Amazon has decided to add notifications to its Alexa service. The move promises to be pretty useful considering that it will allow users to receive information brought up by skills as soon as it becomes available.
Technically, users can still receive information from Alexa — However, they need to prompt the device for it. Now though, the information will be received automatically. The ability to push information unsolicited i not being made public though, and only Amazon.com shopping updates, and some partner skills will receive it initially.
Skills such as AccuWeather, The Washington Post, Just Eat and Life360 will be receiving the ability to notify users of new information. The choice makes sense as this would allow you to keep track of important updates to the weather, and the news without having to move a finger.
These notifications will make their way to you through a chime and green light on the ring on the Echo device you are using at the moment. Once the chime or the pulsating light receives your notice, you can say “Alexa, what did I miss?” or “Alexa, what are my notifications?” to find out exactly what new information is worthy of your attention. This is pretty useful as this also means that the Echo will not be ruining the ambiance of your house on its own by yelling out news all the time.
You can also turn on a ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode which will let you suspend notifications permanently.
