Does Google have an LLM based AI experience for Android? What are they doing differently to avoid the problems plaguing Apple. The core technology in both can't be that different. Or is it an expectation thing?
I feel like they may be experiencing that issue where the product is quite good within some core set of features, but the edge cases are where all the paper cuts happen. And when its a singular product on a singular device made by a singular company, those paper cuts really add up. There must be a more succinct term for that.
Can it even be solved with the current state of LLMs?
- They don't insist on being on-device although they seem to have on-device route.
- Their promise isn't as ambitious as Apples. It's basically Gemini + pre-existing Assistant features as plugins. Not trying to be the privacy-touching agent at least at the first cut. (Or they promised big, but they have trained the audience not take it as a fade value haha.)
- They ship the Gemini version as an opt-in for the Assistant replacement so that they can learn "iterate" on the adventurous enthusiast while leaving larger user base as is.
The Android assistant with Gemini is quite good nowadays, very close to parity of features with the previous one. It's not there yet but Google decided to develop it in the open, similar to the old "beta" products. Hard to see Apple doing the same.
The main issue to Apple is the different mindset that takes to deliver hardware vs. services. Delivering hardware you have one shot to "wow" your customers, and Apple keep nailing this process in a way that the whole industry can't keep up with anymore. On software, that doesn't work that well. You can totally be disrupted by a startup that delivers an MVP faster with 30% of your perfect product that would take 3 years to deliver. In this way, Google's assistant strategy in the short term was spot-on compared to Apple's. You take the hits of bad feedback in the short term in the hope that being in the game can create enough momentum to get you to a solid position of features and know-how in a couple of years.
Android has it, but it has much fewer features then the previous assistant. So what's the point? Yes, they were first, tothey beat apple. Except it doesn't work.
The Gemini Assistant is pretty close to feature parity now with the old Assistant, it got a lot better very quickly. And obviously it's a lot better at conversations.
I feel like they may be experiencing that issue where the product is quite good within some core set of features, but the edge cases are where all the paper cuts happen. And when its a singular product on a singular device made by a singular company, those paper cuts really add up. There must be a more succinct term for that.
Can it even be solved with the current state of LLMs?