You’ll soon be able to create regular Google Tasks anywhere, anytime via Assistant voice commands

This morning, Google announced what we had long suspected – Google Assistant and Calendar reminders would be going away forever. However, all is not so depressing when you consider what it actually means for the future of productivity through Google apps and services.

In a Keyword blog post, Ilya Brown, the Vice President of Product Management for Google Workspace stated that the migration of both of the aforementioned types of reminders to Google Tasks would soon begin, cementing Tasks’ place in Google’s future. I remember way back when the service really wasn’t even a standalone thing and most people were certain it would be shut down or “sunset” by the tech giant. Oh, how times have changed!

Millions of people use Google to help them stay on top of their everyday to-dos across Google Assistant, Calendar and Tasks.  Soon, we’ll be simplifying our task management solutions by migrating  Assistant and Calendar Reminders to Google Tasks. This means you will now have an easy way to view and manage all your to-dos in one place through Google Tasks, regardless of whether you create them using Assistant or Calendar.  

Ilya Brown, the Vice President of Product Management for Google Workspace

Once the migration takes place and all of your tasks are housed in one location, you’ll not only be able to add new to-do items directly in the app and via Gmail but any reminders added via Calendar will be stored there as well instead of in Google Assistant.

Oh, and here’s the best part – any time you tell Assistant “Hey Google, Remind me to…” followed by something you’d like to remember or need to do later, it will plop information directly into the Google Tasks app as well! The big takeaway from this announcement is that Google wants to renew its focus on making productivity effortless by combining all of its initiatives that were previously confusing and all over the place.

Being able to add tasks with just your voice makes it a breeze to brain dump at the start of each day or while you’re driving, and I’m all for that. I have to admit though, I think the essence of this change is that no one was visiting Assistant reminders (did you honestly remember that the page even existed?) and making Calendar reminders go to Assistant’s reminders page was just the relic of a bygone initiative to shove everything into Google’s Assistant PWA.

Literally, everything reminder or task-based ought to be in Tasks because, well, it’s called Tasks. Lastly, the less I have to say Assistant, Tasks, Reminders, and other combinations of these words repetitiously due to the company’s convoluted and overlapping nomenclatures, the easier it gets to report on what it’s doing in the tech world without confusing all of you. Hey, just being honest. Now, if we can just get rid of that God-awful Assistant-based grocery list and get it ported back to Keep or over to Tasks, I would be a lot happier.