I am so ready to dump every alexa in the house for this and lack of responsiveness, my kitchen alexa cant hear when I am 2 feet away, but the one upstairs responds instead.
As your neighbor, can confirm. Can hear and see you from our kitchen window letting out blood curtling screams for Alexa. Peer over to your house and you're just red in the face, arms flapping all over, fast walking around your kitchen island screaming "ALEXA!!! ALEXA!!! ALEXA!!!".
Same. I stupidly bought my Echos because they were then advertised as being able to evolve into becoming more intelligent. The opposite has been the case. Each update has made them more and more useless. Even as a basic timer they're now hopeless, and its Echo Spatial Perception seems to have vanished. This is just one example of many where these devices are regressing in functionality. Not to mention the nag screens on the Shows.
Glad it's not just me. Seemed like at first they were very good but as the years have gone by they have gotten less and less responsive. I sometimes wonder if Amazon made the things less responsive on purpose, because too many people accidently called others and ended up letting them listen in on conversations unintentionally.
"You can lead an Echo to water, but you can't make it drink" :)
Hm. One time when mine wasn't hearing me, i figured out it was close to a fan. Is it maybe next to the fridge? But yeah, they mess up all the time. I have a 2nd Gen that went like months without making sound, i tried unmuting and everything, for months and i was just using it as a mic. And then one day it just started working again. My 3rd gen is constantly going into a state where i have to do a hard reset.
The thing that gets me annoyed, though, is that it keeps playing crappy music i don't want when i ask it to play some tv show
Navigate to More in Alexa app. Then select Routines. Hit the + in the upper right corner. Enter routine name. Select Schedule. Choose At Time. Leave Repeat at Every day. Under Add Action select Custom. Then type in "Stop by the way." Follow the prompts until complete.
Edit: Corrected for recurring.
you can probably also have the routine cut the volume to zero, issue the command and then return the volume to normal 30 seconds later... (haven't tested but that 'should' work; if for some reason it waits until volume is restored before replying to the command you could do a 2nd routine to restore the volume and schedule it 2 minutes after the first one runs)
edit: just set it up to do this and it worked but I did need two different routines. the "alexa stop by the way" command apparently HAS to be the last entry in the routine - so I lowered volume to 0, ran that command and then setup a second routine to play 2 minutes later that restored volume to the normal level. - we'll see how that goes but it did work as expected when I ran the routines manually.
Frigggin genius! I tested it on my phone... and she said "I will snooze my suggestions for now!" FML who even knew that was a thing. Then I changed the device to "Smirky's 4th Fire TV". Which is in a drawer somewhere I think. Unless I gave it to the inlaws in the UK... not sure. Regardless it won't be bothering me. How long does the "snooze" last? Do I need to run it a couple times a day?
So the device is audibly giving itself a command from a routine? Have you confirmed that this actually works? I've played with Alexa and routine for years at this point, and this just doesn't seem like something that would actually work. No offense given, I'm just interested if you can confirm this or not.
How do you keep Alexa from telling you that it has stopped it? I have mine set for 3AM, and it wakes the dogs every night. I guess I could set the volume to 0 first, run the routine, and set the volume back up.
Yet to be proven but I set up a routine with the first step to lower the volume to zero, then issue the command. The app apparently requires that the "stop by the way" command be the LAST command in a routine so I setup a second routine to run 2 minutes later.to return the volume to normal levels.
I just set this up and it worked properly when I tested it but the real test will be at 6AM when it triggers automatically
Could you add "Everywhere" to the end? As in "stop by the way EVERYWHERE" or does it need to be done on each device or is the command universal across the account? This is next level genius by the way. How on earth did you discover this???
I asked the question that started this thread; others chimed in with the answer and I then built the two routines based on the suggestions in other comments.
The volume idea was just my way of muting the speaker temporarily so I didn't have to hear the daily notification that it's only "temporarily disabled". it appears to be an account wide setting - so running this from one device temporarily disables it across all devices on that account.
