7 Alexa Features You Need To Turn OFF Right NOW

[@mrs.monicautt6268]

A family member died in April. It is so comforting to be able to go back and hear his voice. So glad this feature was on. Looking into saving these on anther device. Drop in is fantastic for my mom with dementia. All us adult kids can drop in on her throughout the day and see that she is okay. She doesn't need to remember how it works, which is awesome. She just hears our voice and excitedly comes running over to see who came in to visit! Love it!

[@scapeshiftmeta]

Thanks for sharing your story!

[@wendyjordan5755]

Great video! I purchased the pop so I can drop in on my mom. So far it has been very helpful

[@CJS1803]

I had no idea you could do this. Just went back more than 2 years and heard my Mom who died in October 2022. So lovely

[@carolmedlin2897]

This was so helpful. As a senior who lives alone I feel vulnerable and illiterate where my devices are concerned. This turorial gives me more control, and, therefore, more security and confidence. Thank you

[@noahway13]

Don't know if you know, you can use Alexa to call for help, should you fall or whatever. She won't call 911, but she will call a contact that you need to add to list. Very easy.

[@sueallen952]

​@@noahway13how do you do that please I'm elderly and no family and have diabities

[@TeranTovar]

Very helpful for a tech newbie like me. I was able to follow each step without a problem. Now to figure out how to get Alexa to stop blurting out random things! Thanks for these helpful tips!

[@Acssnipa]

how? app version is different and lots feature is not even displayed / available in the ios app, eg "sidewalk"

[@theorushinjr9023]

The Drop In feature is one of the top reasons I bought the Echo Show. We want an intercom-like feature in our house so we could call each other for help in cases when either of us are unable to move about.

[@nEthing4Her]

Definitely something that's useful in some situations. When the wife and I retire in a couple of years we're headed down to where the grandkids are. We may definitely do this so that we have instant communication with them in case something happens to us.

[@TT-rz5td]

Good for when someone has something heavy fall on them and they can't move but can call out, "Anybody! I'm stuck!"

[@user-oc6qs1po3j]

Best part was you walked us through each thing. Not just said turn this off. For us new users it was very very helpful. Thank you

[@gbjbasdw1]

Totally agree with you on this. It's a real pain when people don't explain how to get to the option. Additionally many of the options like SIDEWALK for example, do NOT exist on UK devices. So showing the phone's settings screen makes it easy to see that they don't exist over here.

[@reneepurpleharris7510]

I concur👏🏾

[@luvmypetsrhanie1144]

You are so awesome. I would never have figured that these things were on my device and defaulted to do or release all this information. And whoever gave you thumbs down.. welll they must be magicians for the techno world (oh yaay for those geniuses) because this information is EXTREMELY VITAL and so helpful. I'm passing it on to everyone I know. Thank you much.

[@KENTAY59]

Thanks for info it was very helping. more and more of our privacy is challenged every day.

[@crawdaddy98]

Absolutely. I am new to Amazon devices and this vid was very thorough and helpful. Thanks!

[@jbtulsarn2706]

Excellent and very concise. So many people on these instruction videos get so wordy! Your “cut to the chase” format was so enjoyable!!

[@micksan7052]

Thank you. Would have never known about the "sidewalk" feature.

[@africo9104]

New subscriber here. You speak very clearly, your demonstrations are good as well , and not too fast, Thanks.

[@SteveDOES]

Awesome, thank you!

[@maladylis08]

Thanks so much for the ideas. The echos are very helpful for someone like me with major memory loss due to a brain tumor. I can have it remind me to do everything. Instant subscriber !

[@Skye75]

I too share memory issues since my brain surgery long ago is why I choose to refrain from any of these devices. I keep it simple old school. Lol

[@Texas1FlyBoy]

0:00 Intro 0:53 Feature #1 - Sidewalk 4:08 Feature #2 - DropIn 5:43 Feature #3 - Hunches 6:22 Feature #4 - Use of Voice Recordings 8:27 Feature #5 - Skill Permissions 9:35 Feature #6 - Turn off Echo Device Cameras 10:09 Feature #7 - Brief Mode

[@carolmedlin2897]

Thank you.

[@kerenscott4580]

Thank you Fly boy.

[@enjoeymusic]

wow thank you!! actually it was rude from the uploader to put those timeline points without any title. You kindly did the job so thank you very much

[@UpUpDnDnLtRtLtRtBAStart]

@@enjoeymusic Yep. Makes me less likely to subscribe and/or like.

[@billzardus95]

The Alexa drop-in feature has stopped working for me and I have no idea why. We have 5 Alexas all over the house and this was a useful feature in our 3 story house. We unplugged each of them one at a time and plugged them back in and that solved the problem for one day but we are back to the same problem again. If I tell it to "drop-in everywhere" it tells me we are online with 4 other devices and if I then try and drop-in to one device it says I can't because there is a session already open but we can't make use of that session. Nothing I do, works. ****** When I use the Alexa app on my phone this feature works fine. I did NOTT need another unexplained problem to solve. WRZ 2023-03-02

[@kellyrobinson3584]

All I needed to do was update my Alexa app on my phone and it installed Sidewalk! So I turned it off. Thanks so much for this very informative video. I appreciate people who share this kind of information with every body else who wouldn't have known about the risky vulnerabilities Amazon subjects us to. I really love my Echo and Alexa and so does the rest of my family, but privacy IS a big thing too.

[@CelticAngel555]

I am brand new to Alexa and found your home address is in Alexa on your phone too! Not good if someone finds your lost phone at any time. You can remove this and put a home phone number on your phone somewhere instead.

[@jonathanwiliams4993]

​@@CelticAngel555lol this is a ridiculous comment

[@dixiegal9460]

Thank you for this information. You’re presentation is perfect, a short explanation, then instructions. 😀

[@shenysys]

Drop in - they can drop in at any time. Reminds me of Endora from Bewitched ! :)

[@lorraine830]

Awesome video and super easy to follow. Great voice and the step by step visual was simple to follow. Thank you. You have another follower.

[@SteveDOES]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback!

[@Jasperwolf08]

I have this running joke with my friends where every time my echo goes off or I ask it something I always interrupt it and say “shut up” and one day it recommended brief mode to me lmao

[@mslady1230]

🤣

[@thunnderr1]

🤣🤣🤣 same here

[@territerndrup9596]

Very helpful! The pace was just right.

[@VegginInVT]

You deliver very concise and easy to follow instructions. Yours have been the most helpful to me thus far. Thank you so much.

[@SteveDOES]

Happy to hear that. Thank you.

[@MrGzmn]

Liked how when you would say “Alexa” you lowered the volume on that word so no ones devices would activate.

[@Leehensman]

Still activated mine every time.

[@lisawest2612]

Being new to the Echo devices, this was very helpful and informative. Thanks so much.

[@quintxavier]

Another tip: when whisper mode is activated, try asking Alexa to tell you a joke... it makes her punchlines 100x funnier.

[@toombs6287]

Right😂😂

[@kasaundrabien-aime5267]

5 X pop

[@zacharyrrmjoyner1219]

Yea... on one of her whispering jokes apparently she says Moo 🐮 loudly tho 😂

[@andrewjohnson1486]

That's a great tip mate. I guess this device with mediatek support does not tell any non-veg jokes in whisper.

[@lindajmickel]

I learned a lot today. Thank you very much. I enjoy your delivery. Straight to the point with step by step instructions. I watched a different guy today that took 6 minutes of blather before any of the tutorial part even started, which btw, included having to wait for his kid to finish eating a sandwich. Yours was great. I subscribed.

[@flossiemae927]

Thank you so much for this video! My daughter gave me an Echo for Christmas and I've not had the chance to go through everything yet.

[@markg6505]

Excellent , descriptive ,good use of the display screen on the left made it easy to pause as i went through it , good job :)

[@cgmarner]

You are making so much sense! Thank you so very much.

[@almostthere3733]

Great informational video. Reminder though, it is possible that everytime Amazon does 'silent' updates, they may be resetting all of their configuration back to default settings, so in the case of Sidewalk, they may be turning it back on without you knowing it. I hate having to turn my "customizable" options back to my personal choices.

[@stephenhall3596]

So, do they? There must be a way to know

[@aaronbottom1206]

Does this really happen ? Do I just have to keep checking ?

[@ms.megaro1087]

7

[@fido2006]

You can turn off "background app refresh" in iPhone Settings (sorry, don't know about Android.) Kind of a nuclear option but at least you'll be in control of when the app is updated.

[@billzardus95]

The Alexa drop-in feature has stopped working for me and I have no idea why. We have 5 Alexas all over the house and this was a useful feature in our 3 story house. We unplugged each of them one at a time and plugged them back in and that solved the problem for one day but we are back to the same problem again. If I tell it to "drop-in everywhere" it tells me we are online with 4 other devices and if I then try and drop-in to one device it says I can't because there is a session already open but we can't make use of that session. Nothing I do, works. ****** When I use the Alexa app on my phone this feature works fine. I did NOTT need another unexplained problem to solve. WRZ 2023-03-02

[@carlosforero2184]

I did learn a lot from your explanation, it was done slow and clear for me to figure out things. This is new to me but you made it manageable.

[@user-pr8ei1kb5f]

Great video, clear and easy to follow. Thanks for highlighting some of the "Orwellish" stuff!

[@1purplerose]

Thanks immensely for your video. The capabilities of the echo device are so immense that I can't keep up. I completed each step. We all need to keep our privacy PRIVATE. Thank you.

[@Jacknife17shadows]

Direct and no filler thankyou

[@SweetArtGraphics]

Great video, however some of the features you mentioned were not in my device like sidewall. Is this perhaps because I am in Australia?

[@patriciacurry1797]

Thanks Steve for the information. Good to know someone is on our side.

[@laurab7931]

I'm pretty forgetful so I am thinking of getting an echo. I decided to watch this video first and I'm glad I did because these things are the reason I didn't get an echo years ago. Now that I know how to control them I feel much better. I am going to watch ALL your videos. You're a great instructor. Thanks again.

[@stormyswann6177]

Step by step with visual is so nice. Thank you

[@dianeauriemma8564]

Just ordered echo8. Thanks for your assistance

[@marcobranco526]

Thanks man. A new Alexa user here, so this is a really good help.

[@sandrasills3176]

Very helpful, I had no idea about these items.

[@emcustard]

We call our device Lexi when we want to talk about her but not activate her

[@aquariandawn4750]

Since we know Alexa is listening for it's name we know Alexa is always listening.

[@spencerwells1328]

I call mine bitch but to each their own.

[@ovarianbarbarian4186]

She always hears u

[@jdcamc]

Haha - we call her Sally!!

[@spencerwells1328]

@@ovarianbarbarian4186 yeah... I've stuck mine in the fridge, freezer, microwave because my wife bought it and I don't want it here. Haha

[@jeffzest8393]

Thanks for not placing irritating bleeps instead of Alexa. Seems to be huge trend now.

[@ninagathergood4644]

Steve, you are incredible to share these tips. I am grateful thank you, this is your second video I have watched. I got 2 Echo dots 4th gen and a subwoofer and I was able to follow your instructions had to go back a few times and look again that's ok coz it doesn't matter how long it takes for me to get there just as long as I do, right. lol...

[@SteveDOES]

Thank you Nina! I'm happy to hear that you like them. :)

[@aaronbottom1206]

Thank you so much man ! I totally just subscribed , you keep it real but not "real simple" .

[@lizzettecruz5054]

I really appreciate you sharing this very important information. I just started using Amazon devices and was unaware of any of those security and privacy settings.

