Bug - Partial remote unresponsiveness after summoning Voice Assistant

[joaomambelli]

TV QN55QN85CAG

Soundbar HW-Q800C (connected with TV over Wi-Fi)

TV OS: Samsung Tizen OS v2020

If I do any of the following things while watching YouTube or Netflix (the only apps I tested):

- Short press (not holding) the remote Voice Assistant button

- Hold the remote Voice Assistant button, don’t give any commands and let it go

- Say “Alexa” and don’t give any commands

the follow sequence of events will happen:

1 - I will hear the chirp/notification sound (The sound it plays so I know the Voice Assistant is listening for a command).

2 - The volume of the content I’m watching will get lowered.

3 - After a few seconds the Voice Assistant will stop trying to listen for commands.

4 - The volume of the content I’m watching will get back to normal.

5 - The buttons I circled on the following image will stop working on the app currently opened.

(The Return button works only if held down for a few seconds, summoning the “Close app” function)

This happens when Voice Assistant is summoned by mistake: when I press the remote Voice Assistant button by mistake or when Alexa thinks it heard me say “Alexa”. Usually happens with a frequency of once in a watching session.

I managed to find out a few ways of getting the remote to work as expected when this happens:

- Hold the Return button for a few seconds, summoning the “Close app” function. Then I can open the app again.

- Press the Home button to exit the app. Then I can open the app again.

- [Best alternative] Hold the remote Voice Assistant button and say “Stop”. (Usually this also pauses the content I’m watching, but then I can just resume the content)

I’m sure there are people that also have this issue but couldn’t understand what causes it and how to get the remote to work again. Very frustrating.

[Samsung_Moderator]

Hello, joaomambelli. Welcome to the Community! Have you tried a factory reset of the remote? 

For Standard Remotes:
Remove Batteries: Take out the batteries from the remote.
Press Power Button: Hold down the Power button on the remote for about 8 seconds.
Reinsert Batteries: Put the batteries back in, ensuring correct polarity (+/-).
Try Remote: See if the remote now functions properly. 
For Smart Remotes (2021 Neo QLED, QLED, and Frame TVs):
Soft Reset:
With the TV on, press and hold the Return and Enter (center of the navigation pad) buttons for more than 10 seconds. 
Pairing:
After the reset, you may need to pair the remote with the TV again. 
Point the remote at the TV. 
Press and hold the Return and Play/Pause buttons simultaneously for at least 3 seconds. 
A message should appear on the TV indicating the remote is now connected. 

Please, let us know if this helps!

[joaomambelli]

I will try that and test for a few days... But bear in mind that this is probably a software bug related to the built-in Alexa Voice Assistant.

The interaction with some of the remote buttons gets "blocked" even if I don't use the remote to summon Alexa, in other words, it happens even if I summon it by saying "Alexa" and don't give any commands.