July 12 2020: Amazon announced hands-free access to Alexa in the Alexa app. With this update, whether on the treadmill or out for a walk, customers can now just ask Alexa to control smart home products, make shopping lists, listen to music and more when the Alexa App is open on the screen.
Once the wake word is detected, an animated blue bar will appear at the bottom of the screen, indicating Alexa is streaming your request to the cloud. Here are a few examples of on-the-go experiences customers can set up:

• “Alexa, remind me to call Mom at 12 pm tomorrow” 
• ”Alexa, play workout mix”
• “Alexa, add rice to my shopping list”
• “Alexa, pay my electricity bill”
• “Alexa, switch on the living room lights”

 The feature is available for all iOS and Android users of the Alexa app. To access, customers will need to update their Alexa app or download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Users can turn the feature on/off at any time in their mobile app settings.