What is Reddit's opinion of Amazon Alexa?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I mean... they kinda are? You can just go to https://alexa.amazon.com/ and see everything recorded. Are they really hiding anything? It lets you upvote or downvote if the alexa worked correctly.

"Alexa, delete everything I said today."

All you have to do to delete it all if you really care? Mine is nothing but starting and stopping music, asking what the weather is, and turning my lights on/off. What does it even matter?

Try using it from desktop instead of the app wrapper:

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#cards

Bonus, you can bookmark specific areas:

http://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#settings/dialogs

However, not all features are available via this method.

Settings - select device - bottom of the page: Follow-Up ModeAsk Alexa follow-up questions without repeating the wake word.

The help document for the feature

It’s very simple but works for me since I have 10 other conditions and it hurts to even sit. The bank groups are my lamps that turn on at the beginning and off at the end

https://alexa.amazon.com/routines/shared/yoMsYCL8TUOiJu279K5rdQ

You should fully purge everything from Alexa - you can do so from the web site: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#appliances

At the bottom is a "Forget All" button. Nuke it all and start again.

I've actually mostly solved this using two approaches.

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Firstly my kids rooms are not named after them. They are named for example bedroom_overhead_01 or 2 and nobody but myself knows that name. I then use the Alexa app to setup a custom trigger using routines. Routine setup is pretty straight forward.

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1. Open Alexa App
2. Select Routines from the side menu.
3. Select new
4. Name it
5. Under "when this happens" select voice
6. Enter your phrase here such as "Turn on Jimmy's room"
7. This part is critical! Under "Alexa will" select add action and then select "Alexa says" and either add a custom response or use the phrases (one of my favorite things to do). This will enable the "From" section which will allow you to slect specific devices this phrase can be used from.
8. Next add another action under "add an action" then select smart home and select the device you want to control.
9. Lastly under the From section select the device you want this trigger to work from.

This mostly solved my issue but it's a bit of a hack to do it. The other thing I started doing was using the alexa history page on the browser alexa.amazon.com which shows the latest triggers. A few times getting in trouble coupled with their custom triggers solved that issue in my house.

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I know this requires the cloud but it's super simple and honestly the benefits are pretty great if you can swing it.

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Good luck.

This, and lots of other things would be solved, if you could invoke skills in routines. I think everyone should just keep pestering Amazon until they do it!

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#feedback

> I've decided that i might buy Echo or Echo plus instead of new bluetooth speaker. Question holding me back is that all the setup instructions seem to be for Windows or Mac. As developer, i have all my computers running some linux distribution.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information from, but the Echo is most typically setup from a smartphone or tablet running Android, iOS, or FireOS.

It's also possible to configure an Echo by visiting https://alexa.amazon.com using pretty much any modern browser.

So either way, you're covered.

log on to https://alexa.amazon.com/ and look at what it thought was said. You can even press the play button next to it to hear the audio.

I have 4 echos and that has happened once twice. I also had a google home for about 6 months, and it did it a couple of times as well. It's a matter of how "close" you get to sounding like the keyword.

Allow me to reply to my own question:

Yes! It's absolutely possible. Here are a few URLs, which could be nice:

"Alexa start a timer" will show up here, for example: https://pitangui.amazon.com/api/notifications

Activities/history (I couldn't find a way to allow more than 50, however): https://alexa.amazon.com/api/activities?startTime=&size=50&offset=-1

Found a lot here: http://analyticphysics.com/Diversions/Accessing%20Amazon%20Echo%20Data%20with%20JavaScript.htm

I’ll explain it in steps as best as I can. Also you may need 2 devices to do this.

1. Put your Alexa in set up mode (Have myresnet.com open while your doing this)
2. If you have a laptop, set your device up from there instead of the Alexa app
3. Go to https://alexa.amazon.com (if this link doesn’t work just search it on Google)
4. Follow the prompts on the website, when it asks you to connect to your Amazon device wifi, it might not come up so click “other networks” and it should be there
5. On your my res net, add your device and the MAC address, (if you don’t see it on the setup website, it’s in the bottom of the echo dot box)
6. Connect your Alexa to MyResNet wifi, not the legacy one

That should be it, if it doesn’t work try connecting your Amazon device to a mobile hotspot first, then connecting it to the school wifi. Good luck!

