What you need to know
- Google has announced plans to remove various features from Android, the latest being Nearby Places.
- Nearby locations in the Phone by Google app allows users to bypass Google Search and Maps and search for business names directly within the app.
- Google says this feature isn't used by many people and that going forward, Google Search and Maps will be the way to find business numbers.
Google is known for frequently discontinuing products, services, and features, but the past few months have been particularly tough for Android users. In January, the company announced that 17 Google Assistant features would be lost. Now, the Phone by Google app is the latest victim, with the nearby places feature set to be removed “in the coming months.”
As spotted by 9to5Google, the change was announced by Google on the Phone app's community forums. “We have found that only a minority of people use this feature, with the majority of users using Google Search or Maps to find business-related phone numbers,” the post said. There is. “These experiences also provide richer results and contact information for those companies.”
If you're not familiar with “Nearby Places,” this feature basically works like a digital phone book. You can search for a company's name in your phone app and find their phone number, even if you don't have them in your contacts. It is partially location-based and automatically pulls out a number of local shops and restaurants.
Users can save seconds by using the Nearby Places feature instead of using Google Search or Maps. However, as Google itself points out, the latter option is usually more accurate. Additionally, Google's official guidance for users using Near Me is to switch to Google Search and Maps instead.
At least according to the company, the feature is being removed to allow Google to add better functionality to its Phone app. New features powered by artificial intelligence could be coming to phone apps this year.
“We're retiring this feature so our teams can focus on building the highest quality, most reliable, and most innovative calling experiences,” Google said in a post.
Google highlighted some of the AI-based features it offers for its phone apps, including Call Screen, Hold For Me, and Direct My Call. Google says, “We have even more planned for 2024.”
Google's comments can only hint at more AI features coming to the Phone app at some point this year.
The company's explanation for removing Nearby Places is the same as it said for removing 17 features from Google Assistant. In this case, the function is said to be “underutilized.” It is said that only a small number of users used Nearby Places this time.
The removal of this feature also comes as Google continues to reduce its workforce across the company.
