Google Assistant is turned on via power button? That’s how you turn it off

After Samsung came up with the ‘Bixby button’ on the Galaxy S9, Google sees the opportunity to link the Google Assistant to the power button from Android 12. Long pressing the power button is therefore equivalent to activating the Google Assistant: this is how you remove that link.

Google Assistant in power button

In the past, various phones from brands such as LG and Nokia received an Assistant button that let you activate the digital assistant with one click. Google Pixel devices have to do without such a button, but that makes little difference from Android 12. Similar to how the power button works on most new Samsung phones, the power button on Pixel phones starting with Android 12 automatically activates the Google Assistant when it’s long-pressed.

All things that were previously linked to the power menu, such as turning an Android phone on and off and the ability to control smart devices in the house, disappear to the notification panel. Those options are by default present in the notification panel of Android 12. So there are no actions to be performed after you let the power menu make way for the Assistant.

Disable Assistant Power Button

Do you own a phone with Android 12 and does the Google Assistant activate when you long press the power button? The steps below will help you get the old power menu back – note that the steps below have been tested on a Pixel phone running Android 12. Your phone’s manufacturer may have moved the gestures setting elsewhere.

1. Open it settings menu
2. Navigate to System
3. Then click gestures
4. Search for Menu for power button
5. Click on the institution
6. Put the switch out behind Hold on for the Assistant

If you put the switch in the ‘off’ position, you will see a power menu again if you keep the power button pressed. You can also enable the Assistant activation in the same way. There is still uncertainty about the activation of the functionality on Pixel phones after the update to Android 12. The function may only be enabled on new phones with Android 12. For now, we have to live in ambiguity, but you can disable or switch.

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