Voice Control in Alexa App

[Tim McDermott]

I don't know whether this has been discussed elsewhere in the forums, but I have to wonder if or when Amazon will voice-enable the Alexa app. It seems like a no-brainer to me. I don't know how many times away from home I've almost uttered Alexa's name, especially in the car. Has anyone heard of any such plans? Does anyone wish to speculate as to whether or when this might come to pass or why it might not? I'm sure I'm just one of many who have already requested this of Amazon, but more is probably merrier.

[Teken]

I would think this would be a excellent next step for Amazon but think it would kill off any reason to purchase their hardware. Unless the requirement was that you must have a Echo, Dot, Tap, to use said smartphone application.

 

It only makes sense to be tide to the hardware platform to ensure long term success and revenue for continued development of said technology.

[madcodger]

I think voice enabling the app is genius, and it would have no effect on my purchase of the hardware (I have four Echos already). In fact, if they would create the ability to specify WHICH Echo _ or the app- were receiving instructions, this would only further my dependency. I already find Alexa 10x better than Siri, and often wish I could add to my to do list or shopping list in the app - using voice - while out and about.

[stusviews]

You can use your voice to switch between up to two Echo accounts. You can also give each Echo one of three wake up names. The Tap is mobile, but I don't know if Smart Home (formerly Connected Home) is available.

[madcodger]

I think voice enabling the app is genius, and it would have no effect on my purchase of the hardware (I have four Echos already). In fact, if they would create the ability to specify WHICH Echo _ or the app- were receiving instructions, this would only further my dependency. I already find Alexa 10x better than Siri, and often wish I could add to my to do list or shopping list in the app - using voice - while out and about.

Stu,

 

We will just never agree on this one, although I respect your workaround. I maintain that having to create multiple accounts is just not a solution that works for many (including me), and that having to remember which device has which name removes much of the functionality of the Echo/Alexa as a control system.

 

I continue to press for Amazon enabling passthrough of the device (or instance of the app, with this latest suggestion) that is making the request. That enables true voice control within a connected home. Other solutions - admirable as they are as workarounds - are less than the HA community needs. They also limit the future potential of the Amazon solution dominating as others come to market. And Amazon is sooooo close on this... Just barely out of reach.

Edited March 31, 2016 by madcodger

[Teken]

Could you offer a specific use case where your idea would be used? As I am just a little unclear on some of the pro's / con's with having multiple Echo, Dot, Tap in one home.

 

Unless you mean to have the ability to control other remote sites? Like a office, second home, customer site etc?

[stusviews]

I had some Echos, one account, one name. I was able to control all included devices, scenes and programs from either Echo.  But, the meant that each device or scene needed a location identifier, for example "living room light." But, that seemed awkward. I normally don't ask someone to turn on the living room light when I'm in the living room, rather I ask them the turn the light on.

 

That cumbersome conversation was solved by having multiple Amazon accounts. Anyone who uses an Echo has to have an account. Adding another is easy and there's no need to actually use that account. That allowed me to tell Alexa to turn the "light" or "fan" or "lamp"  on or off when in a particular room and specify the room if I'm not in it. So, when I'm in the bedroom, I ask Alexa to turn on the light, but if I'm not in the bedroom, I ask Alexa to turn on the bedroom light. That's close to, even literally, normal speech.

 

As I added Echos, some were within earshot of each other which gave mixed responses. So, I gave those different names. It took a little while to remember, but that's what learning is all about.

 

Oh, each Echo can switch between up to two accounts using your voice. (Don't forget to switch back)

 

 

[Teken]

I had some Echos, one account, one name. I was able to control all included devices, scenes and programs from either Echo.  But, the meant that each device or scene needed a location identifier, for example "living room light." But, that seemed awkward. I normally don't ask someone to turn on the living room light when I'm in the living room, rather I ask them the turn the light on.

 

That cumbersome conversation was solved by having multiple Amazon accounts. Anyone who uses an Echo has to have an account. Adding another is easy and there's no need to actually use that account. That allowed me to tell Alexa to turn the "light" or "fan" or "lamp"  on or off when in a particular room and specify the room if I'm not in it. So, when I'm in the bedroom, I ask Alexa to turn on the light, but if I'm not in the bedroom, I ask Alexa to turn on the bedroom light. That's close to, even literally, normal speech.

 

As I added Echos, some were within earshot of each other which gave mixed responses. So, I gave those different names. It took a little while to remember, but that's what learning is all about.

 

Oh, each Echo can switch between up to two accounts using your voice. (Don't forget to switch back)

 

Stu,

 

That really does make sense the way you explained it. Perhaps I already succumbed to the fact I would always have to call out a specific room / appliance instead of being able to say turn on the lights in a specific room. I agree its more natural and human like to be (in) the room and simply say: Alexa turn on the light, fan, etc opposed to saying turn on the master bedroom light which gets pretty old quick.

 

Also trying to teach others to do the very same is a little painful for those who don't know the syntax or expected use.

[madcodger]

And for our house, we want to voice control Sonos for whatever room we're in, by saying, for example, "Tell Izzy to play [artist] on Pandora." That could easily run a program on a Pi (or substitute Izzy with Homeseer, although I'd rather not). I oppose the multiple account workaround because I frequently make use of the shopping list and to do list throughout the house, and want them all fed to the same account. It also makes it easier to control devices if the specific Echo ID is passed through to a smarthome device, for the reasons Stu notes. I admire his clever workaround. I just don't want Amazon to force us to use a workaround!

[stusviews]

You don't need a workaround at all. One account for all your devices, scenes and/or programs is the default. However, multiple accounts (not my creation) allows enhancements over one account, much like the ISY allows enhancements to the Insteon protocol.