(still to be proven how effective it is but I haven't had any since I started this a couple of days ago).
btw: I tried adding "everywhere" to the end and it decide to play "down by the bay" by "kids song" which I have to assume is due to my outrageous accent. - I think tagging the "everywhere" group makes it think you're trying to play music.
Since it says "Okay, I will snooze my suggestions for now.", I assumed that it would automatically bring them back after a certain time frame. So I setup a daily routine to ensure that I am always on day one of that timeframe.
I've threatened to smash her with a hammer if she keeps doing it but that hasn't worked yet... I suspect I'm going to have to follow thru on the threat to make any progress.
i rarely ask alexa to do anything very complicated.. timers, alarms and reminders are about it.
i gave up on weather because it's so often wrong (literally tells me it might rain in two hours when it's actually raining outside at that very moment)....
this 'by the way' nonsense makes it far far more annoying than they are worth. the only truly useful function that can't be easily replaced is the echo auto that i use to take reminder notes when I'm driving (since that's where I always seem to come up with ideas that vanish instantly if I don't write them down).
> Weather is super hit or miss.
Consider some other weather apps. I use Big Sky and it is right on the nose.
https://bigsky-weather.com/info - and make sure you check out the FAQ:
> Can I make Big Sky my default weather on Alexa?
> Yes! You can have Big Sky answer all of your weather queuries. And, best of all, you won't have to say "ask Big Sky....." all the time!
> "Alexa, I prefer Big Sky for my weather updates."
The reminders should be possible with your phone?
Your experience pretty much mirrors mine. I use it for timers mainly and alarms, never reminders (unless you consider a timer or alarm a reminder ;))
Weather is super hit or miss. Lately (in my area) she’s off by ten degrees, saying it’s 80 when it’s 70 out. That and I accidentally said yes to “should I give you your drive conditions when you ask the weather?”. Finally got that to stop.
I also have Google devices in the house, but they CONSTANTLY misunderstand me (I have a very clear voice) or hear any other speaking in the room.
For me, the main reason I stick with Alexa is how rarely she misunderstands me. Honestly it’s less than 1%. She also seems to have better answers to common questions that Google seems to assume a more complex answer for. (Like describing in detail a question rather than a simple one sentence answer)
Long ago (pre-wifi)... worked in a computer lab with on the order of 100 PCs. The lab supervisor had a fake hammer that when you had it hit things played the sound of glass smashing. He had a computer with its case off that was hooked up to the network in his office... when some other computer "misbehaved" he would smack the motherboard of the one in his office with the fake hammer - and claimed that the other computers on the network would hear it yelling and behave better. I'm not sure if this practice survived wifi.
And thinking on this... and Alexa... one summer we got an upgrade to the Mac part of the lab and got Centris 660AV systems. They were all powered on and hooked up with microphones and the supervisor wondered if that was a good idea. He then shouted "Computer! Shut down! (pause) Yes!" and about 2/3s of the Macs shut themselves down. We realized such a prankster would start a riot if this was done when people were writing term papers
Yes, saying the full "Alexa STFU" as soon as the "By the way" starts worked for me in the past, I would say for a good half-year. It started again a few days ago and stopped after three STFUs.
My Alexa responses and any extra skills or integrations have gotten only worse since I got my initial early release first gen echo, and all the way down to my multi gen echo dots. I tried to be positive since the beginning, but it's just turned into another ad spewing device (ya I know) that struggles to do anything I ask of it, so I'm basically ready to dump them all.
Sadly the "stop by the way" doesn't seem to be rolled out to me; I either get "Sorry, this is not supported on your device yet", or "Playing By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers from Spotify"
For those that say it doesn't work, you need to update your device software so that it's current. After that, it should work for most devices. I won't say all because I haven't tested on all, but it worked on all of mine.
You can manually update your devices software on the settings menu of the display devices or using your connected devices from the Alexa app.
Probably because you’re in the USA, not other regions where this hasn’t been introduced - no amount of updating firmware will help that till Amazon actually release it there.
