Android phones are learning to do things without a ‘Hey Google’ prompt

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Love the accuracy of results from speaking to Google’s Assistant, but hate having to say “Hey Google” every three seconds like you’re trying to get the attention of a hyperactive toddler? Well, you might be able to skip that part if a new feature that Android Police uncovered comes to Google’s virtual assistant.

It’s called “Guacamole,” and it’s a new menu section in the Google Assistant settings. When it goes live, it’s supposed to allow users to skip saying “Hey Google” for simple, short tasks. You’ll have to accept yet another list of terms and conditions once the setting goes live, presumably because it gives Google yet another layer of being able to keep your microphone on and recording.

We can’t actually use the feature yet, but 9to5Google has a list of tasks that won’t need the wake words, like alarms, timers, and calls. That includes simple commands like “answer the call” or “decline the call,” or saying “stop” or “snooze” to interact with an existing timer.

READ MORE: Google is putting an end to third-party call recording apps

Currently, Google is just testing the Guacamole feature on employee’s phones, with no publicly available timeline for when it might be coming to our phones, or even if it will. Let’s file this one under “features we’d like to see,” and hope that Google decides to go through with it. I for one, welcome not having to use the Google Assistant wake phrase all of the time.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.