Can't install smart home skill from Canada

[TheFallenAngel]

I have been using the Echo for some time now with my Canadian address and getting local weather...etc. However, this morning when I asked Alexa to turn on a light she told me that the light "isn't responding"!

 

So I tried opening my Amazon account and found that I was forwarded from alexa.amazon.com to alexa.amazon.ca! Then it wouldn't accept my password, so I had to go through the 'forgot password' routine. After resetting the password I was able to get in (on the .ca site) but when I tried to view the skills I got the same message as Larry posted some time ago

"I get a warning that my language does not match my account. Click continue to correct it to English (Canada)"

When I click on 'Continue' I end up on the 'Settings' screen. When I try to to change the language I am only given 3 choices:

- English (United States)

- English (United Kingdom)

- Deutsch

I am not seeing the English (Canada)!

Any thoughts on how to proceed? Do I have to completely delete the account and start all over?

I just sent an email to support asking them a similar question...

Don't, they haven't added English (Canada) yet.. Use US English or UK for now, doesn't make any difference but the accent

 

After all the official support of Canada begins Dec. 5th..

 

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[TheFallenAngel]

I use Alexa, Echo and/or Computer as wake words (different accounts/rooms). I haven't noticed any differences in response times than can be attributed to the wake word. Nor any different in misunderstood commands. The responses are all mediocre.

 

The problem is with Amazon, not the ISY skill. I can say that with come certainty as I have skills that don't depend on the ISY at all (e.g., Harmony) and those responses exhibit the same irregularities.

 

Anxiously awaiting the V3 skill. Thanks again, Benoit

Yeah the harmony skill responds with delay from couple seconds to couple minutes.. The other very wonky on is Magic Home skill.. ISY skill has been mostly stable.. So I also believe these issues are Amazon related, not the skill.. Something in the framework..

 

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[TheFallenAngel]

I have not contacted Amazon support. Benoit said this is "normal" per his conversation with Amazon. Would appear to me that UDI isn't willing to address the issue and leave new Canadian users hanging, but please correct me if I'm wrong!

This has NOTHING to do with UDI, Amazon controls who can see what..

 

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Larry is in Canada and he has the skill. So, again, i suggest you contact Amazon support.

 

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And I am also in Canada and always see both V2 and V3

 

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[larryllix]

You have declare your languagr as American English or it just doesn't work!

 

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[GDavis01]

Don't, they haven't added English (Canada) yet.. Use US English or UK for now, doesn't make any difference but the accent

 

After all the official support of Canada begins Dec. 5th..

 

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The default has been English (United States) and it still doesn't work!!

 

Here is the reply I received from Amazon.ca... really helpful!!

 

 

 

Hello,

 

Please follow the below steps to change the marketplace from amazon.ca to amazon.com.

 

Go to https://www.amazon.ca/mn/dcw/myx.html/ref=kinw_myk_redirect#/home/settings/payme... click on "Settings" tab.

 

Under "Country Settings" click on "Change" and add a valid address of USA.

 

I hope this helps.

 

We hope to see you again soon!

 

Thank you for writing to us.

Best regards,

Amazon Amazon.ca

 

I guess I will have to wait a few days to see if the Canadian version is in fact available. Hopefully, at that time, they will provide the English (Canada) language which will then allow me to access the skills! 

 

Reading the Amazon.ca reply does cause me concern because they make no mention of the December 5th date! Hopefully they know about this!!

 

Talk about a nice transition plan! 'Let's force the early adopters over to the Canadian portal, but not provide them with tools that actually work at the time of this transition'!!

[larryllix]

I think amazon has made a bit of a mess with their OCD details. They seem to have kept a list of locations by IP addresses and  scraping my google account for location information and made a mess trying to clean up their extensive lists.

 

It will come but it may be a while.

 

I haven't tried my original android tablet yet. I had to remove all google accounts to get it to work in NY state in the beginning. When my google gmail account was installed again the app was denied me again.!!

[GDavis01]

I'm just glad that I don't use Alexa for anything more than making it easier to open blinds or turn lights on (and, of course, my coffee machine!!). Now I have to go back to the old fashioned way...using a switch!!  

 

 

Update:

 

While I was struggling with Alexa and the inability to get at the skills section, I realized that my ISY Portal was no longer 'online'. So I went through a bunch of things to get the portal up and running again (rebooted my router and then the ISY). Now that the ISY Portal is back Online, I tried asking Alexa to do a few things and 'Voila!' she did them!!

