Google disables Take a Message on older Pixel phones amid audio leak bug
Google is disabling some Phone app features on older Pixel devices after acknowledging a bug that inadvertently leaked audio to callers. The issue has specifically been linked to the Take a Message feature released last year, which automatically answers and transcribes voicemails when you miss a cal...
By Jess WeatherbedJanuary 29, 2026154 views
Image: The Verge
Take a Message and next-gen Call Screen features are being disabled on Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 devices.
Google is disabling some Phone app features on older Pixel devices after acknowledging a bug that inadvertently leaked audio to callers. The issue has specifically been linked to the Take a Message feature released last year, which automatically answers and transcribes voicemails when you miss a call, with a handful of Pixel 4 and 5 owners reporting that their microphones were activating when callers were leaving messages.
"We've investigated this issue, which we've confirmed affects a very small subset of Pixel 4 and 5 devices under very specific and rare circumstances," said Google community manager Siri Tejaswini on a support page. "Out …
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