Hi,

I am using the Notify Me skill ( https://www.amazon.com/Thomptronics-Notify-Me/dp/B07BB2FYFS ) currently. A few of my websites use an API call with access code to play a notification.

This sort of works, but doesn't address the problem as it only queues the messages to play when I ask alexa what my notifications are.

What is the best approach to play a sound immediately from all alexa devices within my home when my website API needs to push a text-to-speech notification to my home? Is it possible to create a custom alexa skill for this, if so, what methods/APIs should I look into?

From what I understand of the documentation, its difficult to get alexa to start playing audio when there is not an audio stream playing.

Thanks!

UPDATE: So all the behavior I describe below turned out to likely be a bug that probably happened because I did a `git push` while the skill was going through certification, during which no changes are supposed to be made. Whoops. I opened a support case with Alexa support and while they haven't given me a conclusive answer (or even any updates since opening, actually) the normal/expected behavior started working again. Now when I `git push` the master branch is merged to dev branch, and the Deploy sequence (to package and copy the updated code to the lambda endpoints) is triggered. I suspect the case was escalated internally and an engineer fixed what I borked, but the Tier 1 guy who's holding onto the case hasn't followed up with the engineer thus no updates... but it works now.

TL:DR. Is this expected? What's the correct way of deploying updates post-certification?

Developing an alexa-hosted skill locally. Since it's an alexa-hosted skill, I use `git` to push updates. A minute or so after a push, the updates would reflect in the developer console's Code page AND they would get automatically deployed to the lambda endpoint. Ever since my skill passed certification, that flow no longer works. As far as I can tell, it seems whatever process merged the updates/commits into the developer console's branch, then deployed to the lambda no longer works. Now, when I `git push` the dev console complains about the master branch being ahead of the dev branch and that I need to merge something-or-other to re-enable the developer console.

I've worked out how to resolve the conflict and get the updates uploaded but it's round-about and the Deploy function needs to be manually triggered by clicking "Deploy" button in the developer console. Is this normal? Anyone else experience this?

Now that I'm describing the problem in words, it honestly sounds like something broke on Amazon's end. Anyone know how to open a case to have it checked out?

On a related tangent, when trying to push the merged dev branch, I noticed it gives me an error if I try pushing while in the dev branch. I need to `checkout master` to get out of the dev branch first, then `git push origin dev` for it to actually go through. Otherwise I get some error I don't quite understand.

https://preview.redd.it/uhajuhizwhjd1.png?width=1487&format=png&auto=webp&s=948f892bc0aca2362bbc9230889535d6fd8d28b3

having alexa by using the phones gps estimate gas used ,speed and milage if asked. among other driving features.. it would be nice to get a reminder if my gas level falls below a certain level or a reminder if going over a speed limit. its nice that it will route on maps but maps itself takes over.

Hi, as I have already read in other places, it seems that on this type of device this error occurs and it is not possible to fix it.

After doing some research and after various tests, I managed to find the logs and it appears to have issues with the bootloader. In particular, it seems to return the following errors:

__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when lookking for GMT!

After this start to recover filesystem table and then:

cannot find/open a drm device: No such file or directory
...
E: coundn't load bitmap installing_text (error -7)
Command: "/sbin/recovery

then start to list all driver and at the end says:
Supported API:3
charge_status 1, charged 1, status -2, capacity -2147483648

Then wiping cache, wiping data, formatting /cache and
I:Saving locale "en_US"

The version of this amazon it seems be 6.0/NS6561/4944N

the error on the recovery page is E: couldn't load bitmap installing_text (error -7)

If I wipe cache partition it tell me its complete, same with data, if I click on reboot to bootloader it get stuck on screen amazon with fastboot mode

Do you think it is possible in any way to fix this error by flashing a new version of the software or maybe trying to load the missing file? Maybe adb could help?

I have an Echo dot (5th gen). I want to set a reminder every 45 minutes and have the Echo tell me to get up from the desk and drink some water. No buzzing or vibrating or flashing notifications or beeps -- I want to hear the actual words.

