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Like many headphones, my headphones have a button that calls up the phone's voice assistant. The phone is a Fairphone 3, stock OS, which is their own variant of Android, but looks much like any other Android. So the default voice assistant would be Google Assistant. I don't use Google Assistant, or any other voice assistant.

Unfortunately, the assistant button of the headphones is pretty easy to press by accident. That stops the music and tells me to set up Google Assistant when it is safe to do so. This is accompanied by a pop-up saying "Your Google Assistant is ready to help you get things done TURN ON". Furthermore, the question is asked in a deafeningly loud voice, seemingly uncorrelated to any of the volume levels.

What I've found;

By turning off everything I could find in the Google Assistant settings, I've managed to stop it from doing anything if the phone is locked. If the phone is unlocked, I still get the popup. Why the Google Assistant settings matter when the assistant is set to None confuses me.

A solution that worked by modifying the response to signals from headphones or by removing the Google Assistant would be great. Rooting the phone is not a problem.

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  • What happens if/when you freeze or disable both Google Assistant and the Google app?
    – Reddy Lutonadio
    Jan 4, 2022 at 17:09
  • @ReddyLutonadio There only seems to be a "Google" app, but when I disable that all popups/questions from the google assistant go away. The phone warns that this could break other things, but everything still seems to work fine. I will update in a week to let you know if there are any side effects. Many thanks!
    – Clumsy cat
    Jan 4, 2022 at 17:19
  • @ReddyLutonadio I can confirm that disabling the google app prevents the request for the google assistant to start, and in a week of using the phone I have experienced no adverse side effects, despite the warning given when disabling. If you were willing to write that as an answer I can accept it.
    – Clumsy cat
    Jan 10, 2022 at 8:48

1 Answer 1

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If disabling Google Assistant does not prevent, then try also disabling Google app as it gives access to the Google Assistant via its settings (open Google app, press on your account, select Settings -> Google Assistant). Get started with the Google Assistant on Pixel 4 & later states that:

To use the new Google Assistant, you need a Pixel 4 and up with:

  • The Google app with version 10.73 and up.

The above is also true for other phones brands and models. So disabling Google app should prevent the Assistant from starting when you insert the headphones.

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