Google says it is fixing the ‘Ok Google’ hotword for Wear OS users, months after it got reported

If you're not using the hot word to trigger the Assistant, you'll probably need to long press the power button or use the touchscreen to trigger it.

Smartwatch. (Unsplash)

Looks like Google may soon fix one of the most annoying issues in the Wear OS platform - the broken ‘Hey Google' hotword. It is worth mentioning that the firm has not fixed this bug since months. According to some reports on Reddit and Google Issue Tracker, the ‘Ok Google' and ‘Hey Google' hotwords that are usually said to trigger the Assistant, have not been working well on the Wear OS smartwatches. The first issue showed up in November last year but rather went unnoticed. Although this doesn't really affect how you use the Google Assistant or the Wear OS, it does make it slightly difficult for people to access it.

If you're not using the hot word to trigger the Assistant, you'll probably need to long press the power button or use the touchscreen to trigger it.

Fortunately, Google now seems to be aware of this problem and has confirmed to The Verge that it is working on a fix. The search giant says that it's “aware of the issues some users have been encountering” and will help its partners “address these and improve the overall experience.”

As seen in Google's issue tracker, there have been several users facing this problem in different smartwatch models. According to them, the system is completely unusable. Although Google has not made it clear until when it will be rolling out the fix, it sure is good news for Wear OS users. And considering how important Google Assistant platform is for the company, the fix should ideally arrive sooner than later, even if the Wear OS has been kind of ‘neglected' all this while.