 

So Alexa is once again doing my bidding! However, I still cannot get into the skills section due to the language thing! Once again hopefully the English (Canada) will be available later this week.

Edited December 4, 2017 by GMD99

[mmb]

Hi all, is there an update on the Canadian ISY skill for the echo?  I've been running the US app, but will switch if it's available.

 

Thanks!

 

mike

Edited December 4, 2017 by mmb

[larryllix]

Hi all, is there an update on the Canadian ISY skill for the echo?  I've been running the US app, but will switch if it's available.

 

Thanks!

 

mike

No there is only one app and one, latest, version online. The app allows, and enables different features depending on where you are located. I believe they keep a list of IP addresses or some other form of ID that they maintain to give different permissions to different groups. and are slow to maintain it.

 

I just had a new feature pop up on mine today and no version update was done. Meanwhile my other RPi3 Chromium shows different menus and wording than IE 11.

[GDavis01]

Further to my posts above, today being December 5th the day Alexa comes to Canada (officially) I decided to log into my account and see if the English (Canada) was now an option... Nope!

 

So I decided to try what Amazon.ca support suggested.... I went into the app on my PC and changed the address to a US address (my sister's in Oklahoma). After this change the system took me from alexa.amazon.ca to alexa.amazon.com!! Then I went back in and changed the address back to my correct Canadian address. I am now back to where I was last week!! I now have access to the skills section once again and my weather is the local weather. It probably means that I don't have access to the new Canadian skills... I haven't looked at this yet!

 

I wonder if they simply went through their records and changed anyone who had a Canadian address to amazon.ca, from amazon.com as a one time change per account! Otherwise why was I able to go back to where I was using amazon.com but putting in a Canadian address!! 

[GDavis01]

I just received this email from Amazon.ca:

 

Dear customer,

Alexa is now available in Canada.

Alexa provides a set of skills and features specifically for Canada, including Air Canada, BMO, TD, Telus, Sportsnet, theScore, CBC, The Weather Network, and Yellow Pages.

Some skills and features available in other countries, including Amazon Music Unlimited, Audible, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Sirius XM, Uber, Jeopardy, IFTTT, and Recipes, are not available in Canada.

In addition, Canadian English and Canadian skills are not supported for Amazon Echo (1st Gen), Echo Dot (1st Gen), Echo Show, or Amazon Tap.

You can change your country settings on supported devices to switch your device to the Canadian Alexa experience. Customers who chose to change the device country settings on their Alexa-enabled devices to Canada  may not be able to access content from unavailable services based in other countries. Customers switching countries may lose access to content purchased from other countries on other devices.

If your country settings are already set to Canada, you can enjoy the Canadian Alexa Experience without changing your settings. To find out more about changing your country settings on supported devices, visit the following help page:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202205900

Note that changing your device country settings will not change your Amazon Music account’s country setting. If you want to do so, you will need to contact Customer Service.

Sincerely,
Amazon Alexa team

 

 

Interesting...

 

Well since I have the Echo 1st Gen this explains why I could not get the English (Canada) to work!

[larryllix]

I just received this email from Amazon.ca:

 

Dear customer,

 

Alexa is now available in Canada.

 

Alexa provides a set of skills and features specifically for Canada, including Air Canada, BMO, TD, Telus, Sportsnet, theScore, CBC, The Weather Network, and Yellow Pages.

 

Some skills and features available in other countries, including Amazon Music Unlimited, Audible, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Sirius XM, Uber, Jeopardy, IFTTT, and Recipes, are not available in Canada.

 

In addition, Canadian English and Canadian skills are not supported for Amazon Echo (1st Gen), Echo Dot (1st Gen), Echo Show, or Amazon Tap.

 

You can change your country settings on supported devices to switch your device to the Canadian Alexa experience. Customers who chose to change the device country settings on their Alexa-enabled devices to Canada  may not be able to access content from unavailable services based in other countries. Customers switching countries may lose access to content purchased from other countries on other devices.

 

If your country settings are already set to Canada, you can enjoy the Canadian Alexa Experience without changing your settings. To find out more about changing your country settings on supported devices, visit the following help page:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202205900

 

Note that changing your device country settings will not change your Amazon Music account’s country setting. If you want to do so, you will need to contact Customer Service.

