Individuals moving from Google Assistant to Gemini have lost a key capability on smart home gadgets, leading to frustration.

As indicated in this Reddit thread, users of Gemini on smart home devices such as smart speakers or displays discover that Continued Conversations are no longer operational — unless they opt for Gemini Home Premium.

This implies that you cannot continue speaking to Gemini through a smart speaker at your residence. Instead, you have to say “Hey Google” before every query.

The Continued Conversation capability has now been renamed Gemini Live and is restricted to subscribers of Google Home Premium, with plans beginning at $10 monthly. To add to the dissatisfaction, this feature was free with Google Assistant before, and reverting to the previous Google Assistant is not an option.

This appeared to be a rare opportunity to inquire about it with Gemini for a news piece.

“No, the conventional ‘Continued Conversation’ feature is not presently available for free users who transitioned from Google Assistant to Gemini,” it replied. However, the “catch,” according to Google’s AI, is that “even with the paid version, ‘Live’ mode on speakers is largely meant for chatting and information. It frequently cannot execute smart home commands (like ‘turn off the lights’) while engaged in that conversational mode.”

Fortunately, as Gemini pointed out, Continued Conversations are still available for free on mobile devices and the Gemini web application.

The AI downplayed the significance of the feature, but numerous participants in the Reddit thread disagree. “So frustrated,” one Redditor stated. “Stopped functioning after the Gemini update, have to constantly say hey Google and it’s slow too, dislike it so far,” another mentioned.

PCWorld’s Ben Patterson also noted the lack of this capability, asserting that while it wasn’t a dealbreaker for him, it feels “like a regression rather than an advancement.”