Google has announced the end of the Pixel Buds Pro touch gesture . The feature that allows Pixel Buds Pro users to touch and hold an earbud to hear unread notifications will stop working. In a recent update, Google confirmed that Google Assistant on Pixel Buds Pro will stop reading and alerting users about notifications. Instead, the company will allow users to hear notifications by activating Assistant and saying “Read my notifications.” The “touch and hold” gesture on the Pixel Buds Pro also enables users to switch between active noise cancelation and Transparency mode by default. However, Google is now stopping users from configuring this gesture to have the Assistant read notifications aloud.
What the company said
In a community post, the company wrote: “Hey Pixel Buds / Google Assistant Community,
Based on your feedback, we are here to announce that we will be making the following changes to your Google Assistant notifications on Pixel Buds while we evaluate further changes to notifications. Assistant will no longer read unread notifications when using the press Assistant feature. Assistant will also no longer read unread notifications automatically and allow you to reply.
In order to hear notifications, you can activate Google Assistant and say “Read my notifications.”
Thank you for your continued feedback that enables us to improve your experience with using Google Assistant.
Cheers,
The Google Assistant / Pixel Buds Team”
How Gemini may be responsible for this change
According to a report by 9to5Google, Pixel Buds Pro users noticed that they weren’t able to use the “touch and hold” to hear their notifications. Earlier this month, Google also changed the “Hey Google” hot word. The company recently launched the latest Pixel Buds Pro 2 which comes with Gemini features like the ability to summarise recent important emails and the ability to have live conversations with the Gemini chatbot. Just like its phones, Google may be trying to replace Assistant with Gemini on its audio devices as well.
What the company said
In a community post, the company wrote: “Hey Pixel Buds / Google Assistant Community,
Based on your feedback, we are here to announce that we will be making the following changes to your Google Assistant notifications on Pixel Buds while we evaluate further changes to notifications. Assistant will no longer read unread notifications when using the press Assistant feature. Assistant will also no longer read unread notifications automatically and allow you to reply.
In order to hear notifications, you can activate Google Assistant and say “Read my notifications.”
Thank you for your continued feedback that enables us to improve your experience with using Google Assistant.
Cheers,
The Google Assistant / Pixel Buds Team”
How Gemini may be responsible for this change
According to a report by 9to5Google, Pixel Buds Pro users noticed that they weren’t able to use the “touch and hold” to hear their notifications. Earlier this month, Google also changed the “Hey Google” hot word. The company recently launched the latest Pixel Buds Pro 2 which comes with Gemini features like the ability to summarise recent important emails and the ability to have live conversations with the Gemini chatbot. Just like its phones, Google may be trying to replace Assistant with Gemini on its audio devices as well.
