9to5Google discovers menu to control Google Assistant without a callsign

9to5Google has discovered a menu in the Google Assistant apk that details an experimental feature called Quick phrases. This feature eliminates the need for the Assistant’s callsign for some voice commands.

The functionality to control the Google Assistant without a call sign such as ‘Hey, Google’ was already discovered in April. Back then, the code name guacamole was used by Google, while now the term Quick phrases is used for the function and salsas for the voice commands.

9to5Google also discovered in April that only alarms and timers could be deactivated without having to say the callsign. Now it also seems possible to request weather information, set timers and alarms, skip music tracks, adjust volume and control lights.

According to 9to5Google, the various voice commands must be enabled individually if someone wants to be able to activate them without a call sign. A Voice Match voice recording is then performed to ensure that the command only responds to the user’s voice.

9to5Google suspects that Google uses the Voice Match recordings and uses them as actual callsigns for the Assistant. The editors also discovered that it is possible to activate these callsigns on other Google Assistant devices. It is not clear whether and when the feature will actually be rolled out.