Amazon is adding hands-free activation to its Alexa apps for iOS and Android, giving users the option to say “Alexa” aloud rather than pressing the button inside the app before giving the voice assistant a command or asking a question.

The company says it will give users the option to enable or decline the hands-free “wake word” feature when they launch the updated app, in addition to allowing them to turn the feature on or off in the Alexa app settings. Default settings and user choice are hot-button issues when it comes to voice assistants, because of potential privacy problems.

Amazon says the hands-free activation feature will be available in the coming days for iOS and Android devices. Users will need to download or update the app on their phones and tablets.

The hands-free activation will only work when the Alexa app is active. In contrast, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri have the advantage of being incorporated into the underlying platforms of the dominant mobile platforms, allowing them to be called upon from the lock screen or when other apps are active.

Customers will know that Alexa is listening when the app displays what Amazon calls “an animated blue bar” at the bottom of their screen. Then they can set reminders, play music, adjust their thermostat, for example, and answer questions such as that chronic and essential query: “Alexa, what’s the weather?”

Amazon and other companies were caught in a firestorm last year amid revelations that teams of people were reviewing audio recordings of users as part of quality assurance programs. Amazon gave Alexa users more privacy controls in response, allowing them to opt out in the settings, but did not opt them out by default. Apple went further with Siri’s default settings, deciding to no longer retain audio recordings by default, and allowing users to instead opt in to the program.

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