Amazon Alexa

How to listen, delete, and ask Amazon not to save your Alexa voice recordings

Ankur Thakur ∙ November 12, 2021

Echo is a series of smart voice assistant devices by Amazon. You can review and listen to voice commands given to Alexa on your Amazon Echo, inside the Alexa app, and any other device with Alexa built in. From here, you can delete the voice recordings individually or in bulk. The settings also allow you to stop saving your Echo recordings. Finally, you can even ask Amazon to no longer use your Alexa voice recordings for evaluation and training purposes. This'll ensure no human hired by Amazon listens to them. In this guide, we show you how to do all these using the Alexa app on your iPhone, iPad, Android, and the Amazon website in a browser on Mac or PC.

Apple aims to boost HomePod efforts with new Audio Software Lead

Evan Selleck ∙ October 14, 2021

While the HomePod mini appears to be doing all right, all things considered, Apple is still missing a huge chunk of the smart speaker market. Meanwhile, Google and Amazon have capitalized. But it looks like Apple's not quite ready to go quietly into that good night (yet).

Accessing your Alexa assistant just got quicker with Amazon’s new iPhone widget

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 30, 2021

Amazon has released a new iOS widget, dubbed ”Ask Alexa”, that provides quick access to the company's voice assistant, right from the home screen of your iPhone and iPad.

How often do you use Siri?

Evan Selleck ∙ March 5, 2021

The beta version of Siri first saw the light of day as an iPhone exclusive in October of 2011. Which means we're nearing the 10-year mark for the digital assistant's debut (for Apple's platform). Since then, Apple has touted the many queries the digital assistant has handled, and made improvements in big --and small-- ways.

You can now text your requests to Alexa for iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2020

As first spotted by The Ambient, users of Amazon's Alexa app for the iPhone and iPad can now send their requests to the assistant via text messages instead of only using their voice.

HomePod mini vs Amazon Echo: Which should you buy?

Sandy Writtenhouse ∙ December 2, 2020

Apple introduced a tinier version of its popular HomePod called HomePod mini. This smart speaker is not only smaller in size, but also in price as compared to its parent. Both of these features put the HomePod mini more in the running as a direct competitor to the Amazon Echo.

Whether for yourself or a gift for a loved one, you might be trying to decide between the two (or three including the Amazon Echo Dot). To help, we have a comparison of HomePod mini versus Amazon Echo. Hopefully this will help you pick the best smart speaker for your home or someone else’s.

Apple Podcasts integration with Amazon Echo and Fire TV expands to users in Germany

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2020

People in Germany who own an Echo device can now ask Amazon's Alexa smart assistant to stream any audio show available on the Apple Podcasts directory.

Microsoft is ending support for Cortana on iOS

Evan Selleck ∙ July 31, 2020

As companies were jumping on the digital assistant bandwagon, Microsoft launched its own alternative: Cortana. It proved to be plenty helpful, but Google's and Amazon's dominance in this regard (across platforms, and Siri on iOS) forced Microsoft to make some tough decisions.

Amazon overhauls Alexa app around core functionality rather than third-party apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2020

Amazon has overhauled its mobile Alexa app for iPhone and iPad around first-party features.

Amazon’s Alexa will be able to launch Android and iOS apps using voice commands soon

Evan Selleck ∙ July 22, 2020

It's a relatively painless process to use Siri and ask the digital assistant to launch an app on your iPhone or iPad, but for folks who prefer to use Amazon's option, Alexa isn't quite there yet.

The EU has launched a probe into the Internet of Things, targeting Siri, Alexa, and more

Evan Selleck ∙ July 16, 2020

The European Union has decided that yet another investigatory probe is required into consumer-facing products, and Apple is included in this net, too.

How to use Alexa’s Drop In and other communication features

Sandy Writtenhouse ∙ April 22, 2020

No matter how big or small your home is, there’s sure to be a time when you yelled to someone in another room. Whether to tell them dinner is ready or that you need their help with something, we have all been there. But luckily, if you own an Amazon Echo speaker you don’t have to holler anymore!

With Alexa on your device and your Amazon speaker in the other room, you can communicate without shouting. We’ll show you how to use Alexa’s Drop In feature along with additional communication options that can help you finally stop the yelling.