More big news coming out of the Amazon camp this week (I feel like they’re all I write about these days). Amazon has just updated the Amazon app for iOS to allow users to access Alexa from within the app. This is the first official release of Alexa voice services on a major mobile platform.
Amazon obviously chose iOS because as we all know iPhone users are wealthier, smarter and more likely to have expensive smart devices in their homes…right? Personally, I have both iOS and Android devices in my home, but it annoys me to no end when companies roll out features for one and then wait months to put similar code in the other. Rant over.
While Alexa will not have the ability to control anything on your Apple device, like Siri, it is a nearly full fledged version of Alexa. If you have any smart devices paired to your Alexa account, you will be able to control them similarly to how you would with your other Alexa devices, such as Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap and Fire TV. Many people don’t have multiple always listening virtual assistants stationed around their house, so this app will save them from either having to walk into another room (oh no!) or yell across the house.
No word on when to expect this for Android.