Is this possible?

My kids echo used to work. I could ask it to play a specific podcast on Spotify, it would play. I could go into Spotify and select a new episode or new song. Same with the Apple Podcast app. Not anymore - this “skill” hasn’t worked for months. It defaults to Amazon Music but I still can’t use either app to select a new show, song, episode, etc…. What gives!? Does anyone have any tips?

Hello Community,

I am new to the Alexa Routines, can someone please help me to fine tune one of my routines. I have attached the picture of routine for reference.

Use Case : I have an Aqara door sensor which I've linked with Alexa and I want the routine to trigger and play a sound alert when it detects that the door sensor is activated. So far my routine is doing this fine.

Help required : All the available tune in Alexa is only a few seconds in length. I was wondering how can I make this sound alert to continue until the door sensor is back to normal position OR How to set it up so that the sound alert continues to be active for a certain duration say for 1 minute regardless of sensor getting back to its initial state ?

Also, is it possible to hear Alexa from multiple devices when a routine is triggered, note that I only have 1 Echo Dot, rest all are either on Fire, Smart Phone, Sound bar or TV. If you see in the attached picture I have currently selected "This Mobile Device" and would like to know if it is possible to configure this to hear on multiple devices ?

Appreciate any help from the community, thank you.

Apols if I'm posting in the wrong group !

https://preview.redd.it/1vl0caoh0z4d1.jpg?width=945&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bc4687762f18fe6dbaf3001f23071eee69a1053

https://preview.redd.it/kyasqgfi0z4d1.jpg?width=945&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9fbb092720d76641c02fc8fc19d77b8801400fc

I currently see this warning when I try to enable either Skill Launch or Intent Launch phrases

Skill Launch Phrases are not available for this skill
This skill is not eligible to receive name free invocations due to quality and engagement factors. These eligibility requirements might change in the future.

I've tried support and they won't give me any more info on what the engagement factors or thresholds might be.

Has anyone else had this issue, how much usage were you seeing when they enabled name-free interactions?

Currently my skill is only getting about 10 users per day and 10-15 sessions.

Also my endpoint latency isn't great due to external APIs. p90 is over 1000ms, p50 is around 500ms

Is it more likely to be the latency or low usage that's the issue?

My 3 echo dots have been great having them last 4 years, but 3 days ago they have started to stop playing Spotify music when it wants to? ,,,and it varies when it decides to shut off, sometimes is half way thru a song, sometimes it's after a song or it maybe an hour later. I have did the generic basic checks, internet signal, settings in Alexa, amazon echo account and spotify account blah blah( Obviously agitated) and nothing changes. Anyone else having this issue out of no where?

Hi All,

There was a change to our internet name and password, in December, now we are unable to connect any of our smart bulbs or plugs. When we do a search for devices, it comes up with all of the previously connected devices, with no way to change the connection information. We have tried resetting and adding the devices, but have gotten a message to delete the device from the associated manufacturer app. But there is no devices in the app. I have only been able connect our bedroom lamp, but used a new bulb.

Have tried countless times since Christmas to reconnect, but end up getting extremely frustrated and just give up. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

According to the support team, from July 2024 developers will no longer be able to earn rewards for their skills. It seems now the only way to make money with Alexa skills is in skill purchasing.

I recently bought one and it has a camera but I can't figure out how the video calls work on this thing

A group of researchers at North Carolina State University are conducting an interview-based research study to improve smart voice assistants (like Amazon Alexa). Please consider signing up for this study if you match the eligibility criteria mentioned below. The participants will be paid via an Amazon e-gift card upon completion of the interview.The study details and sign up link are following:Join Our Interview Research Study On Usage of Smart Voice Assistants!Do you live in the US? Are you at least 18? Are you an active user of smart voice assistants (like Amazon Alexa etc)? If so, we would like to hear from you!About us: We are a group of researchers at North Carolina State University studying smart voice assistants.Interview study details:

• Where: Remote (via Zoom)
• When: Interviews will take place in March and April 2024
• Duration: 30 to 45 mins
• Compensation: One $15 Amazon e-gift card (if you are interviewed).

