Google confirms that it’s killing the Pixel Buds Pro’s touch and hold gesture

We’re about a week out from the retail release of the Pixel Buds Pro 2, with the earbuds bringing vast improvements like enhanced ANC, better comfort, a lighter design, and so much more. And while anxious buyers eagerly wait to get their hands on these new Google earbuds, some shocking news rolled out towards the end of last week, with some users reporting that their Pixel Buds Pro were no longer responding to touch and hold gestures. Now, if you’re not in the know, this is a pretty big deal because it offers users the option of interacting with incoming alerts using Google Assistant without the need to use any kind of voice prompts or looking at the phone.

While the reports were relatively sparse from those on Reddit, it was clear that something was up, as the popular touch and hold gesture was being phased out, only providing the response that “Touch and hold won’t read notifications anymore.” Users were then prompted to say “read notifications” in order to get this to work in the future, which means, there’s no longer a silent option to get this working. While some thought that it could be an isolated incident, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as Google has now chimed in, confirming that the feature is indeed going away.

Is this a change for the worse?

The news was spotted by the folks at 9to5Google, with Google creating a post that addresses the new change on its own Google Assistant support page. It appears that the change has been made based on user feedback, and Google Assistant will no longer be able to read notifications going forward when using the touch and hold gesture. Furthermore, Google also shared that “Assistant will also no longer read unread notifications automatically and allow you to reply. ” It closes by sharing that Assistant can now be activated by using the phrase “Read my notifications.”

For many, this will be a huge blow, and for new users, it may not even be a big deal. Of course, things like this have a tendency to change, but Google is now clearly moving on in order to leverage Gemini in its earbuds to provide the best experience possible. So if you happen to get this message, you’ll unfortunately have to roll with punches and just use the new phrase to access your notifications. And if you’re curious about the new Pixel Buds Pro 2, stay tuned for our full review or grab a pair of your own right now during the preorder phase.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2

The latest earbuds from Google offer an improved design, better ANC, and lots of new features. You can now get a $30 credit with your preorder for the Pixel Buds Pro, which are set to release on September 26.