Google Assistant is ditching support for third-party note-taking apps

Google Assistant on the Motorola Edge (2022)
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Google will discontinue Assistant's integration with third-party note-taking and listing apps.
  • You'll no longer be able to use the digital assistant to create notes or lists on apps like AnyList or Bring beginning June 20.
  • Notes or lists created with Assistant using these apps will also disappear once support is shuttered.

Google will remove the ability to use Assistant to create notes or lists in third-party apps, leaving users with only Google Keep for that purpose.

This change is set to take effect on June 20, when the Google Assistant Notes & Lists integration with non-Google apps is set to shut down, Google announced in a community post (via 9to5Google). Although Google has not provided any specific reason for the change, it's safe to assume that this decision is related to the company's focus on its own products and services.

A number of popular list-making apps, including Any.do, AnyList, and Bring will be affected, with users set to lose the option to create notes or lists with these apps using Assistant. Instead, they will need to switch to using Google Keep, whether they like the app or not.

"We know many of our customers rely on AnyList’s integration with Google Assistant and that the loss of this feature is frustrating and disappointing," AnyList stated in a blog post. "We are continuing to communicate with Google and hope to be able to support Google Assistant on Android devices again in the future, but we don’t have anything to announce at this time."

Not only will the digital assistant ditch support for third-party note-taking apps, but notes or lists created with Assistant using a non-Google service will also be removed after June 20, as per the search giant. Before that day arrives, Google advises users to save their data by going to the Google Takeout website and selecting "Assistant notes & lists."

Some users who prefer to use a different note-taking or list-making app than Keep may be disappointed by the change. These users may need to find a workaround, such as using another voice assistant app like Siri or Alexa that still supports creating notes or lists in third-party apps.

Jay Bonggolto
News Writer & Reviewer

Jay Bonggolto always keeps a nose for news. He has been writing about consumer tech and apps for as long as he can remember, and he has used a variety of Android phones since falling in love with Jelly Bean. Send him a direct message via Twitter or LinkedIn.