Turned off my smart TV's microphone and kept all my streaming apps working

Bryan Wolfe says he turned off the microphone on his Google TV Streamer after noticing Google Gemini speaking while he watched Thursday Night Football. He expected apps like YouTube or Netflix to break, but after switching off the mic, he kept it disabled for weeks. Voice commands now require the remote shortcut less often, and searches by voice no longer work; typing titles on the on-screen keyboard takes longer. Wolfe reports that streaming apps including Netflix, YouTube, and Max continued to open, play, and resume normally, with casting and home recommendations unchanged. The underlying reason: Android handles a disabled mic quietly.