Google Pixel Buds Compatibility: Why Phone Settings Must Be Enabled to Work

Hey there! Google has made a change to how you enable the “Hey Google” hotword and Voice Match on Pixel Buds and other Assistant headphones. Gone are the days when you could have Voice Match on your headphones even if it was turned off on your phone. Now, the setting on your connected Android phone or tablet will control whether you can use “Hey Google” on your Assistant-enabled headphones.

You can still use “Hey Google” and receive hands-free help on your headphones with your voice, but you’ll need to turn on “Hey Google” from Assistant settings on your connected Android phone or tablet. This means that if you want to use “Hey Google” on your Pixel Buds, you’ll need to make sure it’s enabled on your phone or tablet first.

In other news, Gemini is coming to the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, and ahead of that, the Google Assistant setting in headphones settings has been renamed to “Digital assistant”.