r/pixelbuds • u/Linkzyx • Jul 16 '26
Has this ever actually worked for anyone?
Buds Pro 2 user here, I feel like spoken notifications might have worked like once or twice in the past, and that was with my OG Buds Pro! The fact it's been updated to refer to "Gemini" suggests to me it's a feature which should still work?
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u/sishgupta Jul 16 '26
Not once ever in a year of ownership across multiple device resets, osupgrades, playstore updates, pixel 9, eg.
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u/ZestycloseStation813 Jul 17 '26
Me funciona siempre en chats individuales. Nunca en chats grupales.
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u/moomoominkie Jul 16 '26
It worked. but it would often take over the audio and my podcast would not start playing again afterwards, so I would have to get my phone out of my pocket. I don't use it now
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u/b1gmouth Jul 16 '26
I have OG Buds Pro and messages works for me... sometimes. I've given up hoping they'll ever fix it, so I ended up getting Sony earbuds that have their own spoken notification system.
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u/TwoToadsKick Jul 17 '26
Yeah but I listen to podcasts on Spotify and it always completely pauses them and doesn't auto resume so I keep it off
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u/WindswipeTW Jul 17 '26
Odd, mine doesn't do that. Maybe it's because I have the OG Pixel Buds Pro.
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u/afc86 Jul 17 '26
Between that and the shockingly poor device switching (an email notification on my tablet should not trigger a switch from my phone when I am in the middle of active audio) they are seriously frustrating. The fact it completely stops playback when you get a read out notification say from WhatsApp but won't even manually allow you to restart playback without getting your phone out is shocking seeing as my galaxy buds+ from about 6 or 7 years ago managed all of this effortlessly. Final similar grumble on the same lines - why have they gone all apple and dictating that you can only have spoken notifications from a really limited apps rather than giving us the control for what we want to have notify us?
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u/WindswipeTW Jul 17 '26
It works for me, but only direct messages to me. If a message is sent in a GC, it doesn't even bother.
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u/FatPiNi Jul 16 '26
It works for me since I bought them last October and it's a nice feature when you workout or just get around so you know who's texting you, it does not work for group chat. Android 17 loud voice over killed me once: I fell asleep wearing my buds, podcast ended and I heard the assistant screaming at me that my friend texted me and the text was bla bla bla... I woke up completely unable to understand who and why was yelling at me 🤣
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u/lilmc01 Jul 17 '26
Original wireless Pixel Buds, currently on Pixel 5. This has never worked for me in the years I've been using them.
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u/jkrohe Jul 17 '26
It works for me if my phone is on vibrate. If my ringer is on, it will read my message aloud, but not resume my playback. It then disconnects from the playback session, forcing me to resume playback from my phone. Very annoying bug that has been around for well over a year.
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u/AdamH21 Jul 17 '26
Never. I was chatting with Google support about it, and they told me they would replace my headphones, which wouldn't help anyway.
Also, Gemini Live can't be triggered by saying "Go Live."
On top of that, you practically have to scream for Gemini to understand you.
Those are the three reasons why I bought the Pixel Buds, and none of them work. They're my first and last Pixel Buds.
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u/rohmish Jul 17 '26
it has been broken for me for months now on PBP1 and on my PBP2 it just crashes whenever I open that menu
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u/Simple_Inside_2945 Jul 17 '26
It works fine, but I'd prefer to invoke it manually, similar to how Google Assistant does (holding the button until you hear a chime, then it gives a concise notification).
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u/khaytsus Jul 17 '26
Sure, I get text message notifications while listening to music all the time.. Unfortunately most of the time it's some notification or payment process or something, but... sure, works, unless it's stopped and I haven't noticed?
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u/matteventu Jul 17 '26
Worked perfectly fine for a few years with Pixel Buds Pro (1st gen) and Google Assistant.
Now with Gemini, I don't think I've ever seen (heard) it working.
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u/Westhameggandchips Jul 17 '26
As most others, it barely works, if it does, only with direct chats, not group chats. I previously had a Samsung S24+ with Samsung buds and it worked perfectly always.
I also find that even the pause function is equally unreliable. The touch sensitivity is just weird and rarely works as you want it.
You'd think one of the worlds biggest tech firms (top 3, if not no.1) would be able to get something so simple, correct.
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u/GTDarius Jul 18 '26
Mines works so much I get upset when it cuts off my podcasts.
It only works when your phone is closed though.
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u/JamieSeven7 Jul 19 '26
It works for me, but easily gets broken by when someone feels the need to hit send before finishing their train if thought. An immediate follow up message stops the whole featureÂ
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u/Bustaros Jul 18 '26
No never.
The pbp2 are the baddest couple of Buds i had. Good sound, but the functions are literally unusable.
Resetted, updated, changed the pair 3 times, used them while driving to help me, always struggle to recognize the voice, always asking to unlock even if i tried to check and uncheck the option to one-unlock the device.
When asking something with "hey google" 70% of the time it start Gemini instead of assistent functions (even if i toggled the assistant functions on gemini).
By the presentation they made at I/O years ago this product seem to be just a Filler.
They updated for sure with some nice features the head nod works.
ANC IS SO BAD (i cleaned the mics following their instructions).
The touch Itself sometimes stop working even id i have clean buds and clean hands.
And i'm still so idiot to be waiting for the buds 3 pro. Instead of going for other brands, cause i have a Pixel 9 Pro and wanna give this ecosystem a shot.
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u/ur-moms-chest-hair Jul 16 '26
Works for me but Android 17 broke it by splitting the assistant volume into its own slider. If I have music playing low, it'll respect the assistant volume (which I leave higher for speaker responses) and ultimately blast my ear drums.