I wasn’t anticipating my younger kids to buy groceries this Black Friday. However, after I was in my workplace situated behind the home and heard Alexa+ say that the ‘Excessive Fart Extension’ had been ordered, I knew that it wasn’t my husband who’d made the acquisition. Largely as a result of he wasn’t dwelling.
My youngsters had gone from speaking to Alexa+ to activating excessive flatulence in seconds. What adopted can solely be described as a full-blown soundboard of cartoonish gasoline explosions enabled immediately throughout each Alexa device in our dwelling.
You probably have youngsters, you most likely already know that they’re quicker at discovering apps than you’re at discovering your Amazon login. Fortunately, that is preventable. Right here’s learn how to arrange parental controls on Alexa and Amazon so your youngster doesn’t unintentionally (or deliberately) obtain or purchase issues with out your information.
What is Alexa+ and how did my kids buy something?
We are an Alexa+ household and I exploit it to maintain the chaos below management with my household of 5. Alexa+ is Amazon’s upgraded AI assistant, and works with the Alexa Expertise Retailer, the place you’ll be able to allow apps like video games, trivia, soundboards — and, sure, fart extensions. A few of these are free, whereas others include a small payment.
The problem? If voice purchasing is enabled, your Echo device will happily process a request like what my kids ordreed. They can also purchase directly off of Amazon. That is, unless you’ve set up safeguards.
That’s exactly what happened in my house. My kids asked for it, Alexa confirmed the purchase, and within seconds, our smart speaker was blasting explosive sound effects in nearly every room.
How to stop your kids from using Alexa to make purchases
If you have young kids, I would turn off voice purchasing completely. This is the simplest way to make sure no one — not your kid, not your parrot, not a rogue babysitter — can buy anything just by asking Alexa.
- Open the Alexa app on your phone
- Tap More > Settings > Account Settings
- Tap Voice Purchasing
- Toggle Voice Purchasing to OFF
Once this is off, Alexa will no longer respond to commands like “Alexa, order printer paper” or “Buy toilet paper again.” You’ll still be able to shop using your phone or browser.
You could even add a voice code for safety. This is particularly important if you want to keep voice shopping on. Just lock it down with a 4-digit pin. In this case, you’d go back to Voice Purchasing in the Alexa app, turn on Purchase Confirmation and create a Voice Code (PIN) that will be required to complete any purchase.
Set up Amazon Kids for even more control
If you’re handing an Echo device over to a child (say, for music, bedtime stories or timers), I suggest enabling Amazon Kids. It’s fun for them, but puts you in charge.
- Open the Alexa app
- Tap Devices > Echo & Alexa
- Choose your child’s device (or whatever device the family uses)
- Tap Amazon Kids and toggle it ON
From there, you can manage content filters, time limits and disable purchases entirely. It also blocks explicit music, restricts calling/texting and gives you access to activity logs.
And if you’re ever worried about missing an unexpected purchase, you can review your Alexa purchase history. To see what’s been ordered (just in case), visit voice order history, or examine your Orders web page on Amazon. If one thing slipped by means of, you’ll be able to often request a refund shortly.
Bottom line
Our family relies on Alexa+ to keep our schedules and lives in order, and while voice shopping can be convenient, it’s not so fun when you’re in a work meeting and there’s 10 minutes of nonstop flatulence happening in the background.
Disabling Alexa’s voice purchasing (or locking it behind a PIN) is the best way to avoid surprise charges, chaos or a very awkward Echo announcement.
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