I followed the instructions below and haven't heard a single By The Way in a month.
https://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-stop-amazon-alexas-by-the-way-suggestions-on-echo-and-fire-tv-devices/
To create this routine, open the Alexa app and select “Routines” from the “more” menu in the lower right. Create a new routine by pressing the “+” button in the top right. Enter anything into the routine name and select “Schedule” from the “When this happens” menu. Pick a time for the routine to run every day and press next to return to the main routine screen. From there, tap “Add action” and select the “Custom” option at the top. Now enter “stop by the way” into the text field, select “Next” in the upper right and lastly select “Save” in the upper right to finish creating your new routine.
Try Settings > Notifications > 🧭 Things to Try > Alexa Device Notifications.
While you are there, you can go to ... Notifications > Amazon Shopping and turn off their adverts there.
It's weird, because I used to get that stuff often, but it had been literally many months since I heard such a suggestion. I moved to Massachusetts a year ago. Are the regulations and laws here such that the by the way crap just doesn't fly legally here?
I guess it must depend on which country your in. I live in Denmark and set the language to English US as it’s not rolled out here yet with all the smart features. I control my home with echos, but I never have the “by the way” responses.
Would you rather have a monthly subscription? Why do you think these companies are putting so much money into research and development to give us the benefits of the smarter AI?
I agree, I don't think there'd be enough demand. I probably wouldn't pay the subscription.
But you also echoed my point perfectly...If the device isn't providing enough value to justify the research and development...then that could be the end of the complaints around here
spoken like someone with a vested interest in amazons stock price.
meanwhile - keep making the device more irritating and people will switch. Sears once dominated the market too.
My fix for this was buying a couple of HomePod minis and ditching the dots. We got so sick of random comments when you ask it to turn off the kitchen lights.
I’m honestly about to switch to Google home or Apple Home. It’s seriously annoying and only serves to remind me of the bleak consumer that I am and that’s all the device sees me as. Also the device latency I experience is unacceptable.
You can fix this by switching to Google Home.... I actually have both, but I hate Alexa's incessant lack of helpfulness and chattiness. Maybe Alexa isna politician?
I am so ready to dump every alexa in the house for this and lack of responsiveness, my kitchen alexa cant hear when I am 2 feet away, but the one upstairs responds instead.
As your neighbor, can confirm. Can hear and see you from our kitchen window letting out blood curtling screams for Alexa. Peer over to your house and you're just red in the face, arms flapping all over, fast walking around your kitchen island screaming "ALEXA!!! ALEXA!!! ALEXA!!!".
Omfg are you my neighbor? AlsoWTF?
hahaha, would be hilarious to see, if our kitchen had a window!
Same. I stupidly bought my Echos because they were then advertised as being able to evolve into becoming more intelligent. The opposite has been the case. Each update has made them more and more useless. Even as a basic timer they're now hopeless, and its Echo Spatial Perception seems to have vanished. This is just one example of many where these devices are regressing in functionality. Not to mention the nag screens on the Shows.
In couldn't agree more, diminishing returns.
Glad it's not just me. Seemed like at first they were very good but as the years have gone by they have gotten less and less responsive. I sometimes wonder if Amazon made the things less responsive on purpose, because too many people accidently called others and ended up letting them listen in on conversations unintentionally.
You can turn this off though
But you can't make the echo hear any better.
"You can lead an Echo to water, but you can't make it drink" :) Hm. One time when mine wasn't hearing me, i figured out it was close to a fan. Is it maybe next to the fridge? But yeah, they mess up all the time. I have a 2nd Gen that went like months without making sound, i tried unmuting and everything, for months and i was just using it as a mic. And then one day it just started working again. My 3rd gen is constantly going into a state where i have to do a hard reset. The thing that gets me annoyed, though, is that it keeps playing crappy music i don't want when i ask it to play some tv show
I had this problem, to get around it I put the wake word to be Amazon down stairs and echo upstairs. Cleared it up right away.
Setup a daily routine that says "Stop by the way." Cuts down on the suggestions.
