Advice on unlocking phones with voice activation — Scope | Disability forum
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Advice on unlocking phones with voice activation

Jenny_Babenko
Jenny_Babenko Community member Posts: 2 Listener
Hi @Andy_Assistive @Ryan_Assistive
I've been trying to help set up my brother with voice activation on his Android phone and managed to talk him through the settings to do this. However, we can't work out how to allow the Google Assistant to unlock his phone with his voice. I have managed to set this up on my own phone, I have Sony and he has Samsung. I've done lots of searching online but haven't yet found a solution and wondered if you might have any advice on anything we can download or buy to help him be able to make calls when he can't reach his phone, which happened recently when he fell and couldn't move to reach his phone. Many thanks in advance. Jenny
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  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
    edited January 2021
    Hi @Jenny_Babenko

    How are you? 

    Welcome to the community, glad you've joined us. 

    I know it's possible to set up the Google Assistant to be able to unlock your phone, but I can't seem to find that setting whatsoever which is strange, I used to have it turned on. You could try reading this guide  but I believe the information is outdated.

    For me, the easiest solution when it comes to voice activated phone calls is to get one of the Google Nest (Also known as Google Home) smart speakers, which you can link with your phone number and use to contact any number other than the emergency services. Having done this, I can verify it's simplicity and effectiveness.
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  • Jenny_Babenko
    Jenny_Babenko Community member Posts: 2 Listener
    Hi @Ross_Scope
    Thanks so much for your response and I know what you mean, I set Google Assistant to unlock my phone one day last week so see how to do it, rang my brother a couple of days later to help him set it up and it the settings were no longer there - very strange! It does still work on my phone however. Anyway, thanks for the Google Nest / Home suggestion I think that might well be the way to go. We're going to look at Samsung's Bixby over the weekend, but I think it's still in Beta...

  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
    Yes it is very confusing @Jenny_Babenko, Google do a lot of odd things :D 

    Regarding the Google Nest speakers, the best value option would be the Google Nest Mini, you can often get them for as cheap as £19.99 and they are a decent sounding little thing.

    Let us know how you get on with Bixby, I don't think it's great but it might be able to do what you're looking for.
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