How to Enable and Turn off Google Assistant Ambient Mode

How to Enable and Turn off Google Assistant Ambient Mode

The ambient mode of Google Assistant was announced in 2019, but few people know the functionality and its usefulness. To start with, the assistant ambient mode is a redefined “ permanent display ” which only lights up when you charge your Android device.

It replaces your phone’s native lock screen with notifications as well as other nifty tools and shortcuts for easy access. In this article, we explain the steps necessary to activate and use the feature on your device.

Enabling ambient mode for Google Assistant

Step 1: Activate the Google Assistant on your smartphone.

Just press and hold the home button, or say “Hey Google” or “OK ​​Google”. Alternatively, if your device is running the Android 10 operating system and you are using “ gesture navigation ”, simply swipe up from the lower left or lower right corner of the screen to activate the wizard.

2nd step: With the Assistant pop-up on the screen, tap the Explore / Compass icon in the lower left corner.


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Step 3: On the Explore page, tap the profile photo in the upper right corner.


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Step 4: Tap Settings in the menu options.


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Step 5: Now go to the Assistant tab.


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Step 6: Scroll to the bottom of the Assistant settings page and tap Phone in the Devices section of the Assistant.


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This is where you can customize how the Assistant works on your device.

Step 7: Then scroll down to the bottom of this page and switch to the Ambient Mode option.


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You will find the Ambient mode option in the Personalization section. When the ambient mode has been activated, the screen of your device will look like the image below each time your phone is connected to charge.


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Note: The “ Photo frame on ambient display ” option would also be automatically activated when you switch to ambient mode. This displays different photos from a selected album in your Google Photos account in ambient mode.


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On the main room mode screen, your phone clock is displayed in a light gray digital format. Other application icons in your phone’s notification bar, as well as the battery percentage and charge notification would also be displayed. To switch to the secondary ambient display, simply tap the screen. Here you can control music playback, view weather conditions, view upcoming alarms and much more.


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There is also an Assistant icon at the bottom of the ambient mode screen. Tap the icon to interact with the Google Assistant via voice.


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When you unlock your device while it is charging, you can quickly return to ambient mode of the wizard by swiping down from the notification panel and pressing “ Return to ambient mode ”.


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Can’t find ambient mode in your assistant’s settings menu, see some troubleshooting options in the section below.

Activating the assistant’s ambient mode: troubleshooting tips

When Google introduced Ambient Mode, it was only deployed to select certain devices, especially phones made by Google (Nexus and Pixel phones) and some Android One devices. If you can’t find ambient mode in your device’s Google Assistant, here are a few things you can do to get functionality.

1. Update your operating system

The ambient mode of the Google Assistant was developed to work only on devices running Android 8.0 Oreo and higher. If your device is running Android 7.0 Nougat or earlier, ambient mode will not be available on your device.


Activate the ambient mode of Google Assistant

2. Install the Google Assistant app

Although the Assistant is built into the Android operating system and almost all Android devices have it, there is a dedicated Assistant app on the Google Play Store. If your device is up to date but still can’t find or use the ambient mode of Google Assistant, you need to install the Google Assistant app and restart your device. Then, the ambient mode should be present in the settings menu of the Assistant of your device.

It worked for me on my Nokia 6.1 Plus. The Ambient Mode option was not found at first, but after installing the Assistant app from the Play Store and restarting my device, the functionality appeared in the Assistant menu on my device.

If the wizard is already installed on your device, make sure it is updated to the latest version.

Deactivation of the ambient mode of the assistant

If after trying the ambient mode of the Google Assistant you find that you don’t like the feature or prefer the normal lock screen display, it’s very easy to turn it off. Follow the same steps as to activate it. Open the Google Assistant Settings menu, tap Phone, and turn off ambient mode.


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Spice up your screen

The ambient mode of Google Assistant is a simple and fun way to convert your phone screen into a smart assistant while charging. The concept is great and you should definitely try it. You do not like him? Follow the steps above to turn it off.

Then:

Is your device’s ambient mode battery percentage missing or not displayed? Find out how to fix it in the linked article below.

Last updated on February 14, 2020

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