Whenever you go out with your friends, do any of them have fun recalling the “Ok Google” feature of your smartphone and using Android’s voice server to make the most strampal searches? Unfortunately, it is not an isolated case. Of “mattacchioni” friends we have more or less everyone, but fortunately there are also solutions to keep them “at bay”.
Have you ever thought, for example, of turn off ok google to limit its performance to the Google app and search widget instead of having it on home screens and in all applications? In my opinion, this is a very effective solution. Then it is reversible: you can go back anytime. What do you say? Did I tease you with my idea? If your answer is affirmative, take five minutes and find out how to turn off “Ok Google” thanks to the directions I’m going to give you. I assure you that this is really a joke.
For the tutorial, I will use a smartphone equipped with Android 6.0, but the instructions in this article should also apply to previous and later versions of the green robotic operating system (also because it basically works on the Google app settings not those of the system). Then I will also deal with iOS and PC, where the indications are “transverse” regardless of the operating system version that you are using. Good reading and good fun!
Uninstall Android’s “Ok Google” feature.
Let’s start with this guide on how to turn off “Ok Google” by talking about Android , the operating system developed by the same “big G” that equips many smartphones and tablets available on the market today. There are several ways to turn off “Ok Google” on Android, some radicals (complete deactivation of the service), others less (partial deactivation of the service): here’s everything explained in detail.
Deactivate “Ok Google” partially
If you want to disable “Ok Google” in a partial way, leaving it active in the Google app and search screen, sign in to the Android app drawer (the screen where there are icons of all apps installed on your device) and open Google . If you do not find any apps called “Google,” try searching for Google Settings (the Gear icon with the “G” centered in Google), or open the Android Settings (Gear icon) and select the Google entry from the latter.
Another way you can go through is to search for the Google Search widget on your home screen and to press it first on it and then on the “G” Google logo on the left side of the search (in the screen that opens).
To disable “Ok Google” from your device’s home screen and apps, open the Google app or tap the “G” logo in the search widget. If you’ve recalled the Google entry from Android settings, select Search and Voices. Ensure to press the OFF key on the “Say “Ok Google” function to prevent it from being activated.
Deactivate “Ok Google” completely
To completely disable “Ok Google” in the Google app and search widget, follow these steps: open the Settings menu, tap the Google App icon, select Permissions, and move the microphone off.
The “Ok Google” feature is disabled from Android home screen and app, but may cause issues with voice search in Google apps, such as the microphone icon.
If you know about the malfunctioning of turning off the microphone in the Google app or, much more simply, changing your mind about deactivating “Ok Google”, you can go back to your steps by going to Settings> App> Google> Permissions and resetting ON the relative lever to the microphone .
To restore the “Ok Google” on the home screen, however, go into Google Settings, then Voice> Detection “Ok Google” and shifts to ON the lever relative to the function Say “Ok Google” at any time . Easier than that?
Disable “Ok Google” on iOS
If you have an iPhone or iPad, and you’ve installed the app , you can use feature within this one (to do online searches). If for one reason or another you want to disable the function, proceed as follows.
To restore “Ok Google” on your iPhone or iPad, open the Google app, select your photo, and select Voice Search. Move to the OFF lever on the “Ok Google” function and press the “End” button.
Instead, if you want to completely turn off the voice search feature within the app, open the iOS Settings menu (the gear icon on the home screen), select the Google App icon at the bottom to the screen and move the microphone lever to OFF .
By modifying iOS settings as I just suggested, the Google app will no longer have access to the microphone, so it will not allow voice searches or turn off ok google feature. If you have a rethink, you can go back to your steps by going back to the Settings> Google menu and resetting the microphone lever ON .
turn off on your computer
The “Ok Google” function of Android and iOS is not yet available on your PC, but if you use Chrome as a browser you can make voice searches and leverage your Google Assistant by clicking on the microphone icon on your browser’s home page and in the bar Google search.
If for one reason or another you want to disable the feature that allows you to make voice searches using Google Chrome’s microphone support, start your browser, click on the ⋮ button that you see in the upper right and select the Settings item from the menu that appears .
On the page that opens, expand the Advanced item at the bottom, go to Content Settings and select the microphone entry . Then, locate Google related items (eg https://www.google.com:443 or https://www.google.com:443 ) in the Allow and Remove field by clicking the trash can icon next to each of they.
Revocation of microphone permission from Google prevents voice search capabilities. To reset Google voice functions, click microphone icon in search bar and respond to alert.
To block Google’s access to your microphone, respond to the “Allow” warning and lock it to the same warning after clicking on the microphone icon in Google. Unlock your microphone search by going to Settings > Advanced > Content Settings > Microphone.
In case of problems
Despite my suggestions, you have not been able to turn off “Ok Google” yet? It seems strange. Regardless, do not lose hope; I believe you will find a solution eventually.
For example, if you can not find Google settings on your Android terminal, try opening the Play Store (the icon of the ▶ ︎ colored icon on the home screen) and look for updates for the Google app. If you do not know how to do it, tap the ≡ button at the top left, go to My Apps and My Games , select the Updates and Push tabs on the Update All button to update all apps that require an update ( among which there should be Google too).
If, on the other hand, the Google app is not installed on your device, try it within the Play Store, tap its icon in the search results (the “G” colored on a white background), and install it by clicking on the Install and Accept buttons .
After you’ve upgraded or installed the Google app, restart your device and try to use the directions I’ve given you in the previous chapters of this tutorial.
In case of further doubt, then, make a leap on the Google site, which offers a wealth of useful information on how to turn on and off “Ok Google” on Android and iOS app development.