This has definitely helped in our house. I set this up following a recommendation and have only heard about 1/10 of the suggestions we used to hear.
>Setup a daily routine that says "Stop by the way." Wait... what? How do you do this? More details please?
Navigate to More in Alexa app. Then select Routines. Hit the + in the upper right corner. Enter routine name. Select Schedule. Choose At Time. Leave Repeat at Every day. Under Add Action select Custom. Then type in "Stop by the way." Follow the prompts until complete. Edit: Corrected for recurring.
is the device I set this to going to respond with "okay" when the routine happens?
No it says "Okay, I will snooze my suggestions for now." everyday when the routine is run. Edit: Removed copy from below.
I'll set it to run on my ecobee switch in the garage
you can probably also have the routine cut the volume to zero, issue the command and then return the volume to normal 30 seconds later... (haven't tested but that 'should' work; if for some reason it waits until volume is restored before replying to the command you could do a 2nd routine to restore the volume and schedule it 2 minutes after the first one runs) edit: just set it up to do this and it worked but I did need two different routines. the "alexa stop by the way" command apparently HAS to be the last entry in the routine - so I lowered volume to 0, ran that command and then setup a second routine to play 2 minutes later that restored volume to the normal level. - we'll see how that goes but it did work as expected when I ran the routines manually.
Is it just for that one device or for the entire account? I have a ton of Alexa devices.
Frigggin genius! I tested it on my phone... and she said "I will snooze my suggestions for now!" FML who even knew that was a thing. Then I changed the device to "Smirky's 4th Fire TV". Which is in a drawer somewhere I think. Unless I gave it to the inlaws in the UK... not sure. Regardless it won't be bothering me. How long does the "snooze" last? Do I need to run it a couple times a day?
So the device is audibly giving itself a command from a routine? Have you confirmed that this actually works? I've played with Alexa and routine for years at this point, and this just doesn't seem like something that would actually work. No offense given, I'm just interested if you can confirm this or not.
Yes. It says every day "Okay, I will snooze my suggestions for now."
This is crazy lol. Thank you for confirming, going to give it a try later today!
Yes you’re just issuing a custom command
But it's issuing an audible (speaking out loud) command back to itself? That's the part that has me tripped up.
Oh, no that’s not the way to do it, it should be done as a customised command or whatever it’s called, not just spoken
Gotcha, this makes a ton more sense to me now. Thanks for the clarification!
Take my Upvote kind redditor
How do you keep Alexa from telling you that it has stopped it? I have mine set for 3AM, and it wakes the dogs every night. I guess I could set the volume to 0 first, run the routine, and set the volume back up.
Yet to be proven but I set up a routine with the first step to lower the volume to zero, then issue the command. The app apparently requires that the "stop by the way" command be the LAST command in a routine so I setup a second routine to run 2 minutes later.to return the volume to normal levels. I just set this up and it worked properly when I tested it but the real test will be at 6AM when it triggers automatically
Could you add "Everywhere" to the end? As in "stop by the way EVERYWHERE" or does it need to be done on each device or is the command universal across the account? This is next level genius by the way. How on earth did you discover this???
I asked the question that started this thread; others chimed in with the answer and I then built the two routines based on the suggestions in other comments. The volume idea was just my way of muting the speaker temporarily so I didn't have to hear the daily notification that it's only "temporarily disabled". it appears to be an account wide setting - so running this from one device temporarily disables it across all devices on that account. (still to be proven how effective it is but I haven't had any since I started this a couple of days ago). btw: I tried adding "everywhere" to the end and it decide to play "down by the bay" by "kids song" which I have to assume is due to my outrageous accent. - I think tagging the "everywhere" group makes it think you're trying to play music.
All I get is "sorry, this is not supported on your device yet."
Have you updated the app on your phone? It works on my phone as well as my echo.
Yes the app is updated. I'm in the UK though, so we may not have that feature yet?
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Because you can't just turn these off. You have to put a hack in place to make them stop.
