Google's Home Mini smart speaker received an update on Friday that brings back some of the touch-based controls that the company had to disable shortly after its release back in October (via AndroidPolice).

Google was forced to turn off the built-in touch panel, which is designed to let users activate Google Assistant with a long press instead of a voice command, after a reviewer discovered that some of the devices were registering "phantom touch events".

homemini
The issue meant that some Minis were prone to recording conversations and sounds even when no "OK Google" voice command was spoken, immediately prompting privacy concerns. As a result, Google opted to disable the touch features completely, including single-tap functions that played and paused music, snoozed alarms, and ended phone calls.

Friday's v1.29 firmware update reinstates some of that single-tap functionality, but via a side long press instead. After installing the update, Google Home Mini owners will again be able to play/pause music, end phone calls, and silence alarms without speaking to the device. However, users still won't be able to trigger voice input using touch, because the top long press functions remain disabled.

The software tweak is initially being rolled out in the preview firmware channel, which Home Mini owners can join via the Home app settings if they don't want to wait around for the automatic update.

Top Rated Comments

Weaselboy Avatar
97 months ago
I know I may get busted by the mods but is this a mac rumour? Unless I'm missing something and there was an iOS app connected to this?
From the FAQ (https://macrumors.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201096168-Why-does-a-Mac-rumors-site-have-so-many-stories-about-phones-tablets-and-watches-):

We also cover stories of widespread interest to our regular readers, such as news and speculation about major software developers and third-party product and service vendors closely associated with or rivaling Apple.
If you would like to provide some feedback on the types of news covered, please start a thread in the Site and Forum Feedback (https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/site-and-forum-feedback.66/) section. Thanks
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
97 months ago
I know I may get busted by the mods but is this a mac rumour? Unless I'm missing something and there was an iOS app connected to this?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BlargKing Avatar
97 months ago
Okay, am I missing something with this new fad of "smart" speakers? Like what is the point of them? Its just a bluetooth speaker with Amazon/Google/Apple's crappy "smart" assistant built in. What functionality does it provide other then having to shout at it 6 times to get it to play the correct song.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pauloregan Avatar
97 months ago
Must have been posted on wrong site.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
97 months ago
The “fresh minds” at Google at their engineering best.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mascots Avatar
97 months ago
This... is basically a hardware design flaw with the device and google is attempting to walk around fixing it with software.

Don't understand how this isn't a bigger deal...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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