Who is the account registered to? If your Amazon account just go to the web version of the Alexa app and delete the devices you no longer have physical access to. Just FYI, being on different WiFi networks does not make a difference. The account is what matters. https://alexa.amazon.com or https://echo.amazon.com sign into your Amazon account.

I am so sorry to hear about Moof! He looks like a sweet boy. Please try this to see if you can clear the reminder. Open up the Alexa app on your phone. Click on the hamburger (more) in the lower right corner and click on reminders in the left menu. See if the reminder to buy more treats is listed there and if so clear it. You can also go to https://alexa.amazon.com and go the "Reminders" section to find it.

GL, I hope you find it and can clear it. If not, let me know and we can keep trying.

The apps are technically just fronts to https://alexa.amazon.com - what you can do in the app you can do there.

It's easier making "apps" for mobile, since SDKs and frameworks are available. Even Microsoft made making the "apps" for their app store easier to make and deploy.

Actual applications for Windows (not from their app store) and Mac OS require much more development as they'd have to make the UI and all. That's a tonne of work.

Actually after WiFi is configured on the echo device you do not need a phone anymore. Few people know it exists but https://alexa.amazon.com exists.

Alexa.amazon.com even has a few things the Alexa app does not have.... like the ability to delete a “scene”, which is a need I spent many hours trying to find before contacting Echo support that told me the “secret”. Tech support actually put “secret” in quotes too when they answered my question.

I was having this problem, and what fixed it for me was disabling the Sonos Skill, then enabling the Sonos Skill on a PC browser instead of through the Alexa app. Once you've enabled the skill, go to 'Smart Home', then 'Devices', then click on 'Discover' and link the speaker that way. After I did that, it started working properly :)

Non-persistent option to all devices:

Use the Alexa app on your smartphone, saying "Announce 'pick up your phone, I'm trying to call you!'"

Persistent option to one device:

Use the Alexa app on your smartphone or go to the Reminders section on the Alexa portal on Amazon.com and set a reminder in the immediate future named "Pick up your phone" on a specific device.

Im getting all the way to the part where we test the tts but after i run the test command im getting

sending cmd:speak:This_is_a_test! to dev:Office Dot type:A3S5RJ9HU6VARF serial:G022LF01654713EQ customerid:B6BJY7QR2JWEW8 Sequence command: Alexa.Speak HTTP/1.1 0 x-amzn-RequestId: 74b222e3-9823-21e8-be70-s91ca5d94f85 Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://alexa.amazon.com Content-Encoding: deflate Vary: Origin Access-Control-Expose-Headers: x-amzn-dat-gui-client-upgrade,X-Amzn-Error,loginUrl,X-Amzn-RequestId,x-amzn-alt-domain,Date,Location Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2018 02:57:11 GMT Connection: close

But i dont hear anything coming from my dot and i also dont see the light turning on and im not sure if its supposed to or not.

Has anyone else had this issue and found a fix for it? Also how long will this cookie last that i grabbed using the cookie.txt extension?

The Echo Plus has a Zigbee bridge, works with Hue light bulbs fine. No additional hub or skill required.

Connect the bulb to power (turn on.) Go to the Alexa app (on phone, tablet, or web ( https://alexa.amazon.com ) Click/tap "Smart Home", then "Devices", then either "Add Device" (app) or "Discover" (web) and the Echo Plus will spend a minute looking for unpaired Zigbee devices, e.g. Hue Bulbs, smart plugs, wall switches, etc., and pair with them. They'll show up in the Smart Home / Devices list on the app, as "first light", (or "first plug" or "second switch"). You can then control them with voice commands – or you can control them from the app if you prefer.)

There's a web UI for Alexa devices here: https://alexa.amazon.com/

It will let you access a MAJORITY of the settings but be aware that many important things, like Alexa enabled groups for instance, are only available on the app (and some rare cases on the Show) itself.

If you setup the account for Grandma though, you should be able to log into the Alexa app as her and between the WebUI and the app you should be able to adequately support her.

You can also go to https://alexa.amazon.com from Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Internet Explorer (10 or higher) on your Wi-Fi enabled computer to setup an Amazon echo.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201601770

I just tried something lastnight it's stayed connected now for almost 9 hours...Here what I did.
1: used alexa.amazon.com on PC to relink the account
2: In the app click on ADT under devices
3: Scroll down and DISABLE the Enabled toggle
4: Go back to Devices
5: Select ADT from devices
6: Scroll down and ENABLE the Enabled toggle
It's been connected now for 9 hours . . . fingers crossed.

