Pressing a volume button lets you hear the other party in Google Pixel’s Call Screen

We may earn a commission for purchases made using our links.

One of the features that got a lot of attention with the launch of the Pixel 3 was Call Screen. This crazy feature allows you to make Google Assistant take calls for you. All you have to do is sit back and choose questions for Assistant to ask. The feature has now rolled out to all Google Pixel phones and a handy simple trick has been discovered.

While using Call Screen, you can see the conversation play out in text on the screen as Google transcribes the caller’s voice in real-time. The transcript is usually pretty accurate, but in some situations, you may prefer to hear the caller. Reddit user eurostylin discovered that you can press the volume buttons to hear the caller over the speaker without them hearing you. You can also put the phone up to your ear to hear the caller (some said this didn’t work for them).

Is this an Earth-shattering feature? No, but it does add a little extra usability to an already very cool tool. The idea of Call Screen is to make Google Assistant do the talking for you. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to hear the person on the other end. How often do you use Call Screen feature on your Pixel?