According to online sources, Google has started testing a new feature for its voice assistant on Android devices. It is a tool in development under the code name Guacamole that allows the Google Assistant to perform quick commands, such as silencing an alarm or receiving a call, without having to say the phrase “Hey Google“.
The first mentions of the Guacamole feature were discovered by enthusiasts in the code for the Google app 12.8 in March. After several weeks, the developers started testing this tool. This is confirmed by the fact that the new options are available for some users, and this applies to devices with Android 11 and the latest beta of the Google app, and not to smartphones with the preview for Android developers 12.
The new feature adds an additional item called Voice Shortcuts to the voice assistant settings menu. Once this option is enabled, users don’t have to say “Ok Google” to act quickly. The source says that for now, the new feature allows you to stop or snooze the alarm, turn off or pause the timer, as well as answer or reject an incoming call, just say “Stop” or “Repeat”.
New voice assistant features on Android are similar to the Google Assistant feature on Nest Hub and some other smart displays. In 2019, users of some smart display models were able to turn off the alarm without having to say “Ok Google”. It is still unclear when exactly this feature will be generalized.
