It’s a Side Key now. Press what you may think is the power button for a few seconds on many modern phones, and rather than see a power-related menu, a virtual assistant is most likely going to ...

It’s just as bad on Samsung and Google phones. Long-pressing the power button on the Pixel 7 Pro just now brought up the Google Assistant and a prompt to ask it how to say sorry in Spanish.

So when Apple killed the home button, it changed two things about the power button, too. First, the power button on the iPhone X is twice as big as prior models, so it’s always easy to press it.

While nearly one in every two readers “hate” the idea of manufacturers changing the power button’s functionality, 31% claim that they don’t mind, provided they can change it back in settings.

By setting your Pixel phone up this way, your power button now does power button things. When you long-press it, you’ll see a power menu that lets you access the Emergency menu, put your phone ...