Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

Raoul · 06-08-2019 10:30am

It connects to your phone via bluetooth and it also uses your phones internet. It can also connect to your car via bluetooth or aux so that it can play music through either.

But yeah, it essentially lets you say "Alexa play queens of the stone age" and QOTSA will come on after a very long time because there is a lag between the bluetooth for me. ha

limnam · 06-08-2019 10:39am

I've noticed lately all my echo's/dots show "offline"

in the app.

I eventually uninstailled and re-installed the app and they were "online" for a short period and then went back to offline.

They all work fine outside of the app

Any ideas?

scamalert · 06-08-2019 10:46am

limnam wrote: »

I've noticed lately all my echo's/dots show "offline"

in the app.

I eventually uninstailled and re-installed the app and they were "online" for a short period and then went back to offline.

They all work fine outside of the app

Any ideas?

seems more like actual issue with the app if all the dots work fine, plug phone for charging see if any new updates show up, im on bare bone android latest OS so each time i charge i get 3-10 apps that appear to needing update, even thou looking at play store you wouldn't see notification to update any of them,not sure if its options or minor updates but they seem to stack up usually when phone is put for charging or battery is like 90%+

jimmycrackcorm · 06-08-2019 10:46am

limnam wrote: »

I've noticed lately all my echo's/dots show "offline"
in the app.

I eventually uninstailled and re-installed the app and they were "online" for a short period and then went back to offline.

They all work fine outside of the app

Any ideas?

I have the same problem but don't know the answer. You don't need to uninstall, just sign out and then back in again. I have my password saved in Chrome so it's very quick to sign in again but irritating.

I also have the error 5505 on my curriculum for prime video so I'm guessing it's some sort of identity issue between amazon.com and .co.uk

limnam · 06-08-2019 10:49am

scamalert wrote: »

seems more like actual issue with the app if all the dots works fine, plug phone for charging see if any new updates show up, im on bare android latest OS so each time i charge i get 3-10 app that appear to needing update, even thou looking at play store you wouldn't see notification to update now.

Yeah I downloaded the latest one after removing it and updated.

Same rubbish.

The main problem is the "settings" section is limited when it's offline in the app. e.g you can't change wake up name etc

scamalert · 06-08-2019 11:03am

scamalert · 06-08-2019 11:07am

im running 2.2.286353.0 version, seems to pickup all devices, but if i look on tablet it doesnt see any alexa devices :cool: thou would be no harm to disconnect all the dots you have and let them cycle, in case its vise versa where dots has some update thus not syncing well with the app could be another way to explore.

Found it to work sometimes when they seem to get slow or stupid

Grumpypants · 06-08-2019 11:09am

The App has been acting up for me lately. All my smart devices and groups vanish. So i can't app control them or set up routines. I need to re install and a day leter the issue returns (although ill try the log out back in step and see if that does the trick).

Bummer1234 · 06-08-2019 11:22am

Hi Guys, Always had a routine in the morning where it turns on my lights and gives news and weather and then turns on rte 2fm on tunein but recently it says "Cannot find rte 2fm on tunein". But when i got into the app and play it manually its ok in the echo.

Anyone else getting this issue on a routine to play a radio station?

jmBuildExt · 06-08-2019 12:22pm

limnam wrote: »

I've noticed lately all my echo's/dots show "offline"

in the app.

I eventually uninstailled and re-installed the app and they were "online" for a short period and then went back to offline.

They all work fine outside of the app

Any ideas?

+1 pain in the hoop.
All echo devices gone... all smart light devices gone... well usually... they appear the odd time.
Happened around same time i got a new phone (about 4 or 5 weeks) so had been putting it down to that and putting off investigating further. Also coincided with me going on holidays, so loast my remote light switching abilities.
Everything had been working grand inside though, but in the last week or or so the lights have stopped working. Im back to using light switches.
I use ikea lights/hub, the odd time I used to have to reboot the hub, but havent had to do that in ages... did it anyway with no change.
Anyway, i know thats all good, because the only automation i have left is via my alarm sensors and ikea lights in my hall and raspberry pi, which i implemented myself, and thats still working. The weak link is amazon...Hope its fixed soon.

deandean · 16-08-2019 11:53pm

Anyone using two Echos as a stereo pair?
I have two set up here. Same model, same software.
They paired up fine via the app.
But terribly buggy.
If I start a song it plays for a second on one speaker; then a delay of 5 to 10s, then it plays on both speakers.
And since I set the stereo pair up, playback often 'drops' midway through a song.
Worst of all - there seems to be no way to delete a stereo pair once it has been made!

paulbok · 28-08-2019 11:12pm

Just received an invite to but an Echo Auto from Amazon.com. not sure if I'll get it yet, haven't read any good reviews of it yet, and I'm not keen on having a device in the car I'll have to remove and hide any time I park in a dodgy area.
Also as I don't have a full subscription to any music sources, it will probably impact on using my own music library on my phone as it'll tie up the Bluetooth connection.

ThunbergsAreGo · 29-08-2019 7:39am

deandean wrote: »

Anyone using two Echos as a stereo pair?
I have two set up here. Same model, same software.
They paired up fine via the app.
But terribly buggy.
If I start a song it plays for a second on one speaker; then a delay of 5 to 10s, then it plays on both speakers.
And since I set the stereo pair up, playback often 'drops' midway through a song.
Worst of all - there seems to be no way to delete a stereo pair once it has been made!