The web app - alexa.amazon.com - is usually where I go when the mobile app isn't playing nice. And that's usually when setting up wifi.

Failing that, I'd probably recommend a factory reset.

EDIT: Even if you do that, probably reboot your router just in case. I used to have issues where the Echoes - or some of them, anyway - would flat out refuse to connect to wifi they'd used for years until the router had been restarted (among other things, like restarting them and factory resetting them).

Yes you can use your phone to set the device up for someone else. You can use a Tablet to set it up as well. The phone or Tablet does not need to be in the same location as the device. You can also setup the device using the web version of the app. https://Alexa.Amazon.com or https://Echo.Amazon.com.

Now if you purchase an Echo device that has a screen such as: Echo Show 5, or Echo Show 8 or Echo Show 10. You can set the device up using the touch screen on the device itself. The app is not needed since it has a screen.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to use any of the video or calling features. Then you will need to associate the account with a phone number. You could use a Google Voice number (they are free) and associate it with your Granny’s Amazon account. This way your phone number will not need to be associated.

Sounds like the default timer sound. Check https://alexa.amazon.com/ and see if a long timer was somehow set or if someone set an alarm for 2am accidently. That or you have someone that did it on purpose to mess with you.

Hi, thanks! The idea of reinstalling triggered a new trial Session for me. It works now and this is what I have done:

1. Go to https://alexa.amazon.com and login

2. When it redirects to the Alexa app, close and uninstall the app

3. Switch back to your browser and go back to the Alexa site

4. Re-link your Spotify account

5. Reinstall the Alexa app

6. Uninstall Bose Connect App

7. Reinstall Bose App

8. Connect Headphones

9. Turn of headphones and on again -> triggers reconnection in alexa app

10. Done, works!

Very happy now :)

Provided all registered/connected fine and "Discover Devices" on the Alexa side found the CH rooms/devices, then configuring "Groups" and "Routines" from the Alexa app / website may be preferable. Routines have unparalleled flexibility and simplicity of phrasing, and can also be easily created and (re)configured by the end-user if they have the Alexa app installed. https://support.crestron.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5755#VoiceTips

I find the alexa.amazon.com website works better for this. You can sort by Name, Newest and Oldest.

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#appliances

From there you can use the Forget button on devices you no longer want shown.

I recently went through this pain, not sure if all steps were required, but I have a seamless experience again for my mqtt switches after going through the following:

• Manualy deleted all emulated hue devices from alexa.amazon.com web UI
• Updated to latest HA (0.98.4 at the time)
• Switched Emulated Hue to use port 80
• Changed anything I want emulated to be of type `light` in my config (previously used `switch`), and make sure the light config doesn't have any brightness
• Re-discovered from Alexa

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While the main issue seems to have stemmed from an Amazon software update, there were also some changes in HA recently around whether an emulated hue device presents as an on/off light or a dimmable light. If Alexa thinks you have a dimmable light (from earlier config), HA may respond only with the power status and then Alexa will follow up with a request to set brightness, which is not supported... so she errors out.

After going through the cleanup above, my stuff is all stable again.

If you go online to https://alexa.amazon.com and go to Settings>Notifications>Shopping Notifications you can disable them completely or simply stop the item name being announced.

I thought the same thing but then I opened up alexa on my laptop and it shows it is on the correct software version -- 17105088. alexa.amazon.com > Settings > Devices > Echo Auto. Scrolled down to the About section and it showed 17105088.

SOLVED: Go to https://alexa.amazon.com then settings > Music & Media > Spotify > Unlink your Spotify account from Alexa, then relink it. Now scream "ALEXA PLAY SPOTIFY!!!"

This was suggested to me when I called Amazon and it worked for me.

SOLVED: Go to https://alexa.amazon.com then settings > Music & Media > Spotify unlink your Spotify account from Alexa, then relink it. Now scream "ALEXA PLAY SPOTIFY!!!"

This skill offers a good selection of streaming channels that you can watch on Show.

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#skills/dp/B078T1ZXPN/?ref=skill_dsk_skb_ys

No, there isn't. You'll see a number of comments here about people wanting to to change default skills. Amazon doesn't allow it (with a few exceptions), but if enough people request it, it could happen.

