News > Smart & Connected Life Amazon Unveils New 'Free-Flowing' Conversation Mode for Alexa No more “Hey, Alexa” By Lawrence Bonk Lawrence Bonk News Reporter Florida State University Lawrence Bonk is a tech news reporter for Lifewire, specializing in gaming, AI, VR, and consumer tech, including iOS, macOS, wearables, and more. lifewire's editorial guidelines Published on November 18, 2021 12:46PM EST Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Western Kentucky University Gulf Coast Community College Jerri L. Ledford has been writing, editing, and fact-checking tech stories since 1994. Her work has appeared in Computerworld, PC Magazine, Information Today, and many others. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Smart & Connected Life Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Since Alexa’s first appearance in 2014, the world has become accustomed to saying “Hey, Alexa” to issue a query, but those days may be ending. Amazon just unveiled a new capability called Conversation Mode that allows Alexa to engage in back-and-forth interactions without repeating the wake word, as announced on the company blog. Amazon Once you say “Alexa, join the conversation,” the smart assistant will reportedly engage when addressed, no matter if you issue the wake word or not. Amazon says this allows for more “free-flowing interactions” and that Alexa will “respond when addressed and pause if interrupted.” This tech requires a camera to work, however, since Alexa needs to know when it is being addressed. With that said, Conversation Mode is currently locked to the third-generation Echo Show 10. As for privacy, Alexa must be invited to join a conversation and can be asked to leave by simply saying “leave the conversation.” Conversation Mode will also automatically end if you stop addressing Alexa within a “short period of time.” Amazon says that only Alexa-directed audio cues will be sent to the cloud, not images, videos, or unrelated audio. The update will begin rolling out to Echo Show 10 devices in the next few weeks. There has been no word on if or when other Echo Show models will be able to access the feature. If you are interested in the details behind this tech, the Alexa speech team breaks it down on the Amazon Science blog. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit