The virtual assistant of Amazon devices, Alexa, communicates many things to the device owners using her ever-familiar voice. Alexa notification is one such feature that comes with Alexa Voice Service-enabled devices. The notification feature notifies the Alexa users that a new message or some new content is associated with their Amazon device.
When the device has a notification for you, it alerts you by visual or audio indicators, depending on your own device. For example, when you have a new message conveying an Amazon parcel delivery, the Echo device’s LED ring glows yellow. There will also be an audio alert along with the yellow light.
Echo Dots and Echo smart speakers usually have only the yellow ring and audio alert. But Echo Show with a display will show a bell icon to indicate a notification. You can choose to ask “Alexa, what is my notification” and get the notification read out loud in the Echo Dot and Echo smart speakers. The text will be displayed on an Echo Show if you wish to read it by yourself.
Further reading: How To Delete Alexa Notifications
Turning The Notifications On And Off
Sometimes, you may not want the notifications to show, especially when you have ordered a gift for someone and want to keep it a secret. Turning the notifications on and off using the Alexa app is pretty simple.
- Open the Alexa app.
- Tap ‘More’ seen at the bottom right and then select ‘Settings.’
- Tap ‘Notifications.’
- In the menu that appears, select the service or feature and use the toggle button to turn the notification on or off.
Configuring Notification Settings
Alexa users can configure the notification settings the way they want. They can enable notifications per Alexa skill or domain using the Alexa app. If the Amazon device supports only audio, the notifications will be in the form of audio alerts. If you have an Echo Show, then you will also have visual indicators when there is a notification. There are three options to enable notifications.
- There is a card in the Alexa app where notifications can be enabled for those Alexa skills or domains that are active.
- When an Alexa skill is enabled for the first time through the Alexa Skills Store, there is an option to enable the notification for that particular Alexa skill.
- The third option is the one we discussed in the previous section, where the notifications for an Alexa skill or domain can be enabled or disabled any time by navigating to the ‘Settings.’
Users can also use the Do Not Disturb (DND) setting to put their devices into silent mode. When this setting is turned on, the device shows no notifications, but voice requests can be made available. When the DND mode is disabled, the pending notifications in the queue will be made accessible to the users through alerts. DND can be enabled in three ways.
- Using the Settings option in the Alexa app
- Using voice requests
- Using the Alexa app to give daily DND preferences. For example, the notifications can be turned off from 10 pm to 6 am daily, during which no alerts will be shown on the device.
Notifications About Amazon Orders
An interesting thing about Amazon devices is that you can use them to track your Amazon orders and shipments. Many users love this feature as it gives the exact information about the status of your package. But there are instances when you don’t want others to know about your secret packages. So it is better to turn the shopping notification off before Alexa blurts it out for everyone in the house to hear. Here are the steps for the same.
- Open the Alexa app on your device.
- Open the menu, which is on the lower right corner of the screen.
- Go to ‘Notifications’ and choose ‘Amazon Shopping.’
- You can see two options: Out for Delivery and Delivered. Slide the button for whichever option you want the notification to be shown.
- You can slide these back if you don’t want to receive any notification about your order.
Follow the below steps to stop Alexa from disclosing what is in your package.
- Open the Alexa app on your device.
- Open the menu and tap ‘Settings.’
- Tap on ‘Notifications’ and then on ‘Amazon Shopping.’
- Turn off the option ‘Say or Show Item Titles.’
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All About Alexa Notification Colours
All of your Amazon devices will have an LED ring that glows in different colors. Each of these colors indicates a different type of notification. Let us see these colors one by one and what they mean.
- Blue: Once you use the wake word Alexa, the device will have a blue light, and it starts listening to further commands. A different shade of blue will point to where the command is coming from.
- White: White color appears when the volume is being adjusted. You can identify the volume setting by looking at how much the ring shows the color.
- Red: A red color indicates that the microphone is muted, and you will not get any response from Alexa even if you give voice requests.
- Spinning orange: The Amazon device is connecting to Wi-Fi.
- Spinning violet: There is some issue with the Wi-Fi setup.
- Pulsing green: There is an incoming call.
- Spinning green: This indicates an active call.
- Flashing purple: The Do Not Disturb mode has been activated.
- Pulsing yellow: There are messages in the inbox.
Notifications can sometimes be disturbing and need to be turned off from time to time. Some users wish to turn it off during night hours or when they want to surprise their dear ones with unexpected gifts. Amazon Alexa app makes it easy to turn the notifications off using a simple toggle button. Try it today if you have not already.