After you submit the initial short survey, we will notify you within 30 days if you are selected for an interview. Interviews will be audio recorded.Questions? Email: asabir2@ncsu.eduTo participate in the interview study, please fill our short initial short survey: https://go.ncsu.edu/va\_interface\_studyThis study has been approved by NC State University's Institutional Review Board.

Kindly provide me with the exact steps to enable ADB debugging on an Echo 15 device.

Hi!

I am working on a personal project that involves a device running on an ESP32 microcontroller. The device is meant to track medicine. The device has the following components- ESP32, a push button, a speaker, and an LED. Every time a user takes some meds, they press the button the a timestamp goes to AWS where it gets stored.

Right now this is the process but i want to make it simpler.

I'm setting up a soft access point on the ESP
Going to 192.168.4.1, and entering my home's wifi name and password.
I then send those details to the ESP through the access point and the device then connects to my home wifi router.
It works great for someone who knows how to do these steps.

The problem right now is that the device is meant to be used by old people, which means they most probably do not know their wifi name or password. Even if I can direct them to go to 192.168.4.1, they will most likely not know the details to enter.

I recently saw a video of a person setting up their Amazon Echo through a companion app. It most probably also used a soft access point, but then the user just selected the protected wifi network, did not need to enter the password, and the echo was connected to the protected network somehow..?

There has to be a way to make this simpler. I'm not very knowledgeable in networks so any help is appreciated!

hello please help me.. PLEASE HELP ME!!! It's been a few years since we bought alexa exho show first generation for my grandmother, and it's been 1 month since she can't connect to skype. As soon as someone calls, the camera does not open and after 4 seconds it closes. I did everything, factory reset, update skype, update alexa version, wifi changes, I opened another account and it doesn't open again. I don't know how to act as this is worrying us a lot, and how have you solved it, PLEASE

How do I keep the volume at the highest level. I use it as my alarm clock I have bad hearing and it’s connected to a speaker which is plenty load enough when the dots volume is set to the max the problem is that it always decreases to a lower setting

Everytime I ask to play a song or a piece, it would say, “choosing songs are only available for spotify premium subscribers.” It plays a recommended song and my phone gets notified that spotify is plating a song and its using my Echo as a speaker. So it is connected but why does Echo still says that?

Edit: it would also say, “playing albums are only available for spotify premium subcribers. But try this…”

I am planning to implement an endpoint to show the bus times from the stop close to my apartment. Do you know if it is possible to configure a skill/routine/whatever that can do a request and read the text results?

Thank you in advance.

Alexa skill development used to be supported on Amazon's Developer Forums but it looks like they've been removed, at least for Alexa-related support. All the links I had just redirect now to https://developer.amazon.com/support . It looks like they're just redirecting everyone to StackOverflow for support questions. Is that really the case now or am I missing something? The forums were nice since most responses tended to come from actual Amazon/Alexa employees who would open bug tickets and keep you updated on their status, etc. Is that level of support possible on SO? I realize Amazon gutted the Alexa team a while back so I'm guessing the forums were just another casualty.

Hi,

I have a small home business teaching guitar. I developed an Alexa skill to help me keep track of what people are learning etc..

I say to it, "Alexa, ask The Guitar Tracker what [insert forename here] is working on", and usually, it would respond with "[name] is working on ascending intervals" (or whatever)

I update it by saying "Alex, tell the guitar track to add progress for [name]" - it then asks me what that student is working on, I reply and it adds it to the database. It then uses the ChatGPT API to trawl through my database of worksheets and videos and suggests relevant things to be posted to the student's portal so they can log in and see them.

...only for certain names, it's stopped passing through any data in the slot.

Some names continue to work fine - "Dave" for example works, as does "Steve", but "Jason" and "Florence" have all stopped being passed through, so my skill returns that it can't find any data from them (which it wouldn't as when I check the logs that slot data is empty).

Has there been some kind of update recently? This worked until a couple of days ago.