[@ronsteingard8074]

Excellent. Great overview for new user

[@catherinekoeritz4281]

Great instruction. Very straightforward and informative. Thank you!

[@Chris-0189]

I've been cursing out Alexa almost everyday because a good jam is on, and I'm having a blast, and then I sit down, and it stops playing. I curse out, " Alexa, what's wrong with you woman"?! Lol After this video, you really helped a lot. I appreciate it a lot!

[@محمد1773]

Summary You have smartphone, you have no privacy 🤗

[@susansweeney3316]

Wow, I'm so glad I stumbled upon your video. I just bought an Amazon Echo for my Mum for Christmas. I will be following your advice on what to turn off. Thanks for the information it is of great value Happy Christmas to you 😊

[@doodiehutchison4463]

Thanks for the information. I had no idea that some of these features needed to be disabled.

[@nancyx6390]

I honestly didn't know about all these features on Alexa. I never really bothered to investigate any. I'm glad I bumped into your video because it was so helpful Thank you Steve. I'll be watching future videos and even going back to other videos that I saw you have that should be very educational. 👍

[@bcemom]

Thank you for going into detailed explanation on everything you talked about. Extremely helpful

[@billp7479]

Thank you. Its nice that people share such informative things for people not so knowledgeable

[@APeeKay]

Just came across a channel and subscribed after seeing the great content. This is one reason why I have so far resisted from using Amazon products inside my home. Ring home security is on the cards, but still looking for alternatives. They do seem to have a good integration among all their devices which is a big draw.

[@all4onecreativearts]

Thank you for walking us through these steps and making our homes and families even safer.

[@kaceycampbell5550]

I always appreciate your helpful Alexa features videos. I have learned so much more about what my devices do and what I should look out for. Thanks Steve!

[@SteveDOES]

Happy to help!

[@proseriesmusic5689]

This guy is great we need more people like this in the world, Thanks Steve...

[@callmecaution1]

Thank you for sharing the Amazon Sidewalk feature. My wifi has gotten more laggish lately and I couldn't figure out the reason why

[@michaelsanchez4487]

I received my Show 5 yesterday and followed your suggestions, this is great info and timing. You have a new Subscriber.

[@laurafox3675]

Excellent presenter, thank you for keeping this so Non-technical

[@rlik49]

Very helpful.. sharing this with family as well.

[@ronaldknight9974]

Thanks, dude. Really, really, helpful.

[@dama2803]

Super helpful video. Thanks

[@mikeramsey9747]

The sidewalk feature is one that really concerned me so I'm glad you showed how to turn it off.

[@jane5839]

I’m getting an echo dot for my birthday next month so I wanted to be able to set it up without having to ask someone else(my son) to help me. Thanks for helping me to prepare for my device set up in advance😉 I have saved your videos and will keep the ones I need for future reference 😉👍Thanks again

[@mx2ce782]

Well done. I truly believe you organize, format and present info the best of anyone on KZbin and elsewhere for that matter! Since A LEx a listens randomly (in error of course 🤐) I recommend keeping “never” as a setting for keeping recording. Retired Gov’t employees think this best lol

[@nwdualsport]

Excellent!! I know we're a bit late to the game, but we finally got our Alexa and your videos are so helpful and I can follow along and change the settings! Thanks a million! Liked & subscribed....

[@JamesCAsphalt8]

Great information everyone can benefit from. These days, silicon Valley has invaded out lives to the point where we have to turn things off to have privacy. Even then it is questionable. Nevertheless, we need more videos like this to make people aware of who may have access, what is being recorded and who may be watching without our knowledge and most importantly, how to protect ourselves.

[@louisd.rodriguez]

Thank you Steve! I just received an Echo Dot. I truly appreciate knowing about the features that can compromise network security.

[@nikki-xc9kh]

Thanks for the helpful info! Especially about sidewalk!

[@SteveDOES]

Any time! Glad to hear that it helped.

[@RachelSantiago816]

YES! I was shocked!

