Google Assistant has several uses on your phone, from navigating unknown places, replying quick answers to questions, and so on. But, when you need some privacy on your phone, it can be a bit loud especially on phones. Assistant can also be used in a contextual way and it can start being chatty even when it is asked basic questions.
Finally Google itself has seen that this can be annoying as they are now offering a new way to interact with the Assistant. The new hands-free mode in Google Assistant completely mutes your experience with the Assistant.
You don’t have to hide under your office desk or mute your phone in a taxi anymore. Google has now made it possible to silence all Google Assistant voice output and only show the answers to your questions on your phone. Here’s how to set it up:
- Access your Google Assistant by either long-pressing on the home button or saying “Hey, Google” or “OK Google.”
- Tap the symbol on the lower right corner.
- Tap your personal icon on the upper right corner.
- Select “Settings.”
- Select “Assistant” (on the top line).
- Scroll down to “Assistant devices” and find either the word “Phone” or the name that you’ve assigned your phone. Tap on it.
- Scroll down to “Voice and Speech” and tap on “Speech output.”
- Select “Hands-free only.”
After that, you can either type in or speak your requests to Google Assistant, and it will silently offer you whatever help it can provide.
The update is most likely enabled via server-side, as I haven’t received any Google app updates lately. It should be available on all devices that support Assistant, that is Android 5.0 Lollipop and higher. I’m a frequent user of the Google Assistant and I think that hands-free option will only push me to use it even more. If your device didn’t come with Google Assistant for some reason, you can download it from the Play Store.
