Google just pulled the plug on a popular Phone app feature after users discovered their microphones were secretly broadcasting to callers. The company is disabling Take a Message and next-gen Call Screen on Pixel 4 and 5 devices following reports that the AI-powered voicemail tool was inadvertently streaming ambient audio during missed calls. While Google says the bug affects only a "very small subset" of legacy devices, the incident marks another privacy stumble for the search giant's consumer hardware division.
Google is scrambling to contain a privacy breach affecting its older Pixel smartphones after users discovered a feature designed to make life easier was instead broadcasting their private conversations. The company confirmed it's disabling Take a Message and advanced Call Screen capabilities on Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 devices following reports that microphones were activating without user consent during missed calls.
The issue centers on Take a Message, an AI-powered feature Google rolled out last year that automatically answers incoming calls you miss, prompts the caller to leave a message, and transcribes the voicemail in real-time. But instead of just recording the caller's message, some Pixel 4 and 5 owners discovered the feature was doing something far more troubling - it was turning on their device's microphone and streaming ambient audio back to the person on the other end of the line.
One Pixel owner on Reddit described the unsettling experience: "It was as though I picked up the phone, except I had done nothing. It just passively started recording me and sending audio to the caller." The user noticed the microphone privacy indicator lighting up at the top of their screen after missing a call, alerting them that audio was being captured. Callers reportedly didn't hear the usual voicemail greeting - instead, they could hear room sounds and conversations happening near the phone.
The revelation triggered alarm bells across Pixel communities, with users questioning how long the bug had existed and how many private moments might have been inadvertently broadcast. community manager Siri Tejaswini addressed the concerns on a , acknowledging the company had investigated and "confirmed affects a very small subset of Pixel 4 and 5 devices under very specific and rare circumstances."
