Alexa is becoming a fixture in more homes than ever. But along with all the clever new features, a handful is definitely worth turning off.
Sarah Tew / CNET
Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant are constantly winning opportunities – from games with bigger budget no more robust home security functions – and many hidden perks can really enhance your experience with those voice assistants. Alexa launched in 2014, and the voice assistant has become more personal (and customizable) every year.
Just as important as finding these favorite features is finding the switches to turn on out. Whether you care about privacy, do not want friends “sink in.“do not invite or just want Alexa to stop parroting your queries and commands back to you. Here are six features you should disable in the Alexa app right now.
Drop in sometime
The Drop In feature of Alexa is a cool way for example friends to connect while continuing COVID-19 lockdowns. Unlike a phone call, drop-ins do not answer the call: your friend simply speaks from the speaker of your device. Sounds cool when you first use it, but it’s easy to forget that virtual visitors will then have access to fall at any moment, without notice. Unless you want to risk your friends or family members with the feature at unexpected times, you will need to turn off Drop In until you want to use it.
From the Alexa app, tap on Devices and then on Communications. From here, you can disable drop-ins or restrict them to specific devices.
It’s fun to share a cup of coffee with a friend. Not so nice to have that friend unexpectedly fall on you when you’re still in your pajamas.
Josh Miller / CNET
Dogs
Over the past two years, Amazon has been slowly revamping the use of Hunches – that follow-up Alexa asks you questions after your interaction. Sometimes these suggestions are helpful, for example offering to write your door at night or suggesting a new way to use timers, but they can also be annoying and disturbing when you are in the middle of a phone call and do not want your voice assistant to tell to speak up.
To disable Hunches, tap More in the Alexa app, then Settings, then Hunches. A simple switch controls the function.
Use your voice recordings
Frustratingly, Amazon still seems to choose standard users for their program using our voice recordings for research purposes. Whether you, like me, are not uncomfortable with the potential for data collection of such a feature, or you do not like the idea of a real person who listens to your daily interactions with (or potentially just near) your Echo device, disabling this feature is probably the best move.
To turn it off, tap More in the Alexa app, then Settings, then Alexa Privacy. A separate page will open, where you can tap on manage your Alexa data. Scroll down and turn off Voice Recording Use. A pop-up will ask you to confirm the decision (Amazon seems to not want to turn this off).
While disabling this feature, you can also consider deleting your voice recordings automatically after three months – an option that can be found on the same page as Using Voice Recordings.
The Amazon Echo Show 5 will wake you up and show you what you need to know
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Licensing rights
While looking at the Alexa Privacy page, another menu worth checking out is Skill Management License Management. Here you can scroll down to see what skills (Amazon’s word for apps and features) want access to everything from your street address and contact info to your Amazon Prime info page. Many of these permissions are disabled by default, but every now and then it is a good idea to check what skills you have enabled during the months or years of using Alexa, and if they have been granted one-time access that you do not ‘ t want them to last forever.
To check these permissions, tap More, then Settings, then Alexa Privacy, then Manage Skill Management.
The Echo Show 5 and Show 8 both have physical shutters to block the camera.
Chris Monroe / CNET
Camera
This is a very simple one, but it’s easy to forget. If you use an Echo Show ($ 230 by Amazon) device, make sure your camera is turned off or covered when you are not using it. Hacking laptops and other webcams is a notorious method of spying on people – one used by governments and individual hackers – and disabling your camera is a simple way to protect yourself.
To turn off your camera, simply use the physical switch on each Echo Show device.
Enable short mode
OK, this is technically not a feature disabled, but in fact, Short Mode “Disables” Alexa parrotates your questions and commands back to you. It’s one of my personal favorite features, because Alexa’s parroting quickly gets on my nerves when I play music (and I can usually tell that it immediately misinterprets my assignment, without hearing the voice confirm it).
To enable Short mode, tap More, settings and then Voice comments. From here, enable Short Mode (and also the useful Whisper Mode, if you wish).
These are my favorite features to enable on Alexa enabled devices, but what are you? Share some of your picks in the comments, or let me know why mine are wrong.
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How can I fix these common Alexa annoyances?
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