Send the request here:

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#feedback

That's weird. Go into the Alexa app (alexa.amazon.com) and log in with your Amazon password (or just open it on your phone). Go down the left-hand side to Settings, then scroll all the way down to History, and look at the interactions for that time. You can click on each of them to get a bit more info.

As long as you sign into the same Amazon account then it makes no sense that you should have to set the devices up as new..

Alexa devices are stored/saved/registered to your amazon account. You can even access any device on your account from https://alexa.amazon.com (assuming again you sign into the same account they were registered to before)

What other smart devices do you have? You may be able to integrate GlobalCache's IR products. They have an ethernet model and a WiFi model.

There's a third party Alexa skill, and the device is pretty open so you could do a lot here depending on your knowledge.

1. Log out of alexa.amazon.com
2. Delete your cookies for that site
3. Disable JavaScript by adding alexa.amazon.com to the block list at chrome://settings/content/javascript
4. Go to alexa.amazon.com and log in. It will should ask you to complete a CAPTCHA on the login page.
5. If it authenticates successfully, it should load to a all white page at the https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html URL.
6. Rerun the list all devices script.

I'm still stuck on trying to test TTS.

• On an PC with Windows 10 - go to the Alexa history in a browser

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#settings/dialogs

• Find the utterance you want to record

• Open up the Sound Control Panel, go to the “Recording” tab, and select “Properties”. In the “Listen” tab is a checkbox called “Listen to this device”. When you check it, you can now choose your speakers or headphones and listen to all the audio as you record it.

• Open "Voice Recorder" and start the recording

• Press play on the Utterance you want to record

• Stop the recording and save.

Not sure how you might do this on a Mac but I suspect there is a way. You would think Amazon would allow you to easily download the recordings, maybe in some future update perhaps.

You'll need to do that in the Alexa web app: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html

Under the smart home tab, there's an option to forget devices and scenes. It's the only way I could find to actually get rid of them.

Thank you for sharing for thouse who don't know you can do this online by activating it here https://alexa.amazon.com and then so to the online version https://echosim.io/ and then say "alexa ask the daily five nine about mr robot" :)

There is not. Here is a possible workaround. You can add a shortcut to a webpage as an icon on your phone. For example, if you wanted to open to Lists, you browse to https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#lists/namedLists and add it to your home screen. The browser will open and take you right there. The method varies between Android and iOS but it is easy enough to Google if you are not sure how to do it.

Totally agree- Alexa should enhance your working routine to make you more productive, not be the tools you use to work.

Our skill has just gone live in the US if you'd like to try it! It's called Life Bot, so just say "Alexa, enable Life Bot" or click the link below to get started.

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#skills/dp/B0749C8YD5/?ref=skill_dsk_skb_sr_0

Hi, it is interacting with your Alexa and account. For example, you can interact with skills that you have enabled with it.

With regard to location, it defaults to Seattle until you set it manually in the Alexa app. I am not aware of a way to set that automatically. To do it manually:
1) Open up the Alexa App on your phone or in your browser at https://alexa.amazon.com
2) Go to settings
3) Scroll through the list of devices and select the one that says <Name>'s Silent Echo
4) Under the general category, you can input an address and zip code. Set this and then hit save

You Alexa virtual device will now respond based on that location.

I will let you know if I figure out a way to set this automatically based on IP, but at least at this point, I don't see it.

Hope that helps!

1. Make sure the echo device is on the same network subnet as the Hubitat
2. Install the Hubitat skill via the Alexa app
3. Install the Echo app in Hubitat
4. In the Echo app, make sure you go in and make the devices available to Alexa.
5. Alexa app should pop up that new devices were discovered.
6. Worst case, go to alexa.amazon.com and have it discover devices on your network

Under routines. I shared ours below and it triggers at 7:55am. You may be able to just import it and tweak it. I have another tiger with Alexa on external doors to tell my nudists even in freezing cold to shut the door and put their pants on. You can also have words that trigger a routine.

My dream routine would be that Alexa locks them in the bathroom when someone under 100lbs is in there and nags them until they flush the toilet. They will wipe themselves pretty well and wash their hands but for some reason will not flush the flipping toilet.

https://alexa.amazon.com/routines/shared/xc6_mpGQT2Wwq9LTIPHiqA

>Can I control the playlist from my computer to the Echo?

You can do some basic stuff by going to https://alexa.amazon.com/ ... Go to "Now Playing" and there's a drop down list at the top under the "Now Playing" title, and when you switch to the device you want to control you see the queue, history and play controls.

