Google Assistant button - remap workaround?

madbilly
madbilly Super User
edited March 2019 in Phones
Hi everyone,

The new 3.2 and 4.2 have a dedicated button for calling the Google Assistant app. AFAIK it cannot be remapped, Google forbid this, however, I wonder if it can be made to call another app by changing the default "assistant" app. This can already be done in Android 8.1, I don't know if it's possible in Android 9. Any app which say it is an "assistant" can be made to be default and then called by long-pressing the home button e.g. Firefox!

So, the question is, does this work for the dedicated assistant button?

Let me know when you get your 3.2 or 4.2!

Cheers :smiley:
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Comments

  • Tsapana
    Tsapana ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    It should be possible, but looks like this system setting not working at least on nokia 7.2 - other assistant apps can not be selected. Looks like a bug in nokia's software layer.

  • Deb Ghosh
    Deb Ghosh ✭✭
    Yes. Apparently it worked for an XDA guy. But didnt work for me.
  • singhnsk
    singhnsk Super User

    Yes, setting a different assist app works on all phones I tried. Last was a Nokia 2.2. I was able to pull Microsoft's Cortana using the GA button. Google would hate me doing that on a video 🤤

    Yep, Firefox worked too. I could open a new Fox tab by pressing that handy button. But I'd have liked it more if I could just open existing opened tabs instead of a new blank tab :))

  • madbilly
    madbilly Super User
    edited December 2019

    Hi @singhnsk, I agree, the new tab function isn't much use except that I think it's possible to combine it with some sort of voice assist if you find the right add-on to work with Firefox for Android. I think it is or was an add-on which allowed voice input for various search engines. I never got it to work properly though.

    Cheers 🙂

    EDIT - Voice Fill! It was a Firefox Test Pilot add-on.

  • @sandi2708
    @sandi2708 ✭✭
    https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/141723#Comment_141723

    It has worked for me. Using a button mapper app.

  • @sandi2708
    @sandi2708 ✭✭
    https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/138987#Comment_138987

    First you have to turn assistant off from the settings and then install a button mapper to customize. I have customised the assistant button to take screenshots, splitscreen for supported apps and toggle flashlight. Till now it has been working flawlessly in my 7.2. No root was required.

  • madbilly
    madbilly Super User

    Hi Sandi2708,

    First, I can't work out how to tag you with an @ at the front of your name - can you remove it please? 🙂

    Second, thanks for the tips! This is very useful to know 😃

    Cheers 🙂

  • paulo renan
    paulo renan ✭✭
    edited October 2020

    Hello,

    I tried the app called "Button Mapper: Remap your keys" from "flar2", and it does not recognise the assistant hardware button on my Nokia 8.3. I also tried setting assistant app to none and tried deactivating Google assistant app button, but no luck, remapper didn't recognise the button.

    Btw, shouldn't the on/off option be called "Assist Button", instead of "Goggle Assistant Button"? Since you may in theory be Firefox anyway (in theory because it's not working on mine. When I press it, it gives a message "Set Google as default assistant app to access your assistant"), so it's not hardcoded to Google, right?

    I don't use assistant apps, and therefore expect to be able to Remap this button.

    The idea of voice assistant cloud listening all the time is way beyond my privacy threshold, I'm sure Nokia's engineers can understand that. So I imagine fixing that would be somewhat important.

    Seems to me like it's something wrong on Nokia side. I change assistant app to Firefox, but the icon of the chosen app remains of the Google assistant. I go back to default apps and there it shows Firefox icon as default assistant. I go into default assistant setting again, and see Google assistant icon, it doesn't change. If I tap to change it, the selected app is Firefox, though it doesn't launch Firefox nor a new tab in it.

  • swilson
    swilson ✭✭
    https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/179153#Comment_179153

    Completely agree @paulo renan, a constantly listening google assistant will be a privacy issue for a vast amount of people. I'm also trying to remap the button on my new 8.3 5G using the flar2 app, but it seems that remapping this button is blocked.

    Nokia, can you please do something about this. For a lot of people this button will be useless. Remapping worked on prior phones (7.2 etc), why is it blocked for this useless assistant button here?

  • Marnes
    Marnes ✭✭
    edited February 2021

    Seconded. I just bought the 8.3 via my work and love it, it's a great phone, but the GA button is beyond useless to me in its current state. I don't use GA and don't want to. I can only imagine such "one track mind" (or "one usecase fits all users") design is the result of google strong-arming phone manufacturers to support its monopolies rather than customer-serving design.

    I'd much rather make this button trigger my automation app, Automate, and let it in turn run whatever actions I want (like toggling do-not-disturb). Or at least let apps like flar2's Button Mapper detect the buttonpress on their own.

  • JustaDude
    JustaDude ✭✭
    edited September 2022

    Assistant not working from screen off is driving me nuts! Use to work great on my OLD Samsung S8 Active, but does not work at all on this Nokia crap! I ride motorcycles and when I come home at night would use it to turn on lights to my back garage, cannot do that any more unless I wake the phone up 1st, making the whole handsfree a hazard to activate! & having the button turned on irritates me to no end cause I hit the damn thing ALL THE TIME!

  • zakings
    zakings ✭

    Nokia C21 plus y is there no front camera in the phone but in the cartoon it is been said there is front camera on it.

    And most importantly Y is the the camera quality tooooo poor please is making me mad.

  • AMJITH
    AMJITH ✭✭

    Why we even need a assistant button when google assistant can pop-up from everywhere.I searched for some apps,but nothing works.This button is hardwired to the software to unrecognisable by any means.

  • singhnsk
    singhnsk Super User
    https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/209530#Comment_209530

    Yes, the useless button can only be disabled if one doesn't want to use it to trigger Google Assistant. Even setting another app as an assist app leaves the button to force the user into making GA the default assist app.

    I also tried many apps, but none helped anymore in putting the button to a usable use case.

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