- Currently, the only apps you can launch by voice command on Android are Google Assistant and whatever voice assistant your OEM preloads, such as Bixby.
- A hidden page in the latest Android beta hints at a “voice activation” feature that could expand this capability to more apps.
- It’s not totally clear how it works yet, but the feature will supposedly keep your data private through protected adaptive sensing.
Voice assistants are handy services that let you check the weather, set an alarm, play music, or look up something totally hands-free. Android gives you the freedom to choose between several voice assistants, including Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and, if you have a Samsung phone, Bixby. However, while Android does allow any app to become the default assistant app, it doesn’t just let any app respond to wake words like “Hey Google” in the background. This is mainly for privacy reasons since your phone has to constantly listen to audio through the microphone in order to pick up the designated wake word. A new feature in Android 15 called “voice activation” could solve this problem through the use of a privacy-preserving “adaptive sensing” technology.
