How to Remove Recently Used Features on the Echo Show

Hey there! Today, I wanted to share with you a neat little trick for clearing the “Recently Active” list on your Echo Show. You know, that list that shows all the things you’ve recently interacted with, like skills, smart home devices, and more? Well, sometimes it can get a bit cluttered, right? And you might want to clean it up a bit. Well, lucky for you, I’ve got just the solution!

So here’s what you can do. First, let’s head over to the settings menu on your Echo Show. You can get there by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping on the “Settings” button. Easy, right? Great!

Once you’re in the settings menu, scroll down until you find the “Device Options” section. Tap on that, and then look for the “Recently Active” option. It should be the first one on the list. When you see it, go ahead and tap on it. Stay with me, we’re almost there!

Now, you’ll see a screen that shows all the things you’ve recently used on your Echo Show. It’s like taking a trip down memory lane. But if you want to clean it up, all you have to do is tap on the “Clear All” button. Poof! Just like magic, all those recently used features will disappear. It’s like starting fresh!

And guess what? That’s it! You’ve successfully cleared the “Recently Active” list on your Echo Show. Pretty cool, huh? Now you can enjoy a clutter-free experience and have a clean slate to start anew. You’re welcome!

I hope this little tip was helpful for you. If you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to let me know. I’ll be here to help. Happy Echo Show-ing!

Hey there! So, did you hear about the cool new feature on Amazon Echo Show called ‘Drop In’? It’s pretty interesting. With this feature, you can give certain people permission to pop up on your device’s screen and start a video chat without even having to answer a call. How cool is that?

I know it might sound a little strange at first, but this feature is actually becoming quite popular. In fact, the ‘recently active’ notification that you see next to some contacts on your home screen is also connected to this Drop In feature.

Now, I bet you’re wondering if you can get rid of these notifications. Well, the good news is, you totally can! Just keep reading and I’ll show you how.

What Does ‘Recently Active’ Mean?

When you turn on the Drop In feature on your Echo Show, it activates the device’s motion sensors. These sensors can tell if someone is nearby.

If you’ve given permission to certain contacts and household members to ‘drop-in’ on your Echo Show display, they can see if you’re nearby. So, when they see the ‘recently active’ notification next to your device’s name, it means they can ‘drop-in’ on your screen and have a chat with you.

It also means that all the devices you have permission to drop-in on will show as ‘recently active’ if someone has recently used the app or even just walked by. You’ll also see a little notification on the top-right of your screen letting you know that you can drop-in on other users’ devices.

Now, I get it, having these notifications in two different places can be pretty distracting. If you want to get rid of them, the first thing you need to do is disable another Echo Show feature called Drop In. I’ll explain how to do that in the next section, so keep reading!

How to Turn Off Drop In?

You have two options to disable the Drop In feature: you can do it manually or use voice commands. Let me break it down for you.

Disabling Drop In Using Voice Commands

If you want to turn off Drop In using your voice, simply say: “Alexa, disable Drop In for my household.” This will not only get rid of notifications like the ‘recently active’ alert but also prevent other users from dropping in on your display.

On the other hand, if you want to disable Drop In for specific contacts, just say: “Alexa, disable Drop In for [contact name].” And if you only want to temporarily disable notifications and the feature, you can say: “Alexa, do not disturb.” This will also stop other users from dropping in and remove all notifications.

Disabling Drop In Manually

If you want to take the most secure route to turn off Drop In and remove the notifications, you’ll need to access your Echo Show’s Settings menu. Here’s how:

1. Swipe down from the top of your Echo Show screen to open the menu.
2. Tap on the ‘Settings’ menu icon (the gear icon on the right).
3. Tap on ‘Home & Clock’ (or ‘Home Screen’ depending on your version).
4. Go to ‘Home Cards’.
5. Disable the Drop In feature.

It’s worth mentioning that this is the only way to manually disable the Drop In feature. You can’t do it from the Alexa app on your smartphone.

However, if you want to disable Drop In permissions for a specific contact, you can do that using the phone app. Simply tap on the conversation button (the speech bubble) and select ‘Contacts.’ You can then tap on any contact and disable Drop In from their menu.

And just like with voice commands, manually disabling Drop In for a specific contact will also remove the recently active notification from your home screen.

Is There Another Way to Remove the Notification?

Right now, the only other way to remove the notification is to tap on it. But here’s the thing – when you do that, you’ll be dropped into that user’s Echo Show display. Once you exit the Drop In window, the notification will disappear.

But there’s a catch. Not only will you be able to see what’s happening on the other user’s device, but that contact could also trigger the motion sensors again just by using their device or coming close to it. And if that happens, you’ll get the notification again.

So, all in all, if you find the ‘recently active’ notifications annoying, it might be best to disable Drop In altogether. Don’t worry, you can always enable it again whenever you need to.

Privacy Concerns with Drop In

Now, let’s talk about privacy. The Drop In feature is interesting because any user you’ve given permission to can suddenly pop up on your display whenever you’re around. That means they can use your camera to look around the room without any warning.

So, before you grant permissions to various users to drop in on your Echo Show, think it through. You might even forget who has access, and that could seriously compromise your privacy.

What do you think about the privacy issues with Drop In? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!