[@GinnyRaeHaskin]

I finally got an echo dot. This was extremely helpful because I know nothing about it. Thank you

[@RosemaryCreations]

I enjoyed this video immensely as I have no one to instruct me on how to use the Alexa echo dot. It was a Christmas present and I was scared of it for a short time. I now have 2 as I find the echo dot very helpful with appt reminders, keeping a meditation schedule etc. Please, continue making the videos.

[@sunilgoswami007]

Finally a useful video about Alexa! I don't like whisper mode or brief mode but it's good that you covered them.

[@chuzzwade288]

Hi, I'm in the UK. I haven't go an 'Amazon Sidewalk' setting. Do I need to turn off something else?

[@kevindarkstar]

No, because as always we haven't got the feature in the UK yet, just keep an eye on it

[@chuzzwade288]

@@cer2299 so how have you made your first $million? 😳

[@Cityheart221]

Wow your video is the clearest and easiest to follow and understand. Thank you.

[@adrianabrophy7522]

Thank you very valuable info. I turned off some of these features that I don't use it but were on.

[@grahamarnold2591]

uk calling ----one or two things different here but 10/10 great video great help.

[@KateKosmo]

This was great! Thank you!

[@marshalastname5428]

Thank you so very much for this presentation. You taught me things I would never have known about the Alexa app! I am VERY impressed by your entire presentation! I have watch 2 of your videos so far, and I will watch as many as I can in the future 🙂

[@richswww]

Hilarious that anyone who’s doing anything on the internet has any pretense of thinking there’s such a thing as privacy on the internet anyway. 😆😆😆

[@Openreality]

It just makes it harder for those who want to attempt PHISHING on your own identity. This is also stuff mostly on your phone. Also very true like you are implying to be careful as to what is put on the internet because there's no privacy or safe space.

[@mwyn5085]

Yes!

[@aquariandawn4750]

Since we know Alexa listens for its name we know Alexa is always listening.

[@Lindajean55]

Wonderful. You just got a new subscriber! I had wondered just how much information is going to who knows where! Thank you!

[@johnalderman9899]

My concern is if these changes actually work. I trust no one. As we know anything is possible in today's world.

[@guysteel]

Amazon admitted that turning the recordings OFF does not actually do anything. and that they have thousands of people working with access to those recordings.

[@aquariandawn4750]

Since we know Alexa listens for its name we know Alexa is always listening

[@carloswolfe8612]

What if you have a Alexa device and it hears you listening to this video and goes about internally changingitself so bad even after the making these changes nothing happened self learning

[@Researcher30473]

Do you know in the UK that sidewalk and hunches are not yet on there.

[@brendajohnston7323]

Excellent info, thanks.

[@SteveDOES]

Glad it was helpful!

[@noelroquevinluan7499]

I can't find the amazon sidewalk in the account settings feature for echo dot 3 in my app. It's only showing voice purchasing and workouts. Don't know if they deleted this feature.

[@Blazeetwa]

As far as drop in, you do not need to worry about it. Nobody can drop in unless you give them permission. If you turn this feature off,you will not be able to drop in in your devices if you wanted to either. And if you turn off this feature you can not use your devices as intercom system. It's nice to drop in if your out to check on pets.

[@ChristinaH811]

Exactly!

[@shannonnewman3091]

Thanks for the info/help

[@jdub1139]

Ten thumbs up brother! Thank you

[@SteveDOES]

Much appreciated

[@patriciadever9685]

Very helpful information. What would be even more helpful would be to give the photo of the settings page discussed more real estate in your video so we can see it better. Right now we're mostly viewing you and hardly seeing the setting level discussed. Thank you.

