Google May Soon Let You Use Assistant Without the Annoying “OK Google” Hotword

Google is trying to bring its Assistant smart assistant to almost all of your smart gadgets. The company recently introduced a wide range of updates to Assistant hardware and software as it continues to track down Amazon Alexa. And now, the company could be introducing a huge change to Assistant, starting with phones.

According to 9to5Google, recent versions of the Google app on Android includes a new, hidden code that lets users add their custom hotword for waking up their device. Right now, you can use either the “Hey Google” or “Ok Google” hotword to activate the assistant, with the latter being incredibly annoying to use as you continue to use Assistant more frequently. So instead of having to use these hotwords, you will soon be able to setup your own, custom hotword for waking up Assistant.

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You’ll need to train Assistant to be able to recognize your custom hotword, and chances are the accuracy of the hotword recognization won’t be as good as the default Hey Google and Ok Google hotwords. But still, it is something.

For now, though, it seems like Google will be bringing the feature first to phones, but it will most likely come to all devices running Assistant, especially the company’s Home smart speakers.

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Conversation 29 comments

  • Bats

    30 January, 2018 - 5:20 pm

    <p>How hard would it be for good Google Home to learn "Computer.". "Computer, what is the temperature outside?"</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      30 January, 2018 - 6:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#241611"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think lots of people would like that. I seem to recall reading that these wake phrases tend to work better if they are longer and/or uncommon. One concern might be that the word "computer" could be a relatively higher frequency word among the target population of smart assistant early-adopters. :)</p>

      • Bats

        30 January, 2018 - 10:35 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#241634"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>I would like to say "Computer, raise the thermostat to 5 degrees." Then Google Home would say, "Shall I raise the thermostat to 75 degrees." Then, I would say "Yes…..Engage!"</p>

    • johnbaxter

      30 January, 2018 - 7:28 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#241611"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>To quote from a recent Apple ad for the iPad: "What's a computer?"</p><p><br></p><p>(It is alleged that the Green Acres show on CBS was going to be "The Eddie Albert Show" until a Vice President asked "What's an Eddie Albert?")</p>

  • Thomas Parkison

    30 January, 2018 - 5:22 pm

    <p>Yeah sure… let's make it so that it listens to everything. That would be great. /sarcasm</p>

  • Digthatfish

    30 January, 2018 - 5:45 pm

    <p>Ok HAL. Open the pod bay doors.</p>

    • MikeFromMarkham

      30 January, 2018 - 6:02 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#241626"><em>In reply to Digthatfish:</em></a></blockquote><p>Love it! </p>

  • MikeFromMarkham

    30 January, 2018 - 6:02 pm

    <p>So "OK Google" is annoying, but "Hey, Cortana" is not? Rubbish. </p>

  • Matt Lohr

    30 January, 2018 - 6:15 pm

    <p>https://youtu.be/LkqiDu1BQXY?t=72 "Hello, computer!"</p>

    • SvenJ

      30 January, 2018 - 9:25 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#241632"><em>In reply to Matt Lohr:</em></a> Computer is one of the selectable hot words on Echo. The key is to use a word that is distinctive and not commonly used, by you, the radio, the TV… Computer is not that. None of my options, and I have Echo's, Siri (iPhone/iPad), Google (Home mini, Pixel) and Cortana (PCs and Invoke) are selective enough not to react to other sources of their name besides me. The TV is constantly triggering these things. Was setting up an Echo Spot this weekend, and it has a cute video about using it which used it's name a lot. My Show, which was nearby, kept trying to respond. I'm hoping they all start allowing them to be re-named, and individually. </blockquote><p><br></p>

    • FullyLoaded

      31 January, 2018 - 8:26 am

      <blockquote><a href="#241632"><em>In reply to Matt Lohr:</em></a></blockquote><p>I love that scene.</p>

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    30 January, 2018 - 6:43 pm