Hello, i have a solution, go to alexa.amazon.com -> Skills -> Search Connect control for spotify

And there you have the info -> Skills -> Search Connect control for Spotify

What a pain in the a**.

But I managed to solve this, but it's quite long.

First of all I suggest you to unlink every connection on the TV to LG ThinQ and logout and uninstall the LG ThinQ on your phone.

To start off with a clean slate I reinstalled the LG ThinQ app, and created a NEW ThinQ account linked to the SAME Amazon account that I use Alexa (you can find the Amazon button in the Sign Up). I so did the login to the new account on the TV and added the LG Oled to my ThinQ devices.

After all this is set up comes the part than many people is missing. After activating the LG Thin Q (Basic) skill on your Alexa (I did everything on alexa.amazon.com) you need to login into the Alexa app on the TV and on the LG Thin Q account on the TV, you can do this on: Home Dashboard - Settings - Connection to ld smart speaker). You need to make sure that the same account is configured in the mobile app (Device Settings - LG ThinQ Account Connection) and press Connect.

Now I can finally turn on and off (and many other things) my LG Oled CX.

>Have you tried excluding the Sonos speaker to see if it works on the echo you’re asking? Can you change the voice activation command given it might be misconstrued as a request to turn on a device named ‘rock’?

😄 Back when it worked, Alexa would indeed sometimes respond with something like "Cannot find a device with that name". Anyway, I also tried to change the routine's trigger phrase earlier. Same behavior: Confirmation gets said, then the Error.

>I don’t think it was ever confirmed that routines would work on Sonos

That's at least a somewhat satisfying explanation. Maybe gives me something to research.

This is my Routine: https://alexa.amazon.com/routines/shared/S52bnX3LSo2Bkdi8q86LEA

https://alexa.amazon.com/routines/shared/7sDTCCisR6yEfpU3x3HTOA

A tweak on mine. When we leave, I have the house armed, music played, and Have the Shark go.

My problem is that if I have music played AND the last order, it doesn’t send the vacuum.

Does anybody else feel like Shark and Alexa are still in beta?

Some things that have helped sort this for me:

1. Make sure the Alexa is in the room it should be in the app (I know but double check).
2. Make sure nothing is called "lights" or "light: in the Alexa App AND in whatever brand specific app your lights are from.
3. Go to to the Alexa website that lists all of your devices. Look and see if there is something named "lights" listed. You can also remove everything and restart if necessary (go nuclear). Go here: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#appliances

&#x200B;

It seems like you have done 1 & 2. Be sure and check #3 as that has saved me a couple of times.

Ah, the nuclear option. Yes that exists. Go to the alexa webpage:

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#cards

Click on smart home, then devices. Scroll to the bottom and you will find "remove all". Once you do this it's final. Last resort only.

For future reference (in case you ever get another or have to factory reset this one), wifi setup very often fails for no reason when using the app (which is hot garbage, unfortunately).

When that happens, even Amazon support will tell you to use a browser at alexa.amazon.com, which has never failed for me.

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#timersAndAlarms/reminders

At the top select the device and then you can see what is set in terms of alarms, reminders, and timers for each device when selected.

Probably not what you wanted but that's about the best answer I can offer at the moment.

I think so.

If you go to alexa.amazon.com &gt; Settings > Notifications > Purchase notifications (or something like that) > theres one that says something about recommendations and offers.

When it tells me it's from the cart and wishlist. Is not always but it's been pretty handy a few times.

If you want a better way to know price drops with almost instant notifications check "Keepa".

You can increase Alexa's functionality with 'skills' that you add via the website

https://alexa.amazon.com/

Then choose 'skills' on the left. There might be something useful there

Worst case you could create a new amazon account to use with alexa.

I guess you've tried this, but just checking - have you gone to alexa.amazon.com, logged into the same account as used on your echo/dot and phone? There you can check and remove skills, and in the Smart Home section you can remove and rediscover your devices.

I can't understand how the wemos will come back in that case - your account would be clean so they can't be found through the skill and they can't be found locally - so it'd need to be something I'd misconfigured. I'd start by confirming I only had one amazon account associated with my echo/dot devices to make sure it's not picking up an older account. If still using wemo I'd then confirm the wemo account is only showing the expected devices, then add it back to alexa.

I have a new Acer (Spin 713) that has low volume, too.

