Google confirms it is retiring the Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard

Google will soon add another feature to its ever-growing graveyard of defunct software. Starting November 21, Android smartphone users will no longer be able to use the Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard. The feature, announced in 2019, will be shutting down next month, making Driving Mode in Google Maps the default experience.

Recent reports based on Google’s own statements indicated that Assistant Driving Mode integration with Google Maps is going away. But as it turns out, Google intends to shut down the entire Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard. (via 9to5Google). The Dashboard was initially thought-out as a successor to Android Auto.

Google will continue offering car-optimized experiences to Android smartphone customers via Google Maps and the embedded Driving Mode. As seen in the screenshot below, it arguably has fewer distractions, or, in other words, it’s not as feature-rich as the Assistant Driving Mode Dashboard.

The software giant said that Driving Mode in Google Maps is already the preferred choice for millions of Android smartphone users who pick it over the Assitant Driving Mode Dashboard. For these customers, not much will change.

This is par for the course when it comes to the Google experience. Some features prove themselves and get better with time, while others don’t catch the customers’ attention as much and fail to meet Google’s expectations. Recently, Google had a difficult choice to make when it announced the shutting-down of its cloud-based gaming platform, Stadia.