Amazon’s Halo fitness band is a great way to keep yourself in shape, but for a while now, you couldn’t bring Alexa with you while you were on a jog. Now, Amazon is adding its voice-activated assistant to the Halo band, so you can ask it questions no matter where you are.
Halo’s New Guest: Amazon Alexa
The Verge caught wind of Amazon bringing Alexa to the Halo. Amazon says that this new feature’s rollout begins today, but users will need to ensure that both the firmware on their Halo and their iOS or Android app are all updated before they’ll see it.
This is bad news for those who already don’t like how intrusive the Amazon Halo feels at times. In fact, in a recent review of the device, we crowned it “the creepiest fitness band yet” due to how much data the Halo can potentially harvest from you.
However, Amazon realizes that the addition of Alexa may make some users uncomfortable. As health statistics can be a sensitive topic, Amazon has opted to disable Alexa by default when the update rolls out. If you want to enable it, you’ll need to poke around in the settings and flip a switch before Alexa can talk to you.
It’s also worth noting that Amazon will tailor Alexa to recite the data that Halo has collected. It will not, by any means, store any results or keep track of your vitals.
However, Alexa will be a great way to get a snapshot of your vital signs no matter where you are. For instance, you can ask Alexa for your sleep score if you’re concerned that you’re not getting as much rest as you like.
If you feel a little iffy about giving Alexa permission to peer into your health history, don’t worry. As we mentioned above, the feature is disabled by default, so it’s not forced on you.
If you do turn it on and feel uncomfortable about the decision, you can turn the feature back off again, and Alexa will stay quiet. You can then head into the Alexa app and erase all the logs you created using the Halo fitness band.
Alexa on the Go With Amazon Halo
If you’d rather spend more time running and less time fiddling with a gadget to show you the right statistics, you’ll be pleased to know that Amazon’s Halo fitness band will soon feature the chirpy voice-activated assistant starting from today. However, if you’re worried about privacy, the app will have everything you need to keep peace of mind while you exercise.
If you’re still on the fence about buying an Amazon Halo, we recently named it one of the best fitness trackers that can measure your heart rate.
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