Amazon is rolling out a new feature called Whisper mode to Alexa devices that allows the voice assistant to whisper back responses when you whisper to it. Once the feature is available on your device, the first time Alexa hears a whispered request, it will respond by saying “Wow, I think you just whispered to me” and briefly explain the new feature. From then on, if Alexa detects a whisper, the response will be given at a lower whispered volume. If you don’t like being whispered to, you can simply say “Alexa, turn off Whisper Mode” and you’ll no longer receive whispered responses. If you’re having trouble getting Alexa to whisper, try saying “Alexa, turn on Whisper Mode” to see if the feature is available yet on your device. Here’s a video on Twitter of the feature in action.
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In the meantime I still can’t connect my Cube to a Bluetooth speaker and listen to my music streaming service without the TV getting turned on. Priorities Amazon, priorities!
As somebody that has Hue lights, I appreciate them adding this feature. Nothing sucks more than trying to turn on a light by voice in the middle of the night and having Alexa scream ‘OK’ because you forgot to turn it down after listening to music earlier in the day. Or vice versa the next day you ask Alexa something and you can’t hear the response because you turned her all the way down.
I get it that it’s useful, they could have also add an option to set a sleep timer on the app instead of having to verbally do it. Concerning the Cube, it’s the worst graded amazon Fire product, people were led to believe it could replace the Echo Dot and it doesn’t even come close to doing that, I’d think they would prioritize improvements of it but I guess not.
You can use Alexa Routines for setting the volume automatically based on schedule as well as sensors. Alternatively also to lower the volume if you turn off specific lights for example. And you can activate the Short response which will then just beep instead of saying OK.
Thank you for the info. Still there’s so much room for improvement, for example: one should be able to launch a skill from the app, Sleeping Sounds for example, and set a sleep timer without any verbal commands.
That’s because the Cube isn’t an Echo, it’s a Fire TV. It’s meant to connect to your TV and listen to music through that (and/or any speakers your TV outputs sound through).
The Cube won’t get all of the same features that an Echo does, just like the Tap.
It was advertised as a 3 in 1. Fire TV, Echo Dot and IR blaster. It costs as much as a 3 in 1 but is little more than the now obsolete Fire TV3, actually it doesn’t even have the Frame Rate Matching option of the FTV3.
Everyone has their priorities doesn’t mean Amazon should not have added a new option before doing X or Y or Z. They added a very appreciated by me option which is a nice layered choice to the no response option. Do I have something I would have wanted more, probably but that doesn’t mean that isn’t being worked on too.