Amazon announced an update for its Alexa app on Windows 10 today. This is the first real update to the app since the app showed up on the Microsoft Store back in November. This update allows the digital assistant to work hands-free on PCs, allowing you to wake the assistant with a voice command.
With this update, you can now use it as completely hands-free rather than having to click a button to talk to the digital assistant every time. This also means that you can still use Alexa while it is running in the background. Amazon also said that you’ll be able to toggle between hands-free and push-to-talk at any time, so if you like the old experience better, you can still go back to it.
“This means you can easily invoke Alexa regardless of whether the app is running in the foreground or background – all you need to do is ask. In addition to enabling wake-word capabilities, today’s update also adds support for Pandora, letting customers play their favorite stations through Alexa.”
Amazon says that the Alexa app will update itself once the users open it. If you want to update your app or install it, you can find it on the Microsoft Store here. The other new feature that Alexa on Windows 10 is getting in this latest version is Pandora support, making it easy to control playback with voice commands, “The same features people know and love about the experience, including the ability to control smart home devices, manage calendars, play music, access tens of thousands of skills, and more.”