You can now make Google Assistant shut up by saying 'stop'

We all know that sometimes, Google Assistant can take its "simple answers" a tad too far. This is why as of this week, users now have the ability to make the virtual assistant shut up mid-sentence, by just telling it to "stop."

Such quick phrases have slowly been becoming a thing with the Pixel 6, where you can give your virtual assistant a short command without starting out with the habitual "OK, Google" or "Hey, Google" opener. 

The "stop" command itself is nothing new, either—back in 2019, Google first introduced the "stop" phrase to stop a ringing alarm. This was followed up by the ability to "snooze" the alarm, or instantly answer or decline a call, simply using your voice.

Google officially tweeted the news on Tuesday that Google Assistant users across the board now have a second, rather useful functionality for the "stop" command. 

It certainly isn't rare for a babbling, bumbling Google Assistant to get a little too carried away in its weather report, or Wikipedia answer lookup—and we'll admit we've sometimes inadvertently used the "stop" command with it before it was even a command, out of sheer frustration. 

Thankfully, the assistant's more drawn-out answers should never cause such frustration again, with the new quick phrase able to stop it short in its tracks.

In order to enjoy the brand new functionality, users would need to make sure their Google Assistant platform is fully updated to the latest version. This includes any smart speaker, the Google Home app, or the Google Assistant app for smartphones.

For most other commands, unfortunately, you still have to use the traditional wake-up phrase "OK Google" to activate the speaker. We know that Google is already working on a much wider list of quick phrases to implement in the future, although development is still in its early stages. When they do come, they're likely hit the Google Pixel 6 first, before expanding to the virtual assistant on other platforms.