I also was not able to see my Echo Show 8 in bluetooth settings so that I could pair it.

I did the following --

Logged in to Alexa account by going to alexa.amazon.com

Selected Settings in the left pane

Chose my Echo in the Devices list

Selected Bluetooth

Selected Pair a New Device; Alexa started search for available devices - and also showed if attempting to pair with mobile device, go to mobile device bluetooth settings & look for 'Echo Show 8-T02'. I cancelled that attempt at pairing.

Thennnn - I went back to my chromebook bluetooth settings & it saw my Echo Show. Am currently playing some music from music.amazon.com

I used the alexa.amazon.com with Chrome for setting up most devices, including the Echo Dot 3.

I used Alexa on iPhone for setting up a Root doorbell on the extender.

I also tried using Alexa on iPhone for resetting the Echo Dot 3 from right next to it so it was also using the extender - the Echo setup never completes.

....The Echo Dot 3 does not have a way to reset and reconnect wifi without an Alexa app....

You can set it up via alexa.amazon.com provided you have your network info saved.

Scroll down this page for instructions using a web browser --

https://www.windowscentral.com/using-amazon-echo-windows-10

Looks like adding tasks is working again but it only syncs one way now.

If I complete the task on the Alexa To-Do List at https://alexa.amazon.com/, it correctly completes task on Todoist as well.

But if I complete the task on Todoist, the task remains uncompleted on the Alexa To-Do List.

Not a deal-breaker but annoying and it was working perfectly before.

try on a browser alexa.amazon.com household profile is definitely listed there. Get the second profile to log in, after that your SO can switch profiles on the device they want to use.

It is greyed out on both because they are using your profile not your SO's

Of course it's working now under spotlight. =)

If you were up for it, I'd love to see what happened previously. This link (after you sign-in with Amazon) has your Alexa conversation history. You can click through on the phrase on the timestamps when it was acting up and there should be a clue in there that shows what service responded. Would love to see a screenshot.

But if you've got better things to do, totally understand!

Bit of an oversight that they don't have a quantity field, but a significant jump in complexity so I can see why they didn't do it.

I just can't understand why Alexa never seems to understand when you add numbers to your description. "Milk" or "Eggs" works fine but "2 gallons milk" or "2 dozen eggs" almost always ends up being "gallon milk" or "dozen eggs" no matter how carefully you enunciate.

I still like the convenience of adding things by shouting over my shoulder while I'm head-first in the fridge noticing I'm low on something. Since I build the list slowly over time, I usually log on to alexa.amazon.com and make fine edits, including quantities if I really feel I need them, right before I go shopping. Though you could do that with the App, too. I just find typing easier off the phone.

I just shouldn't have to bother. Either it should understand quantities in that context or they should add a field and have her prompt you for an amount if you don't give one.

I apologize for not asking this earlier, but are all the devices signed into with the exact same email address for the Amazon account? Some Prime accounts allow for additional addresses to access the account.

I'm running out of ideas, but you also might want to try using the web app at alexa.amazon.com to check/recheck settings.

Log in via a computer (not mobile) browser at https://alexa.amazon.com it’s easier to see duplicate devices that way. If you find it’s been duplicated see which one works and delete the other. (Or delete both and tell her to discover devices.)

GOT IT WORKING! Talk to support and they suggested using alexaa app (which never crossed my mind). Register an account on tuya.com , go to https://alexa.amazon.com/) and UNLICKE smart life skill (assuming you already installed via phone), then RELINK and now it will ask you for your tuya. com login info, then go to smart life tab and DISCOVER devices and now should show up. Hope this helps!

The app stinks on ice. It almost never, ever successfully connects the first time. IIRC after 2 failures (not often 1, but 2), it should prompt you to connect your device (the phone, tablet, whatever) to the Echo's on Amazon wifi SSID.

Often, it doesn't do that, but continues futilely trying to connect the original way. When this happens, sign into and use Alexa.amazon.com in a real (non-mobile) browser. I've never had that fail.

I came here to say that but you beat me to it!

I've also found that accessing Alexa via web browser was a much smoother experience and I could compare devices side by side with my iOS device.

https://alexa.amazon.com/

Go to edit your routine > add action > scroll all the way down and you’ll see “Custom”

You may have to update the app in order to see it because I think it’s fairly new.

