Google Assistant Quick Phrases are super helpful and arriving on Pixel Buds Pro

In the event that you didn’t already know this was a thing, you can do a few Google Assistant actions on your Pixel phone without the need of uttering “Hey Google” beforehand. Pixel phones are able to answer, silence, or fully decline incoming calls with just the vocal command – “answer”, “decline” or “silence” – being spoken. Additionally, you can stop or snooze an alarm as well by simply saying “stop” or “snooze”.

While those commands aren’t a new thing, the fact that some are now available via Pixel Buds Pro is pretty sweet. Announced yesterday, Google has already made the call-specific Quick Phrases available to Pixel Buds Pro and if they’ve rolled out to your device, you’ll see it on the Quick Phrases settings screen as pictured below under the Incoming calls section:

Where this could be very helpful

I’ve not really had an opportunity to use this feature just yet from the Pixel Buds Pro, but I can see some clear places where it would make a lot of sense. I do silence and decline calls with my voice from time to time and I love that feature. But if you wear earbuds often, you know that your phone isn’t always right next to you or out in a place where it could pick up on a vocal cue.

With this new feature, it doesn’t have to be any longer. Since wearing earbuds could put you in scenarios where your phone isn’t always within reach and where the audio may have your mic routed through the earbuds (rendering the phone incapable of hearing your vocal cues), this new setup definitely solves some pain points. And if you have a Pixel phone and a set of Google’s best earbuds, you should be able to give it a try today!