Pixel Buds Pro Loses the Easiest Way to Hear Your Notifications

The Pixel Buds Pro offered a convenient feature called Google Assistant Notifications. It reads your notifications retired erstwhile you pat and clasp the interaction interface. This diagnostic was wide cherished and one of the reasons many consumers opted for the buds.

For the past mates of days, users have been confused about the diagnostic not moving and person assumed it was a glitch. In a brief announcement posted connected the Google Assistant Help page, the Pixel Buds squad precocious confirmed that the functionality has officially been discontinued. The diagnostic has been removed crossed the Pixel Buds series, affecting the entry-level $64 Pixel Buds A. What a bummer.

Google announced that “Assistant volition nary longer work unread notifications erstwhile utilizing the property Assistant feature” and that “Assistant volition besides nary longer work unread notifications automatically and let you to reply.” It provided nary further elaboration; each it added was that it’s evaluating “further changes to notifications.” I’m acrophobic astir different imaginable downgrades coming down the road.

According to the announcement, the caller mode to person the Pixel Buds work retired notifications is to activate Google Assistant and say, “Read my notifications” to them aloud. I don’t cognize erstwhile earbud manufacturers volition recognize that we don’t similar talking to a portion of hardware successful public. It’s the past happening I’d privation to bash connected Subway.

The announcement makes it evident that Google doesn’t spot this arsenic a downgrade. The station ends with a convey you for our “continued feedback that enables [them] to amended [our] acquisition with utilizing Google Assistant, ” arsenic if this is simply a diagnostic we asked for.

It’s highly unfair to marketplace your merchandise utilizing a scope of features and past softly region 1 of its cardinal functionalities. Customers paid for this diagnostic erstwhile they shelled retired $200 for the buds—which isn’t a tiny amount. The touch-and-hold motion connected the Pixel Buds has present defaulted to cycling betwixt Active Noise Cancelation and Transparency Mode, antecedently 1 of the 2 options you could assign.

With each this happening astir a week earlier the flagship Pixel Buds Pro 2 ships, I wonderment if it volition impact their sales. We cognize that the second-gen Buds Pro volition present Gemini capabilities, truthful we’re going to walk a batch of clip talking to them anyway.