Until last year, you needed to use the "Hey Google" hotword before every interaction with Google Assistant on your phone. With the Pixel 6's arrival in October 2021, Google debuted Quick phrases that let you skip the hotword for some commonly used commands. A few months later, Google further expanded the feature to more languages. Currently, you can use Quick phrases for two actions: "stop" or "snooze" alarms and to "answer" or "decline" incoming calls. Annoyingly, there's no option to "silence" an incoming call. A teardown of the latest Google app indicates this could soon change.

9to5Google's teardown of the Google app 13.34, which is currently in beta, reveals that the big G is working on adding "Silence" as a Quick phrase. As the naming indicates, the phrase will allow you to silence incoming calls instead of having to decline or accept them. You can then decide if you want to pick up/reject the call or just let the phone ring. As of now, you need to press the Pixel 6's volume rocker to mute incoming calls. Seemingly, Google is testing this feature internally and is referred to as "v2" of Quick phrases for calls.

There's no clarity on when this new Quick phrases functionality will roll out to Pixel 6 owners. Google could either bundle it in the next Feature Drop or release it alongside the Pixel 7 series.

On Google Assistant-powered smart speakers and displays, Quick phrases can be used for more than just stopping the alarm. You can skip to the next song, reset the timer, cancel all alarms, check the weather, and more—without saying the "Hey Google" hotword. Google might be planning to bring some of these enhancements to the Pixel 6 and 7 series, though we have not heard anything concrete yet.