Do you mean the speaker groups?

Go to Devices, click on the group and you should see the trash icon

scamalert · 05-09-2019 11:51am

a bit off topic - but seen my alexa dot gen 2 light up fully last night, as in like wake word used, it circled for good few minutes, could even hear speakers crack couple times. Not paranoid type am i assuming right that most likely some firmware update was triggered, executed ?

Bummer1234 · 05-09-2019 12:45pm

scamalert wrote: »

a bit off topic - but seen my alexa dot gen 2 light up fully last night, as in like wake word used, it circled for good few minutes, could even hear speakers crack couple times. Not paranoid type am i assuming right that most likely some firmware update was triggered, executed ?

What happend to me tuesday night was when i went to bed my phone was connected to the bluetooth on echo plus.

At 4am in the morning it shouted at volume 5 "Connected to Bummer1234's phone" Well it made me nearly hit the roof!! After i settled down wondering what the hell was going on....I was thinking it was either my phone doing a over night update and re connected or the echo updating....Could have been that....

deandean · 05-09-2019 12:59pm

naughtb4 wrote: »

Do you mean the speaker groups?

Go to Devices, click on the group and you should see the trash icon

Thanks. I found that eventually and deleted the Stereo Pair.
I might try it again in a few months, hopefully it'll be less buggy.

scheister · 05-09-2019 1:02pm

limnam wrote: »

I've noticed lately all my echo's/dots show "offline"

in the app.

I eventually uninstailled and re-installed the app and they were "online" for a short period and then went back to offline.

They all work fine outside of the app

Any ideas?

I have noticed this alot lately as well. I assumed my internet (Eircom) is acting up lately and was wondering if it was something related to that.

scamalert · 05-09-2019 1:18pm

lol yeah that would wake you up, ive seen it do before random ring turning without reason but didnt last long, prob some new feature updates.

jmBuildExt · 09-09-2019 10:50am

scheister wrote: »

I have noticed this alot lately as well. I assumed my internet (Eircom) is acting up lately and was wondering if it was something related to that.

Your app is connected when youy are outside the home too... (or it should be)
I've eircom too but i never use the wifi - always use 4 G.... I'm seeing the same issue.

scamalert · 09-09-2019 10:55am

ive seen post on reddit, but didnt read into it, but anyone else here notice their dots speaker cracks a bit more, im guessing its smth to do wth recent update, but asking alexa to do things you get this sort of cracking sound lasts maybe second once executing commands ?

s8n · 09-09-2019 10:59am

I have several echo devices all set to Dublin GMT as time one but one of them consistently has the wrong time (one hour behind).

Any one had this before ?

ctlsleh · 11-09-2019 4:31pm

I'm seeing radio dropout after about 5mins streaming. not WiFi related or BW related as i have a 1G fibre service from Siro and mesh wfii coverage in my home.....anybody experienced the same?

randombar · 13-09-2019 11:58am

Anyone interested in an Echo Auto, bought it from amazon.com and shipped here but probably not going to use it after. PM me if you're interested.

d31b0y · 13-09-2019 1:39pm

You can tell Alexa to speak faster or slower now. 7 different options, I think;
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/7/20757749/amazon-alexa-talk-faster-slower-speed-echo

flangemeistro · 13-09-2019 2:59pm

GaryCocs wrote: »

Anyone interested in an Echo Auto, bought it from amazon.com and shipped here but probably not going to use it after. PM me if you're interested.

I just use an echo input in my car, does this add more functionality?

randombar · 13-09-2019 3:13pm

flangemeistro wrote: »

I just use an echo input in my car, does this add more functionality?

I don't know myself, presume it adds something.

Haven't used it at all.

gerrybbadd · 26-09-2019 11:52am

Got my Echo Auto invite this morning, and Amazon very kindly gave me a voucher to get it for half price.

Raging however, as I checked out and suddenly realised, I should have also ordered a pile of Red Hot Cheetos while I was at it, given i'd be paying An Post about €16 for the pleasure of using their Address Pal service.

Cabaal · 26-09-2019 3:20pm

Surprised nobody's mentioned the whole host of new Echo + Ring devices

In the UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-Kindle-Devices/b/?ie=UTF8&node=341686031&ref=fs_cat_ama

In the US
https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=9818047011&ref_=nav_em_T1_0_4_8_14__ods_ha_echo_cp

Honestly I don't get why you'd want the glasses or ring,

Eire Go Brach · 26-09-2019 10:22pm

Cabaal wrote: »

Surprised nobody's mentioned the whole host of new Echo + Ring devices

In the UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-Kindle-Devices/b/?ie=UTF8&node=341686031&ref=fs_cat_ama

In the US
https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=9818047011&ref_=nav_em_T1_0_4_8_14__ods_ha_echo_cp

Honestly I don't get why you'd want the glasses or ring,

I like the studio. Is Alexa any use or just a novelty? I have couple of bulbs and plugs.

grogi · 27-09-2019 9:24am

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

I like the studio. Is Alexa any use or just a novelty? I have couple of bulbs and plugs.

Spotify (but it is sometimes painful when she finds covers instead of what you really want to hear), shopping list and alarms. That's all I use it for.

I have a few smart bulbs and smart switches, but after trying it out, never really used it. Usually it is easier just to flick the switch.

Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

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