How to disable Google Assistant on Android

Google’s assistant is really handy, thanks to self-learning during use it becomes more and more intelligent day after day, but at times it can be invasive and annoying.

A bit ‘everyone has happened that the Google assistant activated itself, having erroneously perceived the command “OK Google“, Even if we didn’t say it.
Often this happens at the least suitable moments, with sometimes tragicomic results.
Therefore, there can be many reasons for wanting to deactivate the Google assistant, from the simple desire to protect one’s privacy more, to the desire not to be bothered by automatic activation.

In the second case, know that there is the possibility of disable automatic activation, without having to completely disable Google Assistant.

On Android, the assistant cannot be completely removed, as it is part of the Google app.
The latter is a system app, so it cannot be uninstalled or disabled. Your iOS the situation is different, because the Google app is a common program and therefore it can normally be uninstalled.

How to remove OK Google on Android

The automatic start of the Google voice assistant, when the smartphone thinks it perceives the commands “OK Google” e “Hey Google“, Can sometimes be considered annoying. Here is how to disable OK Google on Android smartphones, but continue to use the other features of the assistant at any time.

Here are the few simple steps to take:

• press on the Google app to open it;
• at the bottom of the interface press on “Other“And then on”Settings“;
• then press on “Voice“And then on”Voice Match“;
• finally, press on the item “Hey Google“To disable it.

A warning screen will inform us that the commands “OK Google” e “Hey Google”Will remain active in particular applications, specifically on Google Maps.

On Google Maps the voice commands are very comfortable, allowing us to interact with the phone while driving without having to touch it. If you want to disable there too, you need to do it directly from the Maps app settings.

Disable microphone access for the Google app

By deleting Voice Match the app should no longer bother you when you don’t want to, thus blocking access to the microphone may be useless. Also because voice recognition can always be useful for a quick voice search, when you press the appropriate key, moreover, the function that allows you to use the assistant to recognize the music is also convenient.

In any case, if you want to disable access to the microphone of the Google app, just:

• go to the “Settings”Of your Android device and then click on“ App Management ”;
• then go to “App permissions“And then on”Microphone“;
• finally select the app “Google”And make sure the switch next to the name is disabled.

Disable Google voice assistant and all functions

If you are particularly privacy conscious you can choose for a drastic solution, completely disable the Google assistant.
Unfortunately, to date, turning off Google Assistant completely is only possible on a certain number of devices.

To proceed with the complete deactivation of the Google assistant, simply open the Google app, press on “Other“And then on”Settings“.
In the menu “Settings“Of the app choose”Google Assistant“, Then scroll until you find the item and press”General“, Finally press on”Google Assistant“.
At this point, a dialog box will appear in which you must press “Deactivate“.

It is also possible to delete only some functions of the Google assistant, like that “Discover“Which allows you to have news that is always updated based on our interests, or”Recent pages”Which keeps track of the last pages visited so that they can be reopened quickly.
Just go to the “Settings” menu of the Google app and then enter the “General“.

Prevent the assistant from opening by holding down the Home button for a long time

If you want to avoid that the prolonged pressure of the “Home”Leads to the opening of the Google assistant, you have to delete it from the default apps.

Doing it is simple, just:

• go to the “Android settings“;
• enter “App management“And then in”Default app“;
• then press on “Assistance app“And choose another one or tap on the item”None“.

For example, you can choose to replace the Google assistant with Alexa, with which the other devices in the house may have been configured.