Alexa has a new name now– Ziggy — and a new voice to either pair with “Ziggy” or not. You’re easy to mix — and remix — those options as you please, since there are separate settings for voice and wake word.
Alexa already had many other, er, “names”: Your Echo device could already respond to “Amazon,” “Echo,” or “Computer,” as well as “Alexa.” “Ziggy” is the first name to appear as an option besides “Alexa.”
How to change your Echo’s wake word to ‘Ziggy’
The “wake word” is the name you say to call Amazon’s digital voice assistant. The steps are the same whether you want to change it to “Ziggy” or any of the other choices. There’s the easy way — say, “Alexa, change your wake word” and then answer to one of the choices Alexa gives you. And then there is this:
- Open the Alexa app, then tap Devices on the bottom menu bar, tap Echo & Alexa at the top, then tap the name of the device whose wake word you want to change.
- Tap the Settings (gear) icon in the upper right corner, then scroll down and tap Wake Word, then tap the one you’d like to use.
- A popup will warn you it may take a few minutes to take effect — tap OK.
How to switch your Echo’s voice (with any wake word)
There’s an easy way to change like the wake word– “Alexa, change your voice.” Your Echo gadget will authenticate using the new voice. If changing to the masculine-sounding voice, you’ll be told how to change the wake word as well. And then there is this:
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 from above, but instead of Wake Word, tap Alexa’s Voice.
- Choose between Original (feminine-sounding) and New (masculine-sounding), then simply back out of that setting.