 

A difficulty, as madcodger points out, is the shopping list appears on only one of the several accounts. OTOH, my wife prefers her own list, two accounts--hers and ours

Edited April 1, 2016 by stusviews

[Javi]

I don't know whether this has been discussed elsewhere in the forums, but I have to wonder if or when Amazon will voice-enable the Alexa app. It seems like a no-brainer to me. I don't know how many times away from home I've almost uttered Alexa's name, especially in the car. Has anyone heard of any such plans? Does anyone wish to speculate as to whether or when this might come to pass or why it might not? I'm sure I'm just one of many who have already requested this of Amazon, but more is probably merrier.

 

Unless you have an Amazon Device with the app I think this would be unlikely as I assume Apple or Google will not let Amazon tap into always listening features.  As for a tap to say a command I think this will be coming to more devices as Amazon has released a version for the Pi, If amazon does not put it into their app I imagine it will only be a short time before someone converts the Pi version to other Platforms.

 

 

Stu,

 

That really does make sense the way you explained it. Perhaps I already succumbed to the fact I would always have to call out a specific room / appliance instead of being able to say turn on the lights in a specific room. I agree its more natural and human like to be (in) the room and simply say: Alexa turn on the light, fan, etc opposed to saying turn on the master bedroom light which gets pretty old quick.

 

Also trying to teach others to do the very same is a little painful for those who don't know the syntax or expected use.

 

As discussed in another topic, This is where amazon is falling short, In my (mediocre) app you can specify a default location for each device, however the way amazon is setup this would be a problem using the same account. I am assuming Amazon's voice recognition works similar to Google's Voice recognition, Google has a numerical value for confidence level  of the command, this could be used to cancel "similar" commands picked up by multiple echos by only using the command with the highest confidence level and also adding the default location to the command if none is specified. 

 

All that said, I did receive a push back from some users (in the Domotics forum) who disliked the naming convention I implemented (Location-Device or room-device) as this was how I achieved chaining of commands.  Users could remove the location requirement but I made it difficult in order to push the location-device naming convention which I believe is the correct way to name many devices in order to use natural language.

 

You don't need a workaround at all. One account for all your devices, scenes and/or programs is the default. However, multiple accounts (not my creation) allows enhancements over one account, much like the ISY allows enhancements to the Insteon protocol.

 

A difficulty, as madcodger points out, is the shopping list appears on only one of the several accounts. OTOH, my wife prefers her own list, two accounts--hers and ours

 

Amazon could also fix this easily by giving names to (shopping) lists, such as "Grocery", "Hardware" or "My Shopping".

 

 

Hopefully Amazon is working on these items. If not lets hope competition comes soon!

[Teken]

Unless you have an Amazon Device with the app I think this would be unlikely as I assume Apple or Google will not let Amazon tap into always listening features.  As for a tap to say a command I think this will be coming to more devices as Amazon has released a version for the Pi, If amazon does not put it into their app I imagine it will only be a short time before someone converts the Pi version to other Platforms.

 

 

 

As discussed in another topic, This is where amazon is falling short, In my (mediocre) app you can specify a default location for each device, however the way amazon is setup this would be a problem using the same account. I am assuming Amazon's voice recognition works similar to Google's Voice recognition, Google has a numerical value for confidence level  of the command, this could be used to cancel "similar" commands picked up by multiple echos by only using the command with the highest confidence level and also adding the default location to the command if none is specified. 

 

All that said, I did receive a push back from some users (in the Domotics forum) who disliked the naming convention I implemented (Location-Device or room-device) as this was how I achieved chaining of commands.  Users could remove the location requirement but I made it difficult in order to push the location-device naming convention which I believe is the correct way to name many devices in order to use natural language.

 

 

Amazon could also fix this easily by giving names to (shopping) lists, such as "Grocery", "Hardware" or "My Shopping".

 

 

Hopefully Amazon is working on these items. If not lets hope competition comes soon!

 

I don't know if anyone has referenced this thread or others but it should be relayed to the Amazon Echo development team. I know even (IF) they were simply lurking they would glean so much information from active users who only wish to see their product grow.

 

Doing so will not only speed up their development but also ensure their market lead and dominance in the voice command sector.

 

So far, Amazon has shown many of us they are listening and wanting to develop a leading edge voice platform.

[stusviews]

I don't know whether this has been discussed elsewhere in the forums, but I have to wonder if or when Amazon will voice-enable the Alexa app. It seems like a no-brainer to me. I don't know how many times away from home I've almost uttered Alexa's name, especially in the car. Has anyone heard of any such plans? Does anyone wish to speculate as to whether or when this might come to pass or why it might not? I'm sure I'm just one of many who have already requested this of Amazon, but more is probably merrier.

 

Voice enabling the Alexa app requires that it be capable of running on a voice capable device. Not easily accomplished. Apple, Amazon and soon Google have competing voice controlled protocols. Siri, for example, won't like it.

 

A somewhat awkward solution is the Tap. I've been unable to verify that is has smart home capability, but all reviews suggest that it's a portable Echo. Any Tap users?

[lilyoyo1]

I have 4 echos in different areas. Because they are not within ear shot of one another, I am able to use the same name for all of them without issue. I have too many devices to try and control individually with the echo. I try to use timers as well as sensors to automate most tasks so that I only need remotes and my echos for those rare times I need to do something outside of my normal routine. Personally, I have found remotes to work faster than the whole Alexa, tell Izzy to do.......

 

When it comes to Alexa, what I decided to do was control my scenes for specific tasks that I do not use often enough to put on my remotes/keypads or automate. For example; while my outside lights can be turned off from my status keypad in certain rooms, I do not have it set on my remotes. While they will eventually turn on based on certain triggers/conditions, I can use my echo to turn them on/off should I choose outside of the programming schedule.