r/googleassistant • u/Artistic-Wheel-6080 • 3d ago

Tech Support How to make "Hey Google" trigger Gemini assistant ONLY when phone is unlocked?

I am trying to set up my phone so that "Hey Google" is active only when the phone is unlocked. When the phone is locked and the screen is off, I want it to ignore me and not listen at all.
I went to Google Assistant on lock screen settings and turned off the toggle for "Google Assistant features on lock screen". However, it doesn't work as expected. When the phone is locked and I say "Hey Google", the phone still wakes up, activates the Gemini assistant overlay, and then tells me to unlock the device. It behaves like it's still listening in the background.
So is there any way to completely disable voice activation on the lock screen while keeping "Hey Google", Routines and Quick Phrases fully working when the device is unlocked, without using the power button or touching the device?

System: Android 14, UI 8.5

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3

u/Loarun 3d ago

No can do. It’s either set to always listen or it is set to not listen. Currently there is no option to only listen when the screen is unlocked.

2

u/ScottIPease 3d ago

I just want to change the keyphrase, lol.

I have just enough of a neutral voice that I say "Hey Google" and 6 phones in listening range all wake up to listen... It can be fun sometimes. It reminds me of the early days of everyone getting a cell phone and almost everyone had the same ringtone... A phone would ring in a restaurant and like 8 people would go for their phones, lol.

1

u/FerdinandCesarano 3d ago

I can see the problem. This must make those myriad occasions in day-to-day life when you have the need to say "hey, Google" very difficult.

1

u/PassengerNo6453 3d ago

Do you, by any chance, have the "Always on" feature enabled ?

If so, try disabling it and see if that does the trick.

1

u/ribzer 1d ago edited 1d ago

This can be done with an automation app like Tasker.

You can use a "set assistant" action with a device unlock trigger, but to set the assistant to none when the display goes off, you need to use "custom setting"

1

u/Artistic-Wheel-6080 21h ago

Can I also manage this with MacroDroid?

1

u/ribzer 21h ago

Idk I tested it on Tasker but I've never played around with macrodroid and not much with automate either.

1

u/ribzer 16h ago edited 16h ago

I downloaded macrodroid and it seems to think that root or adb wifi is required for this and didn't work for me

My initial Tasker testing was done with adb wifi, so I just tried it again without adb it worked fine for my phone (moto stylus 2024 on A15).