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The new Google Home trigger word sensitivity setting should work for Google Home and Google Nest speakers as well as Nest Hub smart displays.
Angela Lang / CNET
Hello Google, can you hear me? Now your Google Home can. The search giant is officially launching new controls that allow you to adjust the sensitivity of your smart speaker to your trigger word. That means you can adjust your Google Home ($ 49 at Walmart) or Nest devices to choose the “Hello, Google” and “OK, Google” commands only when you are really talking to him. Not only is it more convenient, but it leaves less data in the cloud.
You can have opted for voice and audio activity setting up in your Google account. Google says that turning it on can help your smart speaker better understand your voice over time, which is great. But Google stores every verbal interaction you have with your Google Home device, forever unless you tell him otherwise. If your Google Home thinks you’re talking to it when it’s not, it could store clips of those conversations heard online.
Hopefully, Google Home’s new sensitivity settings will slow down these unintended triggers, better protecting not only your privacy, but your sanity as well. Here is what you need to know about the new feature.
The microphones in Google Home smart speakers are designed to be especially responsive so they can hear you from across the room or from another part of the house.
Chris Monroe / CNET
The update will be ‘rolled out’ in the ‘coming weeks’
The update was announced in a blog post on April 23, where Google says it will “roll out” the feature in the coming weeks. Launching Google updates like this can be a bit messy, so while some users may see the new settings in their Google Home app this week or next, others may have to wait a little longer.
If you don’t see it on yours, check your phone’s app store to see if it’s been updated (here it is how to do that on iPhone, and here are instructions for Android). If you have the latest update and don’t have sensitivity settings yet, you just have to wait for the next update.
Kitchens can be noisy, so you may want to increase sensitivity to Google Home speakers there.
Dale Smith / CNET
Hello Google, why so sensitive?
If sensitivity settings are available, here is how to adjust them:
one) Open the Google Home app and search for the device whose trigger word sensitivity you want to change. Should work with OG Google Home, Google Home Mini ($ 39 at Crutchfield) and Max startand Nest Hub ($ 99 at Walmart) and Hub Max.
2) Touch the device you want to adjust, then touch Configurations (the settings icon) in the upper right corner.
3) Scroll down and under Device Settings, tap Hi google sensitivity.
4) Drag the slider up to increase the probability that Google Home will hear your voice and down to decrease it. When you get it right, back up and adjust your other speakers if necessary.
Consider mounting your Google Home Mini on the wall for better sound so you can hear it better.
Dale Smith / CNET
Now that you can adjust the sensitivity of the trigger word on your Google Home speaker, you can place it almost anywhere. For example, try hanging it on the wall for a better sound And if you are a new user of Google Home or an old professional, you will not regret changing these five settings. Google Home has come a long way from its early days playing with Alexa, but these three annoyances prove that it is not yet perfect.
