Motorola to drop Moto Assist, Migrate, and Connect in transition to Marshmallow
That means no more Motorola Assist, Migrate, and Connect add-ons bundled with your device. Motorola says that with all the new features in Marshmallow, they’re no longer necessary.
Assist handles voice commands, and is always listening for the phrase, “OK, Moto X” (or any phrase you set). Migrate transfers in contacts and other content from another phone. Connect lets you send SMS messages from a Chrome extension, which sync up with your phone.
On the Motorola Blog the company notes that Marshmallow takes on much of this feature set with its new features. Google Now already had an “always listening” capability if you enable this through the Google app and it's supported by your phone's hardware. Also, Google already had bumped up its own migration tools with Lollipop, making Migrate feel like a needless duplication.
And Motorola noted that many are switching to “over-the-top” messaging services like Hangouts or Facebook Messenger instead of texting.
The announcement is part of the company’s pledge to update most of its 2014 and 2015 devices to Marshmallow. This includes the Moto X Pure Edition, 2014 Moto X, and Nexus 6. Motorola also offers a dedicated update page to follow progress.
Why this matters: This is a rather interesting move by Motorola to nix some of its signature software. However, it’s rather refreshing to see a company go with less custom software instead of trying to put its own stamp on top of Android. In the end it will be a better consumer experience, which should be the final goal in creating any product.