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Google’s Pixel Buds can finally be turned off

Google’s Pixel Buds can finally be turned off

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Pixel buds
Pixel buds
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google announced updates to its wireless Pixel Buds yesterday that’ll add new gesture features that really should’ve been included at launch, like the ability to manually turn the earbuds on and off and more easily switch between paired Bluetooth devices.

Users can now triple tap the right earbud to turn the Pixel Buds on or off. Yes, up until now, users had no way of turning the Pixel Buds off other than putting them back in their impractical case. Unlike AirPods and other top-end wireless earbuds, taking them out of your ears doesn’t turn them off either. So the triple tap is an important, much-needed update.

Now, users can also choose Pixel Buds from the Bluetooth menu of whatever previously paired device they want to listen on, and the Buds will automatically disconnect from their current device to the new one. You previously had to disconnect from the current device and then connect to the other one. This new routine eliminates that manual disconnect step to make the process a little easier and more seamless.

Finally, Google says users can now not only double tap to hear notifications but also skip tracks. You’ll have to change this in the Google Assistant app on your phone, and you can still use the skip track voice command even if the double tap is enabled.

These updates are rolling out now, and they should be available to all Pixel Buds owners by early next week.