I'm considering changing it to use both forename and surname (it's not quite as elegant, but I need it to work), but the issue I have there is that I can't figure out which slot type to use as there isn't one for "AMAZON.ForenameAndSurname" :p

Can anyone shed any light on this?

​

Hey all,

I'm currently working on developing my first Alexa skill. The idea is simple.

1. Record the current volume of the alexa system (whether an echo or pop etc..)
2. Set the volume to 10
3. Play a notification
4. Set the volume back to the previous state

I'm currently struggling to work out how to get the current volume and have been looking through the docs and not found any help. Apparently Alexa.Speaker may be what I'm looking for, but I can't seem to access it from my custom skill, unless I'm missing something.

​

Thanks for any help.

Hi! I’m so confused. Autoplay is turned off. But everytime I get a notification or ask Alexa a question, after she talks / answers it, Spotify starts playing! It’s so annoying and I don’t know how to stop her from doing that.

‘Alexa, what time is it?’ ‘It’s 7:35pm.’ The most recent song on Spotify starts playing!

Help!

Sometimes, I come home to an empty house but Spotify is playing on my Echo.

Hi! Whenever i plug in the Echo Studio, the main fuse of that electrical line trips. What could be the possible reason for this? Is my cable faulty or did the board inside the device give up?

P.s. I tried using it on different plugs and the issue persists.

Hello,

I am looking for a way to make calls via Alexa with my Watch 5 Pro LTE, independently of a smartphone. Mainly via WiFi. The watch is for my grandmother, who does not have a smartphone, but some Alexa devices. Thanks to the Echo Connect, all landline calls are also received by all Alexa devices, but she can only accept them and make calls if there is a Bluetooth connection between the smartwatch and the smartphone. I have already been able to install the Alexa app on the Watch 5, but as I said, there must be a Bluetooth connection to the phone for calls. I'm not an expert, but I just can't imagine why it shouldn't be technically possible to register a smartwatch as an end device with Alexa in order to be able to make calls. Quite independently of a smartphone. The hardware for this is built into the watch, isn't it? Can anyone enlighten me on this?

Thank you in advance.

Best regards

I'm writing a story on Alexa and I'm trying to understand the fees. Are you paying $0.50 for each device? For each user interaction with the Alexa cloud? How does that work?

Hello everybody,

i have recently bought a 1st gen echo device and i have tried to connect it but it is not being able to connect to my home wifi, i have passed a little less than 2 hours on customer service and nobody was able to help me, i have done everything (factory reset, trying with my hotspot, etc)

basically when i put in the wifi password of my network and click connect it loads for a little bit and then takes me back to the wifi panel and tells me there is an error with my password (there is not) and the echo sais something and turns purple.

unfortunately it is in german and google translator does not pick up what it sais so i have no idea

Please help i have no idea how to proceed

edit: i have managed to make it do something: when i try to connect to it and i chose "use this phone as hotspot" for the wifi it takes me to the process and it finishes saying that everything is done, however it does not stop the orange light and the wifi remains on, a couple of times it prompted me with the initial setup for the alexa (group and location) but then it got back to the app and it was not in my devices, i have seen from my phone that it has connected to my wifi hotspot but then when i have tried to reboot it it did not connect anymore

edit 1: spent the last 2 hours looking in to what i believe is every possible reddit post related to this issue, i have found out that many have solved it with the web interface using alexa.amazon.com which right now only prompts me to scan a qr code that will open the alexa app on my device thus useless, otherwise there is the possibility to try and connect it as a tap device, which for me does not work, i have no idea how to solve this, i am now 10 hours in to trying to make it work and i have done so little progress, it is frustrating, but i will continue

edit 2: i have given up, i have tried many older versions of the app and nothing seems to work, i believe hat amazon has just decided to not make them usable anymore, i believe that this is beyond any doubt planned obsolescence and nothing more.

​

tldr: if you have an echo 1st gen that does not connect to wifi anymore after a reset or something you cannot do anything and you now have a useless piece of plastic