Alexa in Amazon (Store) app

tomsem · 04-21-2017, 01:11 PM

I have v9.6.0 (updated Apr 20) and the release notes refer to 'Alexa's fun skills', and even before this update there were people using it and reporting in blogs, etc.

However when I try to do an Alexa request, it is just a voice search of the store as before. This is on an iPad, but I don't see any reference that it works only on iPhone, etc. I thought maybe it needs to be enabled on an Amazon server and they are rolling it out gradually, but it has been several weeks since I installed the app and still no Alexa skills are in evidence.

Can anybody here supply some more 'data points'?

jswinden · 04-21-2017, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

I have v9.6.0 (updated Apr 20) and the release notes refer to 'Alexa's fun skills', and even before this update there were people using it and reporting in blogs, etc.

However when I try to do an Alexa request, it is just a voice search of the store as before. This is on an iPad, but I don't see any reference that it works only on iPhone, etc. I thought maybe it needs to be enabled on an Amazon server and they are rolling it out gradually, but it has been several weeks since I installed the app and still no Alexa skills are in evidence.

Can anybody here supply some more 'data points'?

I don't have the Amazon shopping app on my iPad, so I cannot test. Alexa does work on my iPhone via the Amazon shopping app though. I just asked her the time and she gave it to me. However, this is totally stupid. Why the hell put Alexa features in the shopping app rather than in the Alexa app? Makes no sense. Why would I want to open the shopping app to control my Echo, smart home devices, ask questions, play music, etc. Bezos Bozos have out done their usual stupidity with this one. Hey Amazon, just add the damn microphone button to the Alexa app for crying out loud! I guess their rationale is that if you are in the shopping app you might accidentally order something rather than just listen to music.

Here is their web page describing the Alexa features available through the shopping app.

tomsem · 04-22-2017, 02:43 AM

Amazon puts this stuff in the shopping app to get people to install it. On Android, you have to install the apk for the store to be able to access Amazon Video, for example.

For what it is worth, there are third party apps that have Alexa services (e.g. Reverb).

tomsem · 04-22-2017, 02:03 PM

So Amazon CS has confirmed that 'there is a problem while accessing this new feature' on iPad. Right now it only works on iPhone (& iPod Touch I assume).

Reverb works, but only with a subset of Alexa skills. In particular it does not do Audible, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn. It does read Kindle books.

04-21-2017, 01:11 PM	#1
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Alexa in Amazon (Store) app I have v9.6.0 (updated Apr 20) and the release notes refer to 'Alexa's fun skills', and even before this update there were people using it and reporting in blogs, etc. However when I try to do an Alexa request, it is just a voice search of the store as before. This is on an iPad, but I don't see any reference that it works only on iPhone, etc. I thought maybe it needs to be enabled on an Amazon server and they are rolling it out gradually, but it has been several weeks since I installed the app and still no Alexa skills are in evidence. Can anybody here supply some more 'data points'?

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04-22-2017, 02:43 AM	#3
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Amazon puts this stuff in the shopping app to get people to install it. On Android, you have to install the apk for the store to be able to access Amazon Video, for example. For what it is worth, there are third party apps that have Alexa services (e.g. Reverb).

04-22-2017, 02:03 PM	#4
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	So Amazon CS has confirmed that 'there is a problem while accessing this new feature' on iPad. Right now it only works on iPhone (& iPod Touch I assume). Reverb works, but only with a subset of Alexa skills. In particular it does not do Audible, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn. It does read Kindle books.

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