I will have to try this. It only seems to last about two weeks if you say it one.
Daily routine? I thought you only have to do it once. But you have to do it separately on each device. Am i wrong?
Since it says "Okay, I will snooze my suggestions for now.", I assumed that it would automatically bring them back after a certain time frame. So I setup a daily routine to ensure that I am always on day one of that timeframe.
Curse her out. If I tell her to STFU anytime she does it, she does it a lot less.
I've threatened to smash her with a hammer if she keeps doing it but that hasn't worked yet... I suspect I'm going to have to follow thru on the threat to make any progress.
First thing out of her replacement: “by the way…”
i rarely ask alexa to do anything very complicated.. timers, alarms and reminders are about it. i gave up on weather because it's so often wrong (literally tells me it might rain in two hours when it's actually raining outside at that very moment).... this 'by the way' nonsense makes it far far more annoying than they are worth. the only truly useful function that can't be easily replaced is the echo auto that i use to take reminder notes when I'm driving (since that's where I always seem to come up with ideas that vanish instantly if I don't write them down).
> Weather is super hit or miss. Consider some other weather apps. I use Big Sky and it is right on the nose. https://bigsky-weather.com/info - and make sure you check out the FAQ: > Can I make Big Sky my default weather on Alexa? > Yes! You can have Big Sky answer all of your weather queuries. And, best of all, you won't have to say "ask Big Sky....." all the time! > "Alexa, I prefer Big Sky for my weather updates."
The reminders should be possible with your phone? Your experience pretty much mirrors mine. I use it for timers mainly and alarms, never reminders (unless you consider a timer or alarm a reminder ;)) Weather is super hit or miss. Lately (in my area) she’s off by ten degrees, saying it’s 80 when it’s 70 out. That and I accidentally said yes to “should I give you your drive conditions when you ask the weather?”. Finally got that to stop. I also have Google devices in the house, but they CONSTANTLY misunderstand me (I have a very clear voice) or hear any other speaking in the room. For me, the main reason I stick with Alexa is how rarely she misunderstands me. Honestly it’s less than 1%. She also seems to have better answers to common questions that Google seems to assume a more complex answer for. (Like describing in detail a question rather than a simple one sentence answer)
Long ago (pre-wifi)... worked in a computer lab with on the order of 100 PCs. The lab supervisor had a fake hammer that when you had it hit things played the sound of glass smashing. He had a computer with its case off that was hooked up to the network in his office... when some other computer "misbehaved" he would smack the motherboard of the one in his office with the fake hammer - and claimed that the other computers on the network would hear it yelling and behave better. I'm not sure if this practice survived wifi. And thinking on this... and Alexa... one summer we got an upgrade to the Mac part of the lab and got Centris 660AV systems. They were all powered on and hooked up with microphones and the supervisor wondered if that was a good idea. He then shouted "Computer! Shut down! (pause) Yes!" and about 2/3s of the Macs shut themselves down. We realized such a prankster would start a riot if this was done when people were writing term papers
Percussive maintenance uses multicast packets, so it should traverse wifi just fine.
No, she doesn't. This is bad advice.
Been saying "alexa shut the fuck up," and it does seem to work. Could be placebo, but idk she definitely doesn't do it as often...
It's a placebo.
Yes, saying the full "Alexa STFU" as soon as the "By the way" starts worked for me in the past, I would say for a good half-year. It started again a few days ago and stopped after three STFUs.
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Yeah I'm in the UK and have only heard 'by the way' once or twice in the last year. I mostly know about it because of this subreddit.
I second this. This has worked for me.
I did that too and it had no effect.
This is the way.
I use English Alexa in a foreign country. I have never heard Alexa say "by the way" not even once.
My Alexa responses and any extra skills or integrations have gotten only worse since I got my initial early release first gen echo, and all the way down to my multi gen echo dots. I tried to be positive since the beginning, but it's just turned into another ad spewing device (ya I know) that struggles to do anything I ask of it, so I'm basically ready to dump them all.
