Moto has dropped support for the full fledged original Moto voice feature

[J Dubbs]

The only reason I bought a Moto phone was for the Moto voice feature (I was coming off a Windows phone and was spoiled by Cortana). It's a huge shame that they have dropped support for it (the last update was sometime in 2016), because it no longer works with the Google assistant.

A week or so ago I finally gave up on it and shut it off for good. I've been using strictly the Google assistant ever since..... and I've found out it's a huge step up from the unsupported/barely working Moto voice. I was shopping for a Z2play, but since Motorola has dropped support for the full fledged version of Moto voice, I no longer have a compelling reason to pick one up. I went ahead and picked up a brand new pixel outright for less than I could get a Z2play.

So I'll be getting security and software updates as soon as they're released, instead of the wait/pray/hope method that is Lenovo.

I really enjoyed my Moto phone, but I don't see myself coming back :-(

 

[pizza_pablo]

Which Moto phone do you have?

 

[J Dubbs]

Which Moto phone do you have?

Sorry for the delay, I've been too busy to check my posts :-( I have an MXPE..... it's been an excellent phone overall, and is still working great. In fact I'm still using it, have been too busy to switch over to the pixel. The only reason I decided to pick up another phone is because I don't have a backup phone....... I figured with a possible trade war looming I'd better pick one up while they were still affordable ;-)

I really wanted a Z2play for the battery life and to try a few moto mods...... but seeing how Lenovo treats (or doesn't) security and software updates, and then having them drop support for the full moto voice with no warning, and going to a crippled, almost useless (to me) "show me" version of moto voice without even telling new buyers of the change....... that feels like some pretty shady behavior from Lenovo.

Do a search here and you'll see all the folks just in these moto forums that were pretty irritated after buying their new moto phone just to find out it no longer reads texts/calls etc out loud and let's you respond hands free. That was one of the main reasons I bought my MXPE, and almost bought the Z2PLAY. Glad I did my research ;-)

 

[pizza_pablo]

My Moto Z2 Play reads texts or loud while driving.
The thing that is missing from the latest Moto Voice is the custom wake word.
Only "ok Google" is available for launch phase.
I really miss using "SHAMALAMADINGDONG", because nothing in usual conversation sounds like that and cause an accidental wake, but I haven't had any false wakes from Google.
The Z2 Play is a great phone. I love it MUCH more than my backup, which is an OG Pixel XL.

 

[Ry]

As the things Motorola brought to Android before Google become a part of the "stock" experience, those features get dropped from Moto phones in favor of the "standard" solution.

Trusted Bluetooth was eventually replaced by Smart Lock.
Moto Voice features stripped away as Google Assistant does more.

(Except Moto Display because we all know Moto Display is the superior ambient display).

(And I hope with Android 9 Pie, Moto keeps their superior gestures)

 

[Ry]

My Moto Z2 Play reads texts or loud while driving.
The thing that is missing from the latest Moto Voice is the custom wake word.
Only "ok Google" is available for launch phase.
I really miss using "SHAMALAMADINGDONG", because nothing in usual conversation sounds like that and cause an accidental wake, but I haven't had any false wakes from Google.
The Z2 Play is a great phone. I love it MUCH more than my backup, which is an OG Pixel XL.

My Moto Z Force Droid and Moto Z2 Play both read texts out loud to me while driving too.

 

[pizza_pablo]

My Moto Z Force Droid and Moto Z2 Play both read texts out loud to me while driving too.

I know, that's why I was curious which phone the OP was discussing.

I agree that Moto Display is superior to Ambient and Moto's gesture based nav is also better than Pie's on my OG Pixel XL.