As you may know, I have a new phone. And because it’s new I didn’t root it. Thanks to German laws and the merchant I have 24 months guarantee - so if it breaks itself, it’s not my fault. And because I didn’t root, I have to live with some of the manufacturer’s decisions. And that one includes the deep integration of the Google Assistant.

The Google Assistant might be an awesome product, when you look at how it can simplify one’s life. You can ask it almost anything and it probably has the right answer for you.

But I hate it though. It’s like a Trojan horse (how The Verge liked to call Alexa recently). It collects all your data and can probably change it’s opinion if Google wants it to do so.

The problem now comes with Android Oreo and how Google and Xiaomi decided to integrate Google Assistant into the software of it’s Mi A1 device. (It’s probably the same on Pixels and other Android One devices.)

There is no option to deactivate the default “Ok Google” detection in the default launcher and all ways I was able to turn it off on other devices, require you to turn on Google Assistant and with it all the various Google history options, like location history, search history and voice history.

Why do I need to activate Google Assistant, just to make my phone deaf?

Why should I give up my privacy to get back a little privacy? It’s just unlogical.

Why is there no more simple way than installing an alternative launcher, to stop my phone listen to me all the time?

I simply don’t want my phone to listen to me all the time! I want my privacy, why isn’t Google understanding this?