‘Ok Google’ can die; this is my favorite new way to talk to Gemini

The Pixel Watch 4 has won me over with its longer battery life, faster charging, better repairability, and absolutely gorgeous new display, but one feature I keep finding myself swooning over is the new raise-to-talk gesture to invoke Gemini.

I can simply raise my wrist in the direction of my head, and the Pixel Watch will immediately trigger a blue Gemini animation, telling me it’s ready to listen to my question or command. I love this so much that it’s reduced my usage of Nest speakers and hubs around the house because it doesn’t require the dreaded “Ok Google” first.

Although I’ve been using the famous “Ok Google” and “Hey Google” triggers for nearly a decade now, I don’t think I was ever a fan of them. They are disruptive, awkward to say, and I never knew which phone or speaker would answer me. Plus, my speakers often got triggered when they shouldn’t and didn’t start listening when they should’ve. The only way I could ever make peace with “Ok Google” was to:

1. Turn off the voice command on all of my phones so they don’t try to overtake my speakers. This reduces the chance that I’d get an answer from a random device around my house that isn’t near me.
2. Enable accessibility settings on all my Nest speakers and hubs, which play an audio cue each time the speaker starts listening. Although this introduces extra lag, it allows me to make sure that I’m not talking to deaf ears if the speaker doesn’t recognize the command. It also signals to me that the speaker got triggered when it shouldn’t have, so I can quickly tell it, “This wasn’t for you.”
3. Use the famous Italian grandma’s “Okay Goo-goo” (YouTube link) to make the command more fun and less awkward to say.

No matter how universal “Hey Google” has become, I wouldn’t miss it if Google killed it tomorrow for a better alternative. As far as I’m concerned, even something as manual as pressing the power button on my phone is better because it’s more deliberate and more reliable. That’s why I’ve been waiting for a way to make talking to my smart speakers or assistant more natural and less robotic.

Although it’s not perfect and there are still some false positive triggers, I love using the Pixel Watch 4’s new gesture to talk to Gemini. And I’m not alone, my colleague C. Scott loves it, too, and Kaitlyn praised it in her Pixel Watch 4 review. Basically, if I just tilt the watch toward me to read the time, nothing happens, but if I raise the watch and tilt it toward me, a little blue animation appears and expands into a Gemini listening screen if it detects that I’m talking.

This is so much more natural than shouting “Ok Google” or “Hey Google” in the void. It’s both seamless and more deliberate, and it ensures that only one device — the watch that I’m wearing — will listen and reply to me. No more answers from the other side of the room, or worse, the house. No more “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

Raising the watch to ask a question works for me when I’m at my desk typing. I can just lift the watch and start a stopwatch for work, control the office’s lights, or ask if the washing machine cycle is done. It works for me when I’m cooking; a simple lift and I can ask for a quick unit conversion, a new timer, or an idea for how to add mangoes to my latest burger creation. It also works for me when I’m moving around the house because I don’t have to stay still to wait for the answer from the speaker in that room.

Surprisingly, this gesture has also made talking to Gemini in public less awkward. I always avoided talking to my phone or earbuds while walking on the street, waiting for the train, or shopping, because it just looks and feels weird. But since I can get the watch close to my mouth and lower or mute the answer’s volume, it feels less goofy and inappropriate. I still wouldn’t use it when there’s someone within earshot, but I’m slowly getting used to it when I’m a few feet isolated from people.

There’s something more seamless about invoking Google like that, with a swift wrist movement. It’s less disruptive than long-pressing buttons or shouting in the void, can be done with one hand, and feels more responsive overall. I just want Google to improve its algorithm to reduce false positives because hearing my watch talk back to me when I didn’t intend to trigger it is a bit jarring.

Otherwise, yes, “Ok Google” can die. Maybe the only place it makes sense today is with smart speakers. Phones, earbuds, TVs, watches; they all need a better way to trigger Gemini.