Google Assistant will now cease talking if you simply say ‘stop’

You can now get Google Assistant to stop talking with just one word: “Stop.” That’s it — you don’t even have to say “Hey, Google” before that. The official Google Twitter account has announced the small but necessary quality-of-life improvement for the company’s speakers and smart displays. It sometimes takes a while (and several repeated attempts) to get Assistant’s attention with a “Hey, Google” if it suddenly goes off without you wanting it to or if you absolutely have to cut it off mid-spiel. This new feature solves that problem.

Google has been testing the capability to issue voice commands without wake words on Android since at least last year. The feature, codenamed “Guacamole,” includes the ability to cancel alarms simply by saying “Stop.” A year before the discovery of that experimental feature, another one codenamed “Blue Steel” was leaked to the public. Blue Steel gives you a way to activate Assistant by proximity alone, with the voice AI’s interface automatically popping up when you move close to a smart display without having to say anything. Google didn’t say whether this new capability is a result of either experiment, though we’re sure all that matters if that you need to stop Assistant from talking is that the feature exists.