Google Assistant ‘Quick Phrases’ Feature Spotted on Android 12 Beta, Lets You Skip ‘Hey Google’ Trigger

Some Google Pixel users are now receiving a new Google Assistant feature called ‘Quick Phrases’. This feature enables users to command their phones to do quick actions by using voice commands without prefixing the trigger ‘Hey Google’. This Quick Phrases feature needs to be enabled in Settings and once enabled it can be used to stop alarms, answer calls, and a few other actions. Quick Phrases can also be used to trigger actions like reminders, reset timers, control volume, and skip tracks.

XDA Developers spotted Quick Phrases on a Pixel 3 XL running the latest Android 12 beta and Google App version 12.39.17.29. The report says that Quick Phrases puts Google Assistant on standby whenever you receive an incoming phone call or an alarm/timer has gone off on your phone. With Quick Phrases, a user can just say ‘Answer’ or ‘Decline’ to pick up or reject a phone call without having to say the trigger words ‘Hey Google’. Similarly, users can say ‘Stop’ or ‘Snooze’ to silent an alarm or timer without the need to precede the voice command with ‘Hey Google’.

Quick Phrases work only in a few scenarios, like for making family notes, control volume, and adding reminders. As mentioned, it needs to be enabled in Google Assistant settings and users can choose in which scenarios, Quick Phrases can be used. The report says that Google also warns that calls may connect unintentionally if you or someone else says “answer” when you aren’t ready to pick up the phone call. There’s also a chance the Assistant will mistakenly connect the call when it hears something that sounds like “answer.”

Furthermore, the report says that the Quick Phrases feature was only spotted on the Pixel 3 XL and not on any other devices. It may be a feature coming with Android 12, but Google has made no announcements about it yet.