    <p>It’s not really that annoying. :/</p>

  • Pbike908

    30 January, 2018 - 6:45 pm

    <p>I like it! It creeps me out to say "OK Google" as it reminds me how Google stores my every freaking query when using the internet and tracks my every movement and action on my Android phone. I'm not particularly paranoid, as I have read up on what it is i do. It would just make it a lot easier to use a voice assistant if I didn't have to say a companies name…I know it's silly…But hey I just don't want to be reminded of Big Data's omnipresence. </p>

    • Bats

      30 January, 2018 - 10:35 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#241639"><em>In reply to Pbike908:</em></a></blockquote><p>It stores, but you can delete at anytime.</p>

      • Sqirrel99

        31 January, 2018 - 3:20 am

        <blockquote><a href="#241665"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>You can delete /your/ view of the data.</p><p>Who's to say whether you can delete /their/ view ?</p>

        • Nicholas Kathrein

          31 January, 2018 - 8:52 am

          <blockquote><a href="#241700"><em>In reply to Sqirrel99:</em></a></blockquote><p>They do. If if they are caught lieing that would blow up in their face and cause massive news articles. The kind of thing all news publications loves. Gives them massive hits and makes them a lot of money.</p>

  • Oasis

    Premium Member
    30 January, 2018 - 7:45 pm

    <p>Achtung!</p>

  • Todd Northrop

    30 January, 2018 - 8:03 pm

    <p>This is the best feature they could possibly add. Saying “OK Google” is a non-starter for me. Besides being a mouthful to say, I don’t want to say hello to an organization every time I make a request from my device. </p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    31 January, 2018 - 2:32 am

    <p>Mine reacts to just "OK". Often when talking to people and I say OK, my phone starts chirping and clamoring for attention.</p>

  • olavgm

    31 January, 2018 - 4:27 am

    <p>I'm going to set my hotword to "Alexa".</p>

    • Bats

      31 January, 2018 - 7:55 am

      <blockquote><a href="#241705"><em>In reply to olavgm:</em></a></blockquote><p>That will be like living a lie. Lol.</p>

    • Jack Smith

      31 January, 2018 - 7:56 am

      <blockquote><a href="#241705"><em>In reply to olavgm:</em></a></blockquote><p>Will be curious to see if you do if you get a lot more false positive triggers. Our Echo goes off a lot more by accident than the Google Homes and suspect it was the hot word difference.</p>

  • Tony Barrett

    31 January, 2018 - 5:47 am

    <p>I always use 'Hey Google', which you get very used to, and it's still only 3 syllables, like A-lex-a or Cor-ta-na, so no great shakes. It will be nice to have a feature where you can set your own hotword though. I think this will make it feel a lot more personal, so I think Google are on the right track. </p>

  • Jack Smith

    31 January, 2018 - 7:55 am

    <p>I use "hey Google" which I find far easier to say than "ok Google". One thing you need to be careful about is our Echo gets triggered a lot more often than the Google Homes by accident. Based on this we will probably just leave the default hot word on the Google Homes. Plus I have a big family and everyone at this point knows what it is.</p><p><br></p><p>But the people that have had a problem with saying Google in the hot word can now change it. We started with the Echo and since replaced with the Google Homes and the GH is just far easier to interact with. Echo requires rigid language or basically commands you have to memorize versus the Google Home you can in most cases just say things however they pop up in your head.</p>

  • RM

    31 January, 2018 - 8:30 am

    <p>Someday you will just have to say "Computer, where is Number One?"</p>

  • sdahnke1

    31 January, 2018 - 4:07 pm

    <p>Harry. I want mine to be Harry.</p>

  • HellcatM

    31 January, 2018 - 4:28 pm

    <p>I'd still like to see Microsoft or Google make it so you can make your own hotword for the assistant. If I want to say "hal, whats the weather like" I can. Or I can take a page from Star Trek and just say "computer". Why not? Would be fun.</p>

  • zybch

    01 February, 2018 - 4:32 am

    <p>I use 'hey google' with my home/home mini devices. I like that its more a command than a subservient request.</p><p>I'd still prefer it to be something I specify rather than a sycophantic phrase every time though.</p>

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