Amazon has pushed out a multitude of firmware updates recently for users in the United States and have one of the Fire tablets from 2016. One of the key enhancements is Alexa, the interactive voice assistant. Many users have reported that Alexa is draining their battery or they simply do not want to have it on their device. Although you cannot uninstall Alexa, there are a few things you can do to turn it off.
To stop Alexa from coming up when home is held, go to Settings>Device Options and look for the Alexa title, on my Kindle it’s the 4th title down from the top, then tap the slider to make it so Alexa doesn’t come up when home is held.
Once that is done go to Settings>Apps&Games>Manage All Apps, then swipe left three times to the “All” category and select the Alexa app Icon and do a force stop, then clear the data and the Cache.
Then go back one screen to “All” and do the same thing with the Alexa Cards app.
If you share your Fire tablet with family members, did you know that Alexa is disabled if you turn parental controls on? This is an easy way to shut off Alexa, without doing a bunch of complicated things in the settings menu.
Update: In the latest Amazon update released a few days ago you can remove the Alexa button by going to Settings. Device Options. Alexa: deactivate the button.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.