Why You Can Trust CNET How to get Alexa to whisper
Alexa can speak in soft tones when you need it to. Here's how.
Alexa is fantastic, but she tends to be loud. This isn't super-helpful when you've just gotten the baby to sleep or you're trying to order a pizza on the down-low. Amazon developers finally listened to users' pleas and will be releasing a new feature soon for our smart hub: Whisper mode.
How to make Alexa quiet
Now, this feature is only helpful if you can automatically trigger it whenever you need it. Luckily, you can. Simply whisper your command to Alexa and she'll whisper back. This feature will be available both when your Echo speaker (or other Alexa devices) are online or offline.
How it works
Human speech and human whispers are created differently. When humans speak, we use their vocal cords to create sound vibrations.
When we whisper, we mostly use puffs of air to make words. Because of this, the Amazon development team had to teach Alexa a new way to listen and how to respond in kind. Want to learn more about the process? They published a paper on their research and posted it as a PDF online, here.
When can I use it?
The whisper feature will be released in the United States in October. No word yet about releases in other countries, yet.