With 1 in 3 Americans owning an Amazon Echo, it’s fair game to say Alexa is a household name by now; and ever since Apple announced Siri in 2011, the entire tech world has been in a virtual assistant craze.
There’s a pretty good chance that anyone you bump into on the street will have Bixby, Siri, or Google Assistant on their person (and a 1-in-3 chance they have Alexa at home!).
Virtual assistant software now has integration with everything from music apps like Spotify to navigation apps like Waze-it’s entirely possible to go through your entire day using your phone without ever touching it!
New or long time users sometimes see their Alexa light up with a full blue ring and may wonder, “Why does my Alexa have a blue ring?” In this article we will explain why Alexa’s sometimes show a blue ring when using it.
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Why does my Alexa have a blue ring?
There are a few scenarios in which you might find yourself confronted with a blue ring on your Amazon Echo’s crown; but the Echo’s blue rings all mean different things, and they all look slightly different. It is caused by it’s command word being used or stating “Alexa” out loud. It can also be caused by your Alexa rebooting its software or adjusting the sound settings.
Read on to find out what the difference is between the different blue rings on your Amazon Echo shortly.
Virtual assistants work their magic by making use of your phone’s microphone to record and decipher your verbal instructions, and then translating them into a programming command to execute.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of virtual assistant technology is its consideration of new users or people who aren’t particularly handy with technology.
It recognizes simple, common language and is able to execute them, enabling a person without an extensive background in computers to complete tasks they otherwise might struggle with.
If you’ve just received your Amazon Echo, you might not be too familiar with all of its bells and whistles. The Amazon Echo is just like most Bluetooth speakers, featuring volume control buttons, and an action button.
It also has a mute button to prevent Alexa from accidentally picking up your wake word, which is a word that the user chooses that they can use to activate Alexa.
Your Amazon Echo also has additional features to help smoothen your Alexa experience. When using Alexa, the Amazon Echo will communicate via a series of lights to indicate different processes or statuses.
If you’ve only just plugged in your Amazon Echo, here are the different blue rings you may want to know more about.
Different Blue Rings Found on Your Alexa and Amazon Echo
1. Solid blue with an aqua-colored bar
If you’re seeing your Amazon Echo display this kind of blue ring, then Alexa most likely heard your wake word being used, activating its voice recognition feature. In other words, Alexa is waiting for another command to be issued.
If you aren’t the one who gave the wake word, Alexa has some directional sense to help you: the location of the aqua-colored bar on the blue ring indicates the direction in which Alexa picked up your wake word.
2. Pulsing blue and aqua
If you or someone else responds to the previous light states by issuing a second command to Alexa, you may see this light states next. This indicates that Alexa is currently processing the most issued request. This may take some time depending on connection strength.
This light state also appears when Alexa is loading a specific Amazon Skill (which are essentially integrations with other apps) or another feature of the Amazon Echo. In this case, it may solve your issue to simply wait it out.
3. Spinning blue with an aqua-colored bar
It’s important to be patient with this particular light states, as it indicates that Alexa is currently going through a reboot, which cannot be interrupted. Reboots can occur when your Echo is unplugged and then plugged back in.
Blue rings are the most common color on the Echo, and they can mean different things depending on how they look; but ultimately, blue rings are harmless and don’t represent any kind of errors on your Echo, so you can rest easy!
Other Than Your Alexa Showing a Blue Ring – Here Are Some Other Colors Your Alexa Might Display
Besides the three blue light states, your Echo also makes use of other colors to communicate different things depending on the color. Here is a guide for each color below:
1. Solid white ring
A solid white indicates that Alexa is currently on, and it stays white unless the Echo needs to communicate some other information to the user.
If it’s blinking, it indicates a change in volume is being made.
2. Orange ring
If you’re seeing an orange ring on your Echo, you might be having connectivity issues. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have no connection-just that your Echo is currently attempting to connect to the Internet. If it takes some time to change color, you may need to reset your router.
3. Red ring
In relation to the above, a red ring definitely means your Echo has connectivity issues. A red ring also appears to show that your Echo has its microphone disabled and is unable to listen for new verbal commands.
4. Purple light/deep blue
If your Echo is displaying a purple ring, it may be due to an interrupted Wi-Fi setup process, or that you’ve played your Echo in Do Not Disturb mode. This color can be interpreted as purple or a deep blue depending on the user.
5. Yellow ring
A yellow ring indicates that there are unread notifications you haven’t heard. You can prompt Alexa to tell you what they are by asking her, “Alexa, what are my messages?”
6. Green ring
Your Echo will make use of a green light to signal incoming calls. Since Alexa is still active, you can ask her to answer the call by saying, “Alexa, answer this call.”
Why Does My Alexa Have a Blue Ring – Final Thoughts
To wrap it up, we hope you found the answer you were looking for in this article. With the Amazon Echo’s minimalist design, there needed to be a simple way for the Echo to communicate certain information to the user. and the best way to do that is with color-coded lights.
There are a lot of colors, but if you can ensure you can memorize what each of them means-or at least keep a chart handy in case you don’t want to or can’t-you can surely make the most out of your brand new Amazon Echo.