‘Hey Google’ Voice Command on Wear OS has Been Busted for Months

‘Hey Google’ Voice Command on Wear OS has Been Busted for Months

For the past few months ‘Hey Google’ and ‘OK Google’ have been broken on Wear OS. It flew pretty far under the radar and Google has only now even acknowledged there’s a problem.

‘Hey Google’ on Wear OS is broken

According to 9to5Google, the issues with these hot phrases date back to November. This can be verified through the Google Issue Tracker, which have a ton of reports on the problem. In addition, 965 people have starred the issue. Reddit threads about the problem have also cropped up.

“Wear OS voice detection of command word ‘ok google’ does not work in the current version of Wear OS,” a user wrote on November 10, 2020.

“Users must instead activate Google Assistant manually which significantly removes utility from the watch while lacking an essential and advertised feature. Please advise.”

The Issue Tracker reveals its happening across a myriad of different devices and brands that run Wear OS. ‘Hey Google’ seems to be broken across the board.

There may have also been issues earlier than November. Droidlife has found Google support threads dating back to June, 2020.

Google finally speaks up

The biggest problem, aside from it being ongoing for months, is that Google did not acknowledge the problem. It was only when it started getting reported by the media that Google ended its silence.

Gizmodo Australia reached out to Google for comment but is yet to hear back. Fortunately, The Verge got a little luckier.

Google told the publication that it is “aware of the issues some users have been encountering” and will help “address these and improve the overall experience.”

Let’s hope its sooner rather than later and that Google hasn’t abandoned Wear OS in favour of its Fitbit acquisition.

It’s worth noting that Google Assistant does still work with Wear OS devices. You will need to toggle it with the appropriate button on your device, rather than using the much easier voice commands.

 

 


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