering Google Assistant built-in on its TVs. Customers were caught off guard as they didn’t expect their new TVs to lack the voice assistant. “My house is Googleized with a Google Doorbell, Google Nest Devices, Google Pixel Smart Phones, and Google Chrome set to default as my browser of choice,” a frustrated customer who purchased Samsung’s The Frame TV said in a community post.
It appears Samsung was preparing for a bigger move. The company recently updated its official support pages to add that Google Assistant will also stop working on its TVs launched in 2022 or earlier. “Due to a change in Google’s policy, Google Assistant will no longer be available on Samsung TVs beginning March 1st, 2024,” a notice on its support pages reads. This essentially means it is wiping out Assistant from its entire TV lineup.
This comes as a big shock
This is shocking for several reasons, not least the popularity of Google Assistant around the world. Assistant is available on almost every Android phone sold globally, including Samsung’s Galaxy devices. Samsung is also one of the world’s largest smartphone companies, so many of its TV customers likely use a Galaxy phone. The TVs pair with the phones and use the same Google account for Assistant, making it all a seamless experience.
Moreover, Google and Samsung have been collaborating on several industry fronts lately. In 2021, the duo got together to inject a new life into WearOS. The firms are also working together on a new XR headset. We have seen Google debut its new products on Samsung devices—Circle to Search debuted with the Galaxy S24 series last month before making it into Google’s Pixel phones. It also merged Android’s Nearby Share with Samsung’s Quick Share.
These are just a few examples. The two tech giants have partnered up on many other occasions in recent years. So, their relationship certainly hasn’t soured all of a sudden. Unfortunately, neither Samsung nor Google details what changes in the policy have led to such a drastic step. Removing Google Assistant from Samsung TVs is by no means a small decision the companies took without much thought.
Of course, you can still use other voice assistant options such as Bixby and Alexa on Samsung TVs. But these aren’t available on most Android phones, so you won’t get the same experience as Google Assistant. We will have to wait and see whether this has something to do with Samsung pushing users towards Bixby, its in-house voice assistant. Hopefully, Google Assistant won’t disappear from Galaxy phones too.