You no longer have to say ‘Hey Google’ to get the Assistant to shut up
If your Google Assistant-powered smart home display or speaker is rambling on and on after you asked it for the weather, you can now tell it to “stop” without having to say “Hey Google” first. It’s a small, but welcome, change and one that makes interacting with a digital assistant just a little more natural.
Google’s smart home devices have had a version of this feature for years, where you could silence an alarm without saying “Hey Google.” It’s nice to see it expanding to silence the Assistant, too — saying “stop” when you want something to… well, stop happening is just so instinctive, like batting at an insect buzzing around your ear.
Helpful new Google Assistant feature alert! Want your smart display or speaker to stop talking? Just say “stop” — no #HeyGoogle needed.
— Google (@Google) January 25, 2022
Google has also been rolling out a similar feature on the Pixel 6, with the Assistant’s “quick phrases.” Like on the home devices, quick phrases let you do certain things without saying “Hey Google.” On a Google support page, it says you can use the feature to snooze or stop an alarm or answer or decline calls.
From our tests, the feature that’s rolled out on Google’s smart home devices isn’t a universal “stop making noise” command for your smart speaker. (To be fair, Google didn’t promise that it would be.) You’ll still have to say “Hey Google” if you want to stop a song, though that’s probably a good thing — imagine trying to listen to “Stop! In The Name Of Love” or “Uptown Funk.”
If your Google Assistant-powered smart home display or speaker is rambling on and on after you asked it for the weather, you can now tell it to “stop” without having to say “Hey Google” first. It’s a small, but welcome, change and one that makes interacting with a digital assistant…
Recent Posts
- Asus’ tiny 2.5-liter gaming NUC tentatively starts at $1,629 in the US
- 33 Best Deals From the Amazon Big Spring Sale (2024)
- Fitbit watches in the EU will lose third-party apps and watch faces – here’s why
- United States v. Apple is pure nerd rage
- Mozilla just ditched its privacy partner because its CEO is tied to data brokers
Archives
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011