Here’s a link to clone the routine but I haven’t tried it myself: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/routines/shared.html#v2/behaviors/sharedRoutine?behaviorId=vYRvAL0eQUi_lFAFYrk0rg&amp;routineType=shared

Hey.. it's been a while on this one. but if you goto alexa.amazon.com in your web browser, you can manually associate your Echo Show and set your default music and apps from there.

If you want a song, not one of the default tones or the celebrity snippets, I think you have to either make it as part of a routine or tell Alexa to set it up for you.

Otherwise try here: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#timersAndAlarms/alarms

Here’s the link to clone this routine: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/routines/shared.html#v2/behaviors/sharedRoutine?behaviorId=E7fH6xq-RwGIhcV4iUyN2A&amp;routineType=shared

So you can’t see everything in the screenshot but essentially it uses the schedule action to start the routine at 10 am on weekdays. Then I use the wait action to get Alexa to remind me around important times.

For example, the second wait will bring the second reminder in around 11:30 which is just before I normally have lunch because drinking water before lunch will help me feel fuller and not over eat.

Feel free to clone this and adjust the start times/days and wait times to fit your schedule!

You can clone this routine here: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/routines/shared.html#v2/behaviors/sharedRoutine?behaviorId=fxWi7oskQg6nuwWoqMtUsw&amp;routineType=shared

Clone this routine: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/routines/shared.html#v2/behaviors/sharedRoutine?behaviorId=fxWi7oskQg6nuwWoqMtUsw&amp;routineType=shared

Here is a link to clone the routine: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/routines/shared.html#v2/behaviors/sharedRoutine?behaviorId=z6tS5wcNQf6pmAqbj2U9vA&amp;routineType=shared

Yeah, add a timer to the music action itself rather than having separate Wait and Stop Audio actions. Here’s an example:

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/routines.html#v2/behaviors/sharedRoutine?behaviorId=8_zG7t7GSceJd1l5Uc_9bg&amp;routineType=shared

I found myself doing this last night, cleaning up my list of Alexa devices and bulbs, and there was a whole slew of items linked to SmartThings that were defunct or duplicate and all were inactive. It was taking a long time to delete them individually in the Alexa app. After each deletion you get brought to the top of the list, so you have to scroll back down each and every time. So annoying! So I ended up handling it via (desktop) web browser at https://alexa.amazon.com instead and that was a LOT faster. Just two clicks per device, IIRC.

Good to see there’s an even better / faster solution. Disappointed that Amazon’s interface for this is so clunky.

Thanks for sharing!

If you go into the app, and click the Play button at the bottom, you'll get a "recently played" option. Under the first tile, you can see the playlist name or station that's playing.

The other place I've found this is on the web site: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#player/history

I have yet to find a command to get her to tell you this, and even in the app, it's not clear.

I find this particularly frustrating because I'll often just go "Alexa, play music" and let her randomly choose something. Then it turns out to be banging, and I want to know what's playing so I can play it again, and I have to dig around in the app.

I have a SSD usb connected to my router with my collection of .mp3's and play music or music lists with the windows Groove Music app from that SSD and Bluetooth it to Echo or Nest devices. Or anywhere else I can stream to. Even watch what's playing and change the volume on the echo's or nest's or at Alexa.Amazon.com .

If you have an Echo device and have purchased the Kindle book, you can go to the alexa.amazon.com page, select "Music, Video and Books", and go down to "Kindle Books".

You can have Alexa read it to you. Since I like to listen to books while I work and while I do household chores, it's a nice alternative when no audio book is available.

Go to https://alexa.amazon.com log into your account and delete manually each old light name. I cannot say what to do with the Hue app since I don’t use the app. My Hue bulbs are using the Echo Show’s built in Hub. Hopefully the manual deletion will help with the Alexa app.

I've had this happen to me too many times to count.

One potentially helpful tip... if you get a ton of duplicates in Alexa and you need to change or delete a bunch of devices don't do it from your phone or tablet.

Instead, remove the duplicates and make the changes from a desktop using:

https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#smart-home

It helps mitigate the pain quite a bit, especially if you have a lot of devices and groups.

You can also add contacts using alexa.amazon.com

(FWIW, yesterday Alexa's dropin feature was acting flaky for me. I would get a Drop In call, then tell her to Hang Up and she'd say "there's no call" but when I said Hang Up a second time, she'd hang up.)

