New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on August 23, 2021) follows:

Google Assistant is Google’s voice assistant that is available on devices like Android smartphones, Android TV, Google Nest and so on.

Its primary function is to facilitate access to multiple actions through voice commands. Users can operate it without having to manually control the device simply by saying ‘Hey Google’.

But over the past few days, users (1, 2, 3) are reporting that ‘Hey Google’ command isn’t working for them.

Apparently, ‘Voice Match’ isn’t working accordingly. But it functions absolutely fine when Google Assistant is activated using the power button. You can check out some of the reports below for reference.

Google-voice-match-isn't-working
Source

This is happening to me. Assistant is turning itself off. I go into settings and have to turn it on. As soon as the screen times out, it stops working and its set to ‘off’ in the settings again. I know this because I go back to that and see that I have to re-enable it. Its broken as far as my Pixel is concerned.
Source

Under Hey Google and voice match settings, the “Hey Google Access your Assistant any time you say “Hey Google”, even if your screen is off or you’re using your favorite apps” toggle keeps automatically turning off, rending my google assistant useless. This happening to anyone else and/or know how to fix it?
Source

The issue is frustrating many, with some even claiming it is due to the recent Android 13 update. However, this doesn’t seem likely since devices on older Android versions are also affected.

Users are now forced to enable ‘Hey Google’ manually as it keeps turning off constantly. This renders their hands free Google Assistant useless.

Potential workaround

A user suggests asking Google Assistant multiple questions (15-20) in a row to fix the issue with ‘Hey Google’ or ‘Voice Match’ not working.

Solution that works for me: Right after I enable it, I say Hey Google and keep asking it a question continuously, maybe around 15-20 questions. And after that, it seems to settle and doesn’t turn itself off again.
Source

This workaround seems to have settled the issue for some affected users and their devices are no longer turning Google Assistant off on their own.

Fortunately, this is also a known issue according to a product expert on Google forums and a fix is currently in progress.

Google-Assistant-fix-in-the-works
Source

Hopefully the issue with Google Assistant ‘Hey Google’ or ‘Voice Match’ not working gets fixed soon. We will keep an eye on further developments and update this article accordingly.

Update 1 (December 07, 2022)

02:42 pm (IST): It appears that some Google Assistant users are experiencing issues with voice recognition in the past few days (1,2,3,4,5).

Users say that when they use commands like ‘Hey Google’ or ‘Turn off all the lights’, Google Assistant responds to them with ‘sorry I didn’t understand’.

Feature image source: Google

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Riya Madaan
868 Posts

Weaving a little bit of life into the articles I write. No, not really! That's not really possible for a trash writer like me but I still try. Apart from it, I skate, meditate and medicate. Also keep myself away from troubles as I age.

Next article View Article

Google Drive not letting users play videos, throws 'allowed playbacks has been exceeded' error

Google Drive users have been dealing with an issue for years where they get an 'allowed playbacks has been exceeded' error when trying to play videos. And Google has still...
Feb 20, 2024 2 Min Read