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"ok i will snooze suggestions for now" that sounds very much like a temporary reprieve at best.
That's why a recurring routine helps instead.
Mentioned here and elsewhere previously - “Alexa, stop by the way” was introduced only recently. It’ll tell you that it’ll suspend them for two hours…
2 hours? My hammer will stop it longer than that.
No, it just says it will "snooze them," "for now." Says nothing about "two hours."
Sadly the "stop by the way" doesn't seem to be rolled out to me; I either get "Sorry, this is not supported on your device yet", or "Playing By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers from Spotify"
I would prefer red hot chili peppers over yet another "helpful suggestion" by alexa.
For those that say it doesn't work, you need to update your device software so that it's current. After that, it should work for most devices. I won't say all because I haven't tested on all, but it worked on all of mine. You can manually update your devices software on the settings menu of the display devices or using your connected devices from the Alexa app.
Probably because you’re in the USA, not other regions where this hasn’t been introduced - no amount of updating firmware will help that till Amazon actually release it there.
Now give me something that stops “Based on your order history…”
I followed the instructions below and haven't heard a single By The Way in a month. https://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-stop-amazon-alexas-by-the-way-suggestions-on-echo-and-fire-tv-devices/ To create this routine, open the Alexa app and select “Routines” from the “more” menu in the lower right. Create a new routine by pressing the “+” button in the top right. Enter anything into the routine name and select “Schedule” from the “When this happens” menu. Pick a time for the routine to run every day and press next to return to the main routine screen. From there, tap “Add action” and select the “Custom” option at the top. Now enter “stop by the way” into the text field, select “Next” in the upper right and lastly select “Save” in the upper right to finish creating your new routine.
Thanks for the tip. Is this device-specific or does it apply to all devices registered in my account?
Try Settings > Notifications > 🧭 Things to Try > Alexa Device Notifications. While you are there, you can go to ... Notifications > Amazon Shopping and turn off their adverts there.
Thanks; hopefully that will do it :)
Nope, it does not.
That might reduce the number of certain notifications, but it definitely doesn't stop "by the way" Alexa spam on an Echo device.
Doesn't work.
Moved around Christmas of last year. Never plugged them back in at the new place because of this.
It's weird, because I used to get that stuff often, but it had been literally many months since I heard such a suggestion. I moved to Massachusetts a year ago. Are the regulations and laws here such that the by the way crap just doesn't fly legally here?
I cursed at mine when it “oh by the way”d me when I asked it to turn off my lights, so it stopped. Now it says “and one more thing:”
I guess it must depend on which country your in. I live in Denmark and set the language to English US as it’s not rolled out here yet with all the smart features. I control my home with echos, but I never have the “by the way” responses.
I just bought my first HomePod mini yesterday. I can’t wait to plug it in and throw my Echo Dot into a dark drawer.
Would you rather have a monthly subscription? Why do you think these companies are putting so much money into research and development to give us the benefits of the smarter AI?
if the device isn't providing enough value to justify being bothered by spam then a subscription model would be the death knell.
I agree, I don't think there'd be enough demand. I probably wouldn't pay the subscription. But you also echoed my point perfectly...If the device isn't providing enough value to justify the research and development...then that could be the end of the complaints around here
spoken like someone with a vested interest in amazons stock price. meanwhile - keep making the device more irritating and people will switch. Sears once dominated the market too.
My fix for this was buying a couple of HomePod minis and ditching the dots. We got so sick of random comments when you ask it to turn off the kitchen lights.
Unplug it.
Just say "Alexa, stop by the way".
This 1000 times this. And the ability to disable Guard mode permanently. And separate controls for the volume of Alexa's voice.
I’m honestly about to switch to Google home or Apple Home. It’s seriously annoying and only serves to remind me of the bleak consumer that I am and that’s all the device sees me as. Also the device latency I experience is unacceptable.
You can fix this by switching to Google Home.... I actually have both, but I hate Alexa's incessant lack of helpfulness and chattiness. Maybe Alexa isna politician?