C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A bug in Google Assistant’s Quick Phrases feature is causing a persistent toast notification on Pixel phones.
- The notification makes it difficult to see the caller ID and renders the notification area unresponsive.
- Disabling Google Assistant’s Quick Phrases is a temporary solution until Google issues a fix.
Google Pixel smartphones have emerged as consistent top choices, especially if you are looking for a camera-focused smartphone. Despite being excellent phones, Pixel phones are prone to the occasional bug, which can sour your otherwise great phone experience. We’ve spotted a new Pixel bug that makes receiving calls very annoying, but thankfully, there’s a quick and easy fix, too.
We have been facing a new bug on our Pixel 9 Pro XL since yesterday, running the latest Android 15 stable update. When we receive a phone call on the device, we see a toast notification that prompts us to “Say ‘Answer.’” This is part of Google Assistant’s Quick Phrases feature that lets users answer incoming calls with an “Answer” command without needing to invoke Google Assistant with the usual “Hey Google” wake word. You can also silence the call by saying, “Decline.”
The Say “Answer” toast notification should stick around while the call is ringing. However, it bugs out and stays stuck even after the call ends. More annoyingly, it renders that area of the screen and everything around it unusable. The toast notification also covers the phone ID, making it challenging to figure out who is calling before you pick up the call.
How to fix stuck ‘Say “Answer”‘ notification on Google Pixel smartphones
As you can imagine, this bug likely originates from the Google app through the Assistant services. You can get some temporary reprieve by force closing the Google app (Settings > Apps > Google) and reopening it, which will remove the notification.
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Go to Apps > See all apps > Google.
- Tap on Force Close.
- You can reopen the Google app to ensure it has restarted. You can either launch it from your app launcher or click on the launch shortcut in the top right corner of the app info page from the previous step.
However, force-stopping the Google app will merely remove the toast notification, while the next call will bring back the bug.
If you want to solve this bug rather permanently, you must disable the Quick Phrase. You will lose its functionality, but at least you won’t face the bug. You can re-enable the Quick Phrase whenever Google fixes the toast notification.
- Open the Google app on your phone.
- Click on the profile picture in the top right corner.
- Go to Settings > Google Assistant > Quick Phrases.
- Uncheck/disable the option for incoming calls.
Once you disable the quick phrase, you should no longer see the accidentally-persistent ‘Say “Answer”‘ toast notification.
Have you faced this issue on your phone? Let us know in the comments below!
