How to Activate Alexa Whisper Mode
Whisper Mode is not enabled in the Alexa App or Echo devices by default. It must be activated. There are two ways to activate Alexa’s Whisper Mode/Whispered Responses feature: via voice command and via the Alexa app’s settings.
Voice Command
The easiest way to activate Alexa Whisper Mode is by speaking the command through an Echo, partner device (such as the Polk Command Bar, Sonos One/Beam, Bose Soundbar 500/700, Bose Home Speaker 500), or Fire TV (with Alexa Voice Remote). Just say (in your normal voice) “Alexa, turn on whisper mode,” and Alexa will respond with a confirmation that “whispered responses is on”.
Alexa App
If you don’t want to use a voice command to activate Alexa Whisper Mode, here are steps to set it up using the Alexa App. Once Whisper Mode is enabled via a spoken command to an Echo device, Fire TV with Voice Remote, or manually through the Alexa App, it becomes active and usable for all Alexa-enabled devices you may have on the same account.
How Alexa Whisper Mode Works
Unlike normal speech, whispering doesn’t involve vocal cord vibrations to produce the sound that can normally be recognized by a Voice Assistant.
What Happens When Using Whisper Mode
When Whisper Mode is on, If you speak commands or ask questions in a normal voice, Alexa will still respond in a normal voice. However, when you speak to Alexa with a whisper, it will, in turn, respond in a whisper for things that “she” normally answers directly, such as providing the time, weather, traffic, adjusting a thermostat, reading recipes, and more. In addition, when you use a Whisper Mode to access and listen to a music service, although Alexa will respond in a whisper to execute the command, the actual music service will play in its normal volume. You have to give Alexa an additional command in either a normal or whispered voice to lower the volume of the music if desired. If your Alexa device doesn’t seem to recognize your whispers, and there are other noises in the room, they could be causing interference. If you run into this issue, you may have to get closer to your Alexa device when whispering commands. Just like humans have varying sensitivity to whispers depending on other noise and distance, so does the Alexa Whisper Mode.
How to Turn off Alexa Whisper Mode
To disable Alexa Whisper Mode, you can just say in either a normal or whispered voice: “Alexa turn off Whisper Mode” or you can go through the same steps in the Alexa app that you used to activate it but slide the On/Off icon to Off when you get to the Whispered Responses step in settings.