My nest thermostat was always named Living Room and it didn’t get in the way of other living room commands. Something changed tho, because suddenly Alexa was telling us “living room doesn’t support that” or other weird shit. I renamed stuff to other names to get back functionality.

Eventually one night I said “Alexa, set living room thermostat to ___” (we actually very rarely change the thermostat manually) and I had a sudden AHHA moment. The next day I went on another renaming spree, putting all the names back the way they were but changing the name of the nest to “Horatio Cane” then I had a lot of troubles with AV stuff not working but discovered all the “scenes” were duplicated. It’s much easier to find that using a computer browser and logging in via https://alexa.amazon.com rather than the app. Once the duplicate scenes were dealt with things worked correctly again.

There has *always* been a setting to disable purchasing through Alexa.

In the Alexa mobile app, you can find that setting here:
Settings -> Account Settings -> Voice Purchasing

In the Alexa website at https://alexa.amazon.com, you can find that setting here:
Settings -> Alexa Account -> Voice Purchasing

Incidentally, if you want to keep Voice Purchasing enabled, but prevent accidental purchases, you can set a 4-digit voice code. If you have a toddler in the house, though, definitely keep voice purchasing disabled entirely.

Log in via a full computer browser at https://alexa.amazon.com look thru devices and scenes for entries pointed to the disabled skill and delete them.

Or you could delete all and then say “alexa, discover devices”.

Full computer browser over app because it’s easier to discover duplicates.

You don't need to update the firmware to integrate with Alexa, I think the FW update is only pertinent to the Tradfri hub.

If it doesn't show up in Alexa, make sure you're using the new skill, not the old, classic one that didn't support shades.

I had to remove the skill and manually delete the devices on alexa.amazon.com, otherwise the new skill made duplicates.

She doesn't have to install the app to try this - can use the website alexa.amazon.com & go to Settings --> Alexa Account --> Notifications --> Shopping Notifications.

We don't have multiple accounts so can't check this out for you, but if your Alexa account has them disabled, sounds like she needs to disable for her account.

Probably duplicate ghost devices. The easy fix is log in with a computer browser to https://alexa.amazon.com then delete all devices and scenes, the say “Alexa, discover devices” and she’ll add them back.

Somehow you must have added this podcast to your flash briefing.

Open the alexa app or go to https://alexa.amazon.com. Then go to Settings and select "Flash Briefing" under "Alexa Preferences".

It should list whichever skills are on your flash briefing and you can turn them on/off.

This is just a guess.

What I'd try to do is going to the Up First and Planet Money skills pages.

If they appear enabled, and you simply want to disable them, that might fix things.

If they appear disabled already, you could try enabling them and then disabling them again.

If neither of those things work (or if you want them to remain on your account) try disabling them if enabled, then re-enabling them, then going into your Flash Briefing settings and see if they show up to toggle.

If none of these things work, then god help us all.

It's a webpage viewed on a PC: https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#music/AMAZON_MUSIC/message although yor URL may be different.

YES, I setup a routine to play a station on TuneIn throughout my apt, and I've been using it for weeks. Then this weekend it suddenly started playing an entirely different station with a similar, but longer name. There is no way to specify the one I was getting before, which is also the top result on this search if you browse TuneIn in the Alexa app...so instead I just select it from recent either on my phone or on https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#player

Just integrate Alexa and Spotify,

You can select to play via Alexa inside Spotify and choose to play via PC or via Alexa.

alexa.amazon.com

&gt; Settings > Music and Media > Choose Default Music Services.

Duplicates are a huge problem. It’s easier to use a full browser on a computer https://alexa.amazon.com to identify and delete. Hint: one is broken, make sure to delete either the broken duplicate, or both. If deleting all, use “Alexa, discover devices” to have her repopulate.

In your Alexa app, go to Settings --> Notifications --> Amazon Shopping & see what's enabled/disabled there.

Or you can see the same settings if you use a browser to go to alexa.amazon.com --> Settings --> Notifications --> Amazon --> Shopping Notifications.

IIRC, Amazon added some Shopping related notifications, so be sure you have the latest app. If you do, suggest sign out then sign back in to see your Shopping notifications settings.

Log in with a full browser from a computer at https://alexa.amazon.com go through devices and scenes and delete everything related to hue. Then doublecheck that you found everything. Then say “Alexa, discover devices” and let her recreate.

FWIW anytime something gets changed or renamed Alexa is terrible about getting rid of old stuff.