 

Sincerely,

Amazon Alexa team

 

 

Interesting...

 

Well since I have the Echo 1st Gen this explains why I could not get the English (Canada) to work!

So we either get a crippled Alexa system or help google track our lives, down to knowing what we eat, where we eat it, how long it takes to eat,  and who we eat it  with? Wow!

Maybe I should get a google FitBit so they can track how my diet affects my sleeping habits and life expectancy. I am sure that information would be worth a lot of bucks to my insurance company. :(

 

I am going to do a factory resest on my tablet, and then see if I can get access to the full alexa app features before and after, I disclose my google ID info to it again. It worked in the beginning but I was in the USA too.

[TheFallenAngel]

So we either get a crippled Alexa system or help google track our lives, down to knowing what we eat, where we eat it, how long it takes to eat, and who we eat it with? Wow!

Maybe I should get a google FitBit so they can track how my diet affects my sleeping habits and life expectancy. I am sure that information would be worth a lot of bucks to my insurance company. :(

 

I am going to do a factory resest on my tablet, and then see if I can get access to the full alexa app features before and after, I disclose my google ID info to it again. It worked in the beginning but I was in the USA too.

I am not sure why are you so stuck on that Google thing?! I have 2 Google accounts and they are configured on ALL my devices (PCs (3 Windows 10), tablets 1 win 10 and one Android 4.4) and Android phones (2 OnePlus and Samsung) - Alexa works EVERYWERE Perfectly fine l for me with those google accounts and OP independent since I traveled all over the world!

 

There is no IP blocking and there is nothing to do with Google! What IS relevant is Amazon store (.ca vs .com) and Amazon account address - don't know how but my Amazon Prime works perfectly fine for both (.ca vs .com)..

 

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[larryllix]

I am not sure why are you so stuck on that Google thing?! I have 2 Google accounts and they are configured on ALL my devices (PCs (3 Windows 10), tablets 1 win 10 and one Android 4.4) and Android phones (2 OnePlus and Samsung) - Alexa works EVERYWERE Perfectly fine l for me with those google accounts and OP independent since I traveled all over the world!

 

There is no IP blocking and there is nothing to do with Google! What IS relevant is Amazon store (.ca vs .com) and Amazon account address - don't know how but my Amazon Prime works perfectly fine for both (.ca vs .com)..

 

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I have proven differently. As I posted previously a few times. With a new computer and no google accounts registered on it amazon allowed me to access the app. As soon as I added google accounts to the NEW computer amazon refused access to their app with a message they the app was not allowed for usage in my country. I was in the United Sates.

[larryllix]

My ecobee4 thermostat just showed up in my amazon alexa app, for the first time after  being installed about a month ago.

 

Also the ecobee4 uses the  arbitratration with my other amazon devices now , so that she doesn't compete with the other units anymore! :)

 

Things are constantly changing with amazon devices.

Edited December 6, 2017 by larryllix

[GDavis01]

Final post on this tonight... my 1st gen Echo back on the amazon.com (U.S.) site, with my Canadian address is back to working properly. I also have access to the new Canadian skills (Globe and Mail, CBC, National Post, Canadian Press Hourly News Updates...etc). So, as long as this continues to work I'm okay with not having the English (Canada) language!!

[TheFallenAngel]

I have proven differently. As I posted previously a few times. With a new computer and no google accounts registered on it amazon allowed me to access the app. As soon as I added google accounts to the NEW computer amazon refused access to their app with a message they the app was not allowed for usage in my country. I was in the United Sates.

But Larry the app is in the Google store this is why you getting Geo restriction.. You seam to mix things between Google and Amazon..

 

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[TheFallenAngel]

Final post on this tonight... my 1st gen Echo back on the amazon.com (U.S.) site, with my Canadian address is back to working properly. I also have access to the new Canadian skills (Globe and Mail, CBC, National Post, Canadian Press Hourly News Updates...etc). So, as long as this continues to work I'm okay with not having the English (Canada) language!!

Yeah the language is pointless to me In fact I am using UK English on couple dots for the cool accent

 

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[GDavis01]

After my 'Final Post" last night I headed off to bed and hit my keypad to turn off all the outside lights... however a bunch of lights continued to show (on the keypad) that they were still On! Puzzled I looked at Mobilinc and saw that numerous lights indicated that they were still On! I looked out the window and saw however that they were in fact Off!!

