The Pixel Buds Pro have offered some pretty advanced features that enhance the overall experience. That’s especially true because Google is constantly adding new features to these earbuds. However, while the company adds features, it also takes them away. According to a new report, Google is removing the touch-and-hold gesture from the Pixel Buds Pro.
If you wanted to use Google Assistant to read your notifications to you, you’d simply have to use this gesture. It was an easy way to know what was going on without needing to pick up your phone. Also, you wouldn’t need to use your voice to activate the feature. It’s a great function, but Google doesn’t seem to think so.
Google is removing the touch-and-hold gesture from the Pixel Buds Pro
We’re just over a week away from the official launch of the Pixel Buds Pro 2, and we’re sure that a number of people wearing the first-generation Pro earbuds are going to upgrade. Well, those who aren’t are going to have a slightly diminished experience. Several people have reported that their touch-and-hold gestures weren’t working.
One person on Reddit reported that, when they tried to have the assistant read their notifications, they got the message “Touch-and-hold won’t read notifications anymore.” It’s always annoying being told that you can no longer do something that you’ve become accustomed to.
This doesn’t mean that Google Assistant will no longer read notifications. Users are prompted to use the hot phrase “Read my notifications.” As you can imagine, this makes the process less convenient. Voice commands aren’t as effective as button presses because there’s always the chance that the earbuds won’t pick up your voice the first time. Also, if you want to use this feature when you’re in a quiet environment, you’re going to be out of luck.
Google says that this change was because of user feedback, but many of the people affected by this change seem to miss the feature. So, it’s a bit odd that Google marked this as the reason. Hopefully, the company has something in mind to replace this functionality with something equally as useful.