Amazon’s Alexa app will soon let you speak commands without pressing the blue button

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is making a small tweak to the Alexa companion app on iOS and Android; in a few days you’ll no longer need to tap the blue Alexa button on your screen to say a voice command, TechCrunch reports. Unfortunately, the new “hands-free” mode apparently only works if you launch the app and continuously keep it open on your phone. For me, it won’t be very useful until I can use Alexa on my iPhone without unlocking and launching it first. If you really want a phone that allows you to use Alexa as your phone’s voice assistant, Amazon sells a bunch of co-branded “Alexa-Built In” smartphones where it partners with Android manufacturers like OnePlus, Motorola and Sony to let you wake Alexa with just your voice. If you’re like me and don’t want... Continue reading…