Amazon Alexa Arrives on the Halo Fitness Band, but is it a step too far for privacy advocates?
Amazon’s Halo fitness band may be an excellent way to stay yourself in shape, except for a short time now; you could not bring Alexa with you while you were on a jog. Now, Amazon is adding its voice-activated assistant to the Halo brand, so you’ll ask it questions regardless of where you’re.
Halo’s New Guest: Amazon Alexa
TheVerge caught wind of Amazon bringing Alexa to the Halo. Amazon says that this new feature’s rollout begins today, but users will get to make sure that both the firmware on their Halo and their iOS or Android app are all updated before they’ll see it.
This is terrible news for those that already do not like how intrusive the Amazon Halo feels sometimes. In fact, during a recent review of the device, we crowned it “the creepiest fitness band yet” thanks to what proportion of data the Halo can potentially harvest from you.
However, Amazon realizes that the addition of Alexa may make some users uncomfortable. As health statistics are often a sensitive topic, Amazon has opted to disable Alexa by default when the update rolls out. If you would like to enable it, you will need to poke around within the settings and flip a switch before Alexa can ask you.
It’s also worth noting that Amazon will tailor Alexa to recite the info that Halo has collected. It’ll not, by any means, store any results or keep track of your vitals.
However, Alexa will be an excellent thanks to getting a snapshot of your vital signs regardless of where you’re. For example, you’ll ask Alexa for your sleep score if you’re concerned that you are not getting the maximum amount of rest as you wish.
If you feel a touch iffy about giving Alexa permission to see into your health history, don’t be concerned. As we mentioned above, the feature is disabled by default, so it isn’t forced on you.
If you are doing turn it on and feel uncomfortable about the choice, you’ll turn the feature backtrack again, and Alexa will stay quiet. You’ll 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
Suppose you’d rather spend longer running and less time twiddling with a gadget to point out the proper statistics. In that case, you will be pleased to understand that Amazon Alexa Arrives on the Halo Fitness Band will soon feature the chirpy voice-activated assistant ranging from today. However, if you’re worried about privacy, the app will have everything you would like to stay in peace of mind while you exercise.
If you are still on the fence about buying an Amazon Halo, we recently named it one of the simplest fitness trackers which will measure your pulse.
