Also, I wouldn't have one if it wasn't given as a gift. I can't believe these are even for sale. They are clearly not ready for consumers. Nearly 90% of the commands I try to give result in Alexa not knowing or misunderstanding. Why should anyone pay to beta-test the product?
Do the Echo devices not have a hard mute switch?
I have a Google Home mini and it's usually on mute unless we want it for the same reasons, or to play trivia.
It is muted for weeks at a time, sometimes.
Of course I wonder how much of a hard mute it is. If you touch the thing while it's on and muted it will kindly remind you it's muted and can't hear you.
It would be nice to gain more insight.
I unplug it when I don't want to listen to music or put together a shopping list.
No idea whether it already does this but a small battery and a bit of flash go a long way when it comes to overhearing that which was not meant to be overheard...
I guess the pioneer of that was Microsoft and Windows 95.