It’s an easy way to show you care

With so many people unable to travel and missing their their loved ones, Alexa’s newest “hug” feature is exactly what we need right now. It lets you easily send a “hug” to any contact who has an Echo speaker.

Do This Now: Send a hug! 

Follow these simple steps:

1. Say “Alexa, send a hug to Mom Cell” — insert the name of your loved one the same way the person shows up in your contacts. (Yep, I first created my mom’s contact sometime in the 90’s when “mobile” was “cell!”)
2. Alexa will confirm you want to send “Mom Cell” (or your contact name) a hug so you don’t mistakenly send your hug to the wrong person!
3. Say “Yes!” to send the hug!

What’s it like for the person receiving my hug? Hug recipients get a notification on their Echo — for people with a regular Echo speaker, the light ring will flash yellow, and for those with an Echo Show, they’ll see a message icon in the upper right corner. When they say “Alexa, what are my messages?” they’ll hear a nice chime sound followed by your “hug.”

Personal Note: Yes, sending an Alexa hug is a small and silly thing (and nowhere near as good as a real hug!), but it’s also a lovely surprise for the hug’s recipient. My parents were delighted to get the Alexa hug I sent them 🙂

Want to send a “hug” but haven’t connected your contacts to Alexa yet?

To import all your contacts stored in your phone’s address book, follow these steps:

1. Open the Alexa app
2. Tap “Communicate” on the bottom navigation bar
3. Tap the person icon in the upper right corner
4. Tap the 3 dots icon in the upper right corner
5. Tap “Import Contacts”
6. Toggle on “Import Contacts” to allow Alexa to periodically upload your 
7. If you decide at a later date you want to disconnect your contacts: follow steps #1-5 above then toggle off “Import Contacts”

To manually import a single contact, follow these steps:

1. Follow steps #1-4 above
2. Tap “Add Contact”
3. Enter the contact’s info and tap “Save”

Want to send a hug, but not sure if the person has an Echo? 

To check, open the Alexa app > tap “Communicate” on the bottom navigation bar > tap the person icon in the upper right corner > search for your contact. If their contact card has an “Alexa Calling & Messaging” section at the top, that means they have an Echo!