[@lifeautomated2209]

Dude! I love drop ins. It’s the only way I can get my wife to look at her phone

[@ciapsiagency3260]

Amazing job explaning everthing "WOW" Great Work Thank

[@whatwouldpicarddomakeitso9607]

Thank you for sharing .I’m in the Uk and I don’t think we have sidewalk...I could not find it . But most disappointing is we don’t have celebrity voices...I got excited hoping Sir Patrick Stewart was on there . 🖖🏻💫

[@ipaddy]

Just set mine up today and sidewalk is there and on by default I'm in stockport UK I could not get the celebrity voices though but you can set a few seleb alarm voices

[@whatwouldpicarddomakeitso9607]

@@ipaddy thanks . I will take another look .

[@cristinacureecouto217]

I’m in the UK too and can’t see SideWalk either... 🤔

[@Superz3ro]

Inconceivable... In the US, lift, chips, and boot, doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it means. Maybe in the UK it’s called something else. .

[@Superz3ro]

Also, you don’t celebrities in the UK, they are all in Hollywood now. Even Superman and Spider-Man are British... = ) .

[@Jerrybuilder001]

thanks, I have learned more about my Echo 5 & 8 in the few minutes watching your video than than th months I have had them, you are doing a good job, keep up the good work!

[@HousewerkRecords]

I had most of these done but I hadn’t looked at the privacy setting before. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@nicolamann2007]

Thank you so much, this was very helpful to me, I just got my Echo 3 generation 2 days ago. I’m learning how to use it day by day.

[@movieyouser]

My echo next to me listen to this like 👁 👄 👁

[@gladysgarone7190]

Brief but explained well. Thank you.

[@RendezvousWithRama]

"Next go to your privacy settings and select Insidious Home Spy mode. Now, you're going to want that one off."

[@aquariandawn4750]

Since we know Alexa listens for its name we know Alexa is always listening.

[@bonnienash1626]

Thank you for your help! I'm considering buying Alexa for my home. But always look for pro's and con's ! I appreciate you! Very helpful.

[@MrJsii69]

Let me first say that it was an informative video and I did give it a thumbs up but if you are disabling all of the features then I wander why you have the units at all. I'm new to Alexa (but not tech or PA's) and I just purchased 17 of these for Christmas for my home and I can't see disabling any of the features mentioned. The only one that I really even paused and considered was the internet access feature however that would have been to preserve bandwidth for the home but nothing else. I'm sure you are aware that most cable and other internet providers use your equipment to provide hotspots for other people anyway and you can not disable that feature (short of not using their equipment). So if someone connecting to your devices without your consent is the issue that already happens everyday. The other features are useful although the "brief mode" might get considered if she just is talking too much.With the amount of information that is gathered on us daily I'm not too concerned if my voice recordings are being catalogued. The camera hacking is a possible real threat but I ordered devices with camera covers so although I won't be disabling the feature we will keep them covered until being used. I'm sure I'll go through and delete the recordings at random times but its really for the same reason that I delete the history and cache from my computer's browser which has nothing to do with privacy. I guess through it all my view is that given the amount of information that Facebook, Google, social media platforms and others have on us we limit the amount that we post or voluntarily give out but Alexa won't be collecting a whole lot of new data but even if she did, ok....I just want to find out how to get the car extended warranty spammers from stop calling my phone!!! Happy Holidays

[@Nirrrina]

I'm pretty much the same. If I'm going to have it I'm going to use it. But I do think they should have things like sidewalk & drop-in disabled until you click on something to knowingly give permission. I mean I have Google opinions app that has surveys. They constantly were you at this store on this date. So I know they're tracking me & I have given permission for it. Because I want to use the money I earn on it for games & renting movies. As for sidewalk. Yeah I'd enable it if for no other reason than it could help return a lost pet. Personally I'd be completely devastated if anything happened to my cats. They're all I have. Still I'm probably not going to be buying one because I don't really want one.

[@kglsp4158]

Just hooked up Echo Dot. This was very helpful. TY.

[@markusloving2473]

Thanks so much for this. I love the convenience and smart home features of Alexa but have always been concerned with the privacy issue. I've subscribed and look forward to your videos! Cheers!!

[@cedaroakfarm8596]

Great, had no idea on the settings. Very helpful.