com.google.android.apps.googleassistant Copy

This is the standalone Google Assistant app from Google. It provides the hands-free "Hey Google" voice assistant, letting the user run searches, control the device and smart-home kit, set reminders and timers, and carry actions across supported speakers, displays, wearables, TVs and cars. It is signed by Google and ships as a preinstalled app on many phones (including Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, motorola and HMD devices in this database), though it is also downloadable from the Play Store. Note the platform is in transition: Google is moving users from Google Assistant to Gemini as the default assistant, and when a user opts in to Gemini it becomes their primary assistant. On newer devices Gemini may already be the assistant in use, so the presence or absence of this package is not by itself a reliable signal of which assistant a device actually runs. We could not source an exact cut-off version at which this package stops shipping, so treat its role as version- and device-dependent rather than fixed. For Android Enterprise, EMM and kiosk fleets it is a user-facing convenience app, not a system dependency. It can generally be disabled or removed where a voice assistant is unwanted, for example on single-purpose kiosks, and voice assistants are commonly restricted in managed deployments for privacy and data-handling reasons. Bear in mind that some users rely on Assistant for accessibility, so weigh that before removing it on general-purpose fleets.

• Google Assistant - Apps on Google Play →
• Google Assistant | Google for Developers →

• Signed by Google's own signing key (the same key Google uses across devices), so it is a Google-provided preinstall that updates independently of the system image, and that single certificate is consistent across all 11 device profiles. This certificate spans 5 device makes - the hallmark of a globally distributed Google key.
• Its largest observed manifest declares 3 permissions: 2 install-time and 1 vendor or uncatalogued.
• Reported as an updated system app on 6 of 11 profiles - a newer build is installed over the one in the system image there.