Google may be removing this beloved Pixel Buds Pro feature

Modern
earbuds
are
so
much
more
than
just
tiny
speakers
perched
in
our
ears,
and
the
good
ones
offer
numerous
ways
to
directly
interact
with
our
phones,
from
music
playback
controls,
to
those
connected
to
virtual
assistants.
The
original

Pixel
Buds
Pro
are
a
couple
years
old
at
this
point,
but
have
still
been

holding
up
great
—
at
least,
so
far.
But
now
it
looks
like
Google
could
be
removing
one
of
the
key
ways
these
earbuds
let
users
control
their
phones.

Over
the
past
couple
days,
Reddit
users
like

hintze85
and

fakeaccountt12345
have
been
sharing
reports
that
their
Buds
have
lost
the
ability
to
read
notifications
by
pressing
and
holding
on
the
earbud’s
side
(via


9to5Google).
And
lest
we
write
this
off
as
a
glitch,
some
of
these
users
report
hearing
an
audio
message
informing
them
that
“touch
and
hold
wont
read
notifications
anymore.”

What’s
bizarre
is
that
you’re
still
able
to
hear
your
notifications,
but
just
no
longer
able
to
access
them
in
this
way.
Instead,
affected
users
need
to
speak
their
request
aloud
to
Assistant.
And
while
that
works
in
a
pinch,
it’s
a
heck
of
a
lot
less
graceful
when
you’re
trying
to
be
slightly
more
discreet.

We’ve
heard
some
theories
for
why
Google
could
be
altering
this
behavior,
and
the
best
guesses
at
the
moment
are
tied
to
the
forthcoming
release
of
the

Pixel
Buds
Pro
2
and
Google’s
increasing
focus
on
Gemini.
Even
with
that
in
mind,
this
change
still
feels
like
a
step
backward,
and
none
of
the
Pixel
Buds
users
we’ve
seen
talking
about
it
online
seem
very
pleased
with
the
decision.

Android
Authority
has
reached
out
to
Google
to
see
if
the
company
can
shed
some
light
on
this
situation,
and
we’ll
update
this
post
with
anything
new
we
learn.