Echo Dots Kids children’s edition redesigned by Amazon
Amanda Ringstad, Amazon
The Amazon Alexa Voice Assistant on Amazon Echo can whisper to you. And you can also limit how much he writes when you talk to him.
I find it useful at home with a baby in the house, when I don’t need Alexa to say “OK” every time I turn off the lights or when I need Alexa to be calmer when I ask the weather at night.
There are two modes you need to activate: short mode and whisper mode and they are very easy to do.
How to activate Alexa short mode and whisper mode
To turn on short mode, which makes Alexa talk less and eliminate things like confirmations when you ask her to do something, just say “Alexa, turn on short mode”.
Or, you can do this if you’re not near Echo:
- Open the Alexa app on your iPhone or Android phone.
- Tap “More” at the bottom right of the page.
- Choose “Settings”.
- Select “Voice answers”.
- Enable “Short Mode”.
While you’re at it, you may want to turn off Alexa’s suggestions for buying things. He did this as I was writing this guide, wondering if I wanted suggestions for funny gifts. No, thanks.
To disable it, do the following:
- Open the Alexa app on your iPhone or Android phone.
- Choose Settings.
- Touch Notifications.
- Select Amazon Shopping.
- Disable the “receive personalized recommendations and offers based on your shopping activity” option.
- Also disable “purchased product evaluation requests” if you don’t want these messages.
- Turn off the option to receive notifications for “Order Updates (Inc. Subscribe and Save.)” If you don’t want to save money by subscribing to monthly deliveries.
Finally, there is Whisper Mode. The easiest way to activate this is to simply whisper to Alexa. Say something like “What’s the weather,” but whisper it instead of talking. Alexa will answer in a whisper.
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