The Google Assistant is sometimes too talkative and it’s not always easy to silence it. From now on, it is possible to cut short the conversation without even saying “Ok Google”.
It’s a small step for Google, but a big relief for the millions of users of its assistant. It is now possible to silence Google Assistant by saying a single word: “Stop”. Until now, you had to use the keyword “Ok Google” or “Hey Google” to ask the assistant to “stop”. Sometimes an inconvenient method and several attempts are necessary to attract the attention of the assistant. Announced by the official Twitter account of the search giant, this novelty concerns speakers and connected screens powered by Google Assistant.
📣 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
The update may seem trivial, but it comes in handy and helps Google catch up on Siri. Set back from its main rivals, Apple’s connected assistant can already be cut off in its tracks if it hears the word “stop”. However, Amazon does not yet offer such a feature for Alexa.
Google has been working on this feature for years
This is not the first time that Google has sought to make its assistant more human. As early as the Google I/O 2019 conference, the firm had raised the idea of offering a Continued Conversation function to allow the possibility of having a conversation with Assistant without saying “Ok/Hey Google” before each question or command. . The functionality has been regularly improved and is integrated by small touches into the various devices of the manufacturer.
The “Stop” command is not the only one that can be understood without using the key words beforehand. With the launch of Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google introduced Quick Phrases (or fast phrases) to communicate more naturally with the assistant. Common tasks are involved, such as the ability to manage an alarm (stop or snooze) or phone calls (answer or decline). This feature, which was not available on smartphones, was spotted a few months ago under the name “Guacamole”.
For the time being, the “stop” command is only intended for connected screens and speakers from the manufacturer such as the Google Nest Audio or Google Nest Hub 2. According to our tests, it seems to be in the process of being deployed and is not not yet available on some devices. Going forward, we can expect Google to roll out this option to more devices. Many new features are also planned for Android this year, until the arrival of Android 13 “Tiramisu”.
