During the Pandemic, many of us have spent considerable time waiting on hold, even if we aren’t calling eBay. After upgrading to the Google Pixel 4a (5G), we were eager to test the Hold for Me feature. While it works well, it doesn’t work quite the way we thought it would.
Hold for Me does what it claims. It activates with a single touch and starts listening to your hold music. The Phone app stays active with the captions for voices or letting you know that music is still playing. You can put your phone in your pocket and do a non-phone task or switch to another app without dropping the call. When it detects a human on the line, an urgent ring alerts you it’s time to unpocket your device.
As with anything, there are limitations. Hold for Me disables audio playback on the phone while in use. Want to listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video while you wait on hold? You’ll need a second device for that. And worse, a multi-device Bluetooth headset will not switch to a second device while Hold for Me is running. WHY!?!?!
Temporarily unpairing a Bluetooth device from your phone is risky proposition when you don’t know how long you’ll be on hold. I suppose the concern is that a call from a secondary device would keep you from returning to the Pixel when phone support returns. Whatever the rationale, your Bluetooth headset is temporarily earmuffs.
Another weird side-effect of Hold for Me is that some advisors get confused and suddenly think you work for Google.
At a time when we’re stuck at home and preparing for the holidays, Hold for Me is far more practical than 5G. And although it would be nicer to have web-initiated phone calls or automated callbacks to avoid holds altogether, Hold for Me makes antiquated phone systems more bearable and that says a lot. Google is doing something special here. For many users, thoughtful software features like this one are more practical than a faster processor or extra RAM.