Introduction:
Hello and welcome to another Tech Advice blog article. This one will be shorter than most but equally important for some of you.
The other day I was on the bus and suddenly I heard a voice coming from behind me talking about needing Wi-Fi to work correctly. I knew straight away what had happened, Google Assistant was after being triggered by the owner of an Android smartphone; it has happened to all of us at some point. But no more, today I am going to show you how to turn it off.
Reasons For and Against Turning it Off:
If you use smart home devices Google Assistant is required to use Google Home which is needed if the Smart device does not have a custom-built app or non-Google Home alternative, additionally, Google Assistant enables voice control of these devices. Another reason to keep it on is if you like to use it for reminders, asking quick questions like what time it is or to ask it to Google something for you.
Aside from the random activations and noise it can make, you may also want to turn off Google Assistant due to its privacy implications. While it is running, Google Assistant gathers information on everything you do on your phone (based on the permissions you give it), there is also the fact that it is always listening for the keywords “Hey Google”, but it is obviously capable of speaking without these words being said. There are likely other privacy concerns but these to me are the more concerning and obvious of the lot.
How to Turn it Off:
So, you have decided that you want to turn off Google Assistant, now I am going to show you how. Just a quick note, this only works on smartphones based on the Android platform, essentially anything other than an iPhone; in addition, the locations/names of some settings may be slightly different depending on your device.
- Open your phone’s Settings app, it usually looks like a cog symbol.
- Near the end of the list of settings should be one called “Google” open this.
- Look for the setting “Settings for Google apps” open this one.
- Now look for “Search, Assistant and Voice”, open this.
- Nearly there, find and open “Google Assistant”
- Scroll through the long list of settings until you find “General”, you may need to select “View All Settings” for it to appear. Once you have found it open it.
- You should be able to see a setting “Google Assistant” with a switch/tab beside it, if it is turned on the circle will be to the right and blue, if it is off, it will be to the left and grey. Just tap the switch to turn it off/on. Google will want to confirm so read the instructions carefully just in case.
If you can’t find a setting just type it into the search bar that should appear at the top of your settings app. If you need help feel free to contact Tech Advice. I haven’t included photos as these settings pages can differ from phone to phone and using photos may only confuse you.
That is all for this time, if you have any suggestions for future articles feel free to post them in the comments or on Facebook. You can also use the anonymous form on this website’s contact information page.
Tech Advice 