 

Confused, I dragged myself back to my computer and opened up the ISY's Admin Console and sure enough all those lights were still showing that they were On, yet I knew they weren't'!!

 

As I sat there trying to figure this out, I noticed that the little flag (bottom left corner of the Admin Console) was flashing 'Busy'! So I opened the Event Viewer and saw that my thermostat (Venstar 2491T) was the culprit! Something appeared to be polling the stat continuously!

 

Knowing that only thing I changed recently was the ISY V3 Skills for the Echo, I opened up the Portal, disabled 'Live Update' then deleted the stat from my Echo device list. Then I re-enabled  'Live Update'. I then went to the amazon app and did a "Forget" for the stat. The polling on the ISY stopped almost immediately and the 'Busy' flag went back to green and 'Ready'.

 

Then I went to bed.

 

Any thoughts on why the stat was being polled continuously?

[stusviews]

For a start, re-enable the thermostat, but don't add the thermostat to the Alexa app. What's the result? If continuous polling stops, then add it back to the portal, but disable "Live Update." Continue restoring until continuous polling resumes.

Edited December 6, 2017 by stusviews

[bmercier]

After my 'Final Post" last night I headed off to bed and hit my keypad to turn off all the outside lights... however a bunch of lights continued to show (on the keypad) that they were still On! Puzzled I looked at Mobilinc and saw that numerous lights indicated that they were still On! I looked out the window and saw however that they were in fact Off!!

 

Confused, I dragged myself back to my computer and opened up the ISY's Admin Console and sure enough all those lights were still showing that they were On, yet I knew they weren't'!!

 

As I sat there trying to figure this out, I noticed that the little flag (bottom left corner of the Admin Console) was flashing 'Busy'! So I opened the Event Viewer and saw that my thermostat (Venstar 2491T) was the culprit! Something appeared to be polling the stat continuously!

 

Knowing that only thing I changed recently was the ISY V3 Skills for the Echo, I opened up the Portal, disabled 'Live Update' then deleted the stat from my Echo device list. Then I re-enabled  'Live Update'. I then went to the amazon app and did a "Forget" for the stat. The polling on the ISY stopped almost immediately and the 'Busy' flag went back to green and 'Ready'.

 

Then I went to bed.

 

Any thoughts on why the stat was being polled continuously?

 

I can share some insights on this one.

 

When you have both the V3 skill enabled and Live update enabled, then a "permanent" subscription is started.

 

That subscription is the same as when the admin console is started, or when Mobilinc is used. This is used to capture the state of Alexa devices, and send it to Amazon so that it can be displayed on the mobile app. Whenever a light goes on or off for example, an event is sent, it is captured, and sent to Amazon. 

 

Now, for thermostat specifically, the logic is this. Whenever a thermostat event is received, a /rest/nodes/<thermostat address> is sent to get all of the thermostat properties. Amazon wants to receive all of the device properties, so this is the reason for this "lookup".

 

Now the question becomes why are there so many requests? A thermostat property should not change that often. 

 

Benoit

Edited December 7, 2017 by bmercier

[stusviews]

Now, for thermostat specifically, the logic is this. Whenever a thermostat event is received, a /rest/nodes/<thermostat address> is sent to get all of the thermostat properties. Amazon wants to receive all of the device properties, so this is the reason for this "lookup".

 

Now the question becomes why are there so many requests? A thermostat property should not change that often.

 

Insteon thermostats do update humidity quite often, sometimes more than once each minute, but should not do it continuously.

[GDavis01]

I haven't had a chance to try setting it up again step by step... hopefully later tonight and I will provide feedback from my findings....

[bmercier]

Insteon thermostats do update humidity quite often, sometimes more than once each minute, but should not do it continuously.

 

Then I may need to revise that logic.

 

FYI Thermostat events are already debounced. If there are multiple events for the same thermostat within a short period of time (1 second), only one lookup will be done. I may need to increase that delay.

 

Benoit 

[TheFallenAngel]

Then I may need to revise that logic.

 

FYI Thermostat events are already debounced. If there are multiple events for the same thermostat within a short period of time (1 second), only one lookup will be done. I may need to increase that delay.

 

Benoit

I don't see I point of less than a minute even, environment can't change that fast..

 

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