Google operates many large products and platforms but also has numerous small tools in its portfolio that mainly live from the integration into the first product category. This includes the Google shopping list, which can be filled and managed by Google Assistant, among other things. Now it has received a major redesign, which unfortunately is a major functional downgrade and annoys many users.
The Google Shopping List seems to be a fairly popular tool for using shopping lists, although many have probably never used it as a standalone product (I count myself among them). Now the app has received a major redesign on both Android and the web, the only pluses of which are that there is a dark mode and improved material rendering. Unfortunately, that was all.
What users particularly notice are the numerous options and functions that have been removed: Completed or already purchased products can no longer be removed from the list, but are only moved to the bottom edge in a ticked form.
Splitting and sorting is now hidden in the menu, the sorting options have been shortened and there are no more categories. In addition, there are now two buttons for adding a new entry: the button at the top of the list and the FAB at the bottom right. You can live with that, but that doesn’t really follow Google’s guidelines.
Was viele Nutzer ganz besonders vermissen: Es gibt keine automatische Vervollständigung mehr, mit der oftmals nur 3-4 Buchstaben des Produkts oder Lebensmittels getippt werden mussten. Und wenn man die Verbindung zur Datenbank schon einmal gekappt hat, wurden auch gleich noch die Symbole für die einzelnen Einträge entfernt. Auf obigem Screenshot könnt ihr das alte Design mit den Symbolen sehen.
One really has to wonder what drove the product manager to release this major update. New design or not, because the many discontinued functions devalue the entire product. There’s practically no reason not to just use Google Keep instead (which has additional benefits) or go entirely to an external solution.
Google may also know this and has turned off the juice for external service providers. For a week now, “Bring” and the like have not been able to be filled by the assistant. Why is not known?