Google to sunset Assistant's Conversational Actions as focus shifts to App Actions on Android

Publish date: 2022-12-18

What you need to know

Google announced a major shift in how developers will create voice experiences with their content using the Assistant. In a year from now, Google will sunset Conversational Actions, which are being replaced with App Actions.

Google introduced Conversational Actions in 2016, allowing third-party developers to build a voice-only experience for Google Assistant. This includes features like games that you would find on Google's best smart displays, allowing you to have a back-and-forth dialogue.

However, Google says that due to feedback, the company has decided to switch gears and focus on App Actions. This feature was first introduced in 2019 and allows Android developers to build experiences that integrate Assistant with their existing apps. With App Actions, you can dive straight into a specific app experience like booking a rideshare or reserving a table at a restaurant.

Google says the benefit of this is that developers can focus on growing engagement with their Android apps instead of building a completely separate voice-only experience from scratch. With App Actions, users can engage with apps on their phones more easily thanks to proactive suggestions, making it easy to rediscover apps they may have forgotten about.

The company says it is focused on building App Actions to "leverage the entire Android ecosystem of devices so they can easily reach more users." This way, developers can still build "voice-forward" experiences that expand beyond smartphones.

Conversational Actions will be sunset on June 13, giving developers exactly one year to prepare and transition over to App Actions. The company has published a support page with an overview of the transition.

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