Alexa is becoming a fixture in more homes than ever. But along with all the clever new features are a few certainly worth disabling.
Sarah Tew / CNET
Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant are getting worse all the time – Alexas skill of third parties add even more – and many hidden perks can really enhance your experience with those voice assistants. But just because Alexa is smart, does not mean that all standard features are just for you. In fact, turn around out certain features can make using your Amazon Echo speakers and monitors safer and better than ever before.
If you are concerned about privacy, do not want friends “sag in“do not invite or just want Alexa to stop parroting your queries and commands back to you. Here are six features that you need to 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 require you to 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 once allowed virtual visitors can then access it at any time without notice. Unless you want to risk your friends or family members using the feature at unexpected times, you must turn off Drop In until you want to use it.
From the Alexa app, tap Devices, select which device you want, and then tap Communications. From here, you can disable or restrict Drop In to specific devices.
It’s fun to share a cup of coffee with a friend. Not so nice to have that friend “unexpectedly” on you when you’re still in your pajamas.
Josh Miller / CNET
Dogs
Over the past two years, Amazon has very slowly revamped the use of Hunches – that follow-up Alexa asks you questions after your interaction. Sometimes these suggestions are helpful, for example offering to secure your door at night or suggesting a new way to use timers, but they can also be annoying and disruptive if you are in the middle of a phone call and do not want to call 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 be choosing 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 to 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 want you not to turn this off).
While disabling this feature, you might want to consider setting up your voice recordings to delete 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 which skills (Amazon’s word for apps and features) want access to everything from your street address and contact info to your Amazon Prime info. 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 control 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 ($ 180 by Amazon) make sure your camera is turned off as cover when you are not using it. Hacking laptop cameras and other webcams is a notorious method of spying on people – one used by governments and individual hackers – and disabling your camera is an easy way to protect yourself.
To disable 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” enables Alexa to parrotate your queries and commands back to you. It’s one of my personal favorite features, because Alexa’s parroting gets on my nerves as soon as I play music (and I can usually tell that my assignment is immediately misinterpreted, without hearing the voice confirm it).
To enable Short mode, tap More, then Settings and then Voice response. 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.
See again:
How can I fix these common Alexa annoyances?
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