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Going around Google to help quick queries, set timers or report on the weather of the day is great. You can use his voice assistant to manage your smart home, call friends or restaurants for takeout and so much more.
However, there are some things you might want to disable on your Google smart speaker like smart display. Any function of Google Assistant will not be a good fit for everyone.
Whether you’re concerned about privacy or just want a streaming experience, here are five things to consider to make your Google Assistant experience easier and safer.
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Voice recording settings
Google recently announced changes to its voice recording personal settings. Unless you sign in, Google will not save your audio recordings or share them with their human analyzers to improve Google’s algorithms. However, if you have signed in or previously recorded audio recordings, you can choose how long Google keeps them or deletes them manually.
To adjust these settings, visit this link or in your Home app, tap on your profile picture at the top right, followed by Assistant settings. There you will be on the Yes tabs. Select Your data in the assistant and roll down Audio recordings. Tap to see options for saving, checking and deleting recordings.
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Continue talking
Continuous conversation helps Google listen to subsequent questions without having to say “Hey, Google” a second time. While this is handy, the extra listening can sometimes be less than seamless, especially if you have no follow-up question or you are just asking a question from someone else in the room. Fortunately, you can disable this feature.
To turn off continued chat in the Home app, tap on your profile picture at the top right, followed by Assistant settings. In the next screen, navigate to the Assistant tab. There you will see several options, including Continue talking. You can disable continuous conversation and see which speakers it will affect.
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Sensitivity “Hey Google”
If you feel that you are always accidentally waking up your smart speakers, the sensitivity “Hey Google” may be too high. You can adjust how well your Google Assistant responds to his word if it does not sound good enough to you or if it misses other words for its word.
To adjust the sensitivity in the Home app, tap on your profile photo at the top right, followed by Assistant settings. In the next screen, navigate to the Assistant tab and you will see several options, including Sensitivity “Hey Google”. There you will be able to adjust the sensitivity for each individual speaker in your home. Select the speaker you want to customize and choose from five settings from “least sensitive” to “most sensitive.”
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Juan Garzon / CNET
Camera settings
If you use a Google-enabled smart display like the Nest hub max, Lenovo Smart Display of JBL Link view, you can turn off your camera if you do not make video calls. Each display does this a little differently. While JBL and Lenovo offer physical shutter options, you don’t get a built-in shooter with Google’s own display, the Nest Hub Max.
Instead, there is the toggle button on the back of the display to turn off the camera and microphone. An indicator light next to the camera lens shows the current status. This is difficult because you have to remember to turn it on and off every time you use a camera feature. However, the option to make sure your camera is turned off when needed is important.
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Activity controls
Like voice recordings, Google saves information about the pages and apps you use with your Google Account. If you are concerned about privacy, adjusting these settings provides some peace of mind.
In the Home app, tap your profile photo at the top right, followed by Assistant settings. Tap on the three points at the top right of your screen and select Google activity monitoring. There you will see a page with options for controlling what information Google collects from your online and mobile app activity. You can also enable auto-delete and choose how often your data is deleted.
Whether you adjust one or all of these settings, personalizing your voice assistant can make the whole experience much more enjoyable. If you live in a large household, features like Voice Match and household contacts can help everyone to live in harmony with the same devices.
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