# Google Assistant 33 Hacker News commenters recommended Google Assistant and 64 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it for reliable timers, alarms, reminders and music control, especially the older non-LLM version. Most common caveat: critics say it has worsened since Gemini was added. ## Why people recommend it - Old non-LLM version worked well (8 comments): "In the old versions of Alexa and Google Assistant (before LLMs), you could memorize a couple of voice commands that they'd reliably recognize" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943729)) "the old assistant is pretty smart, obviously it has some language processing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47975536)) "The old non-LLM Google Assistant works well in a limited domain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46115684)) - Music and voice control (4 comments): "I could say "Hey Google, play daft punk" and it would start playing Daft Punk on Spotify." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48456237)) "the voice control over music, navigation and climate are so good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46370115)) "It would very reliably play most songs that I wanted to hear" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50009314)) - Reliable timers, alarms and reminders (4 comments): ""Remind me [at datetime/in x hours] about Y." is very useful for handsfree reminders" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557302)) "I use it on the phone to set alarms, add tasks or calendar events" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49334383)) "it would reliably create a reminder on my calendar" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50012354)) - Understands several languages well (2 comments): "Recently the assistant started understanding when I speak Portuguese or when my wife switches to it in a text message." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47738502)) "Android and Google Assistant has had excellent support for Polish for more than a decade" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708702)) ## What people warn about - Worse since Gemini and LLMs (8 comments): "It worked great, then they launched Gemini and moved features out of Assistant." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49186217)) "Google Assistant has gotten progressively worse over the years - more ads, slower responses, and losing the ability to do basic tasks it used to handle." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46437656)) "In the old versions of Alexa and Google Assistant (before LLMs), you could memorize a couple of voice commands that they'd reliably recognize" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943729)) - Slow to start or respond (3 comments): "timers and smart home actions are definitely less reliable and sometimes take absurdly long to respond" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47976056)) "Google Assistant has gotten progressively worse over the years - more ads, slower responses, and losing the ability to do basic tasks it used to handle." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46437656)) "Now it takes 10-15 seconds to start after a voice command, won't audibly alert or even stop music to take voice input" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49791827)) - Breaks often, slow fixes (3 comments): "Google also keeps breaking everything with the home voice assistants, and this has been true for ages and ages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46211573)) "if I had any issue like that I'd be waiting months or years for a fix, if it ever came." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48432580)) "I really wonder if Google has any reasonable QA people still working on this stuff." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46212656)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Siri](https://hackerapproved.com/p/siri.md): 165 recommend - [Grok voice](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grok-voice-mode.md): 9 recommend - [Jarvis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/own-personal-jarvis.md): 7 recommend - [ChatGPT Live](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chatgpt-live.md): 7 recommend - [Claude Voice](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-voice-mode.md): 6 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://assistant.